McCall Air will cut flights to Sandpoint

McCall Air will discontinue commercial flights to Sandpoint in October – a blow to local backers who spent several years recruiting an airline to provide direct flights to Boise and Seattle.

“It wasn’t working financially. There wasn’t enough ridership,” said Ron Nova, chairman of the Sandpoint Air Service Committee.

McCall Air started the Sandpoint service in June, ferrying passengers between Boise, Sandpoint and Seattle’s Boeing Field for $262 per round trip. The four-times per week service will end Oct. 15.

“Operationally, the service went great,” said Dan Scott, McCall Air’s president. “Once we got people to fly with us, they were hooked … but the passenger load wasn’t there.”

The eight-passenger Cessna Caravans averaged just 2.3 passengers per flight during the summer, Scott said. At only a quarter full, the flights were losing money, and bookings declined even further in September, he said.

“There wasn’t enough demand. It was that simple,” Scott said. “A lot of us will sit around over coffee for months to come, and try to figure out why. Personally, I don’t think the area is quite ready for scheduled air service.”

McCall Air would consider restarting service in the future, if Sandpoint could attract a federal grant or other means of subsidizing the flights, he said.

Sandpoint business leaders view regular air service as critical to marketing the community of 7,000. They had hoped to fill the flights with skiers from Seattle, summer tourists, and government and business officials en route to meetings. That’s still the goal of the Sandpoint Air Service Committee, Nova said.

“We’ll reassess, we’ll regroup and we’ll look for other forms of funding,” Nova said. “It’s a disappointment, but it was a valiant effort.”

Support came from the Bonner County commissioners, local businesses and Sandpoint residents – who pre-purchased more than $200,000 in airline tickets to help recruit McCall Air.

Residents who have ticket vouchers in their possession must use them by Oct. 15, or lose the money, Nova said. People who pre-purchased tickets, but don’t have vouchers, will likely be eligible for a partial refund, he said.