The trigger for the move was a deal finalized Tuesday to lease four of Horizon's Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets to Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
With its fleet shrunk, the carrier will furlough 40 flight attendants and 40 mechanics on Aug. 22 and 40 pilots in early November, all according to seniority.
Horizon will close its bases at airports in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and in Flagstaff and Prescott, Ariz., and will no longer fly to those destinations.
Horizon has just over 600 pilots and 570 flight attendants, 70 percent of whom are based in Portland, the rest in Seattle. Most of its approximately 450 mechanics are in Portland.
The airline has been trying to get rid of its 70-seat CRJs since deciding in 2008 to shift its fleet to one aircraft type: the Bombardier Q400 turboprop, which is more economical to operate on shorter routes like those Horizon flies.
However, the economic downturn killed the market for used CRJs, and until this week Horizon had managed to offload only three out of 20 of them.
Horizon has eight Q400s on order from Bombardier, set for delivery in 2012 and 2013. But Dan Russo, Horizon's vice president of marketing, said even if four Q400s were immediately available to replace the CRJs, it would be "prudent" in the current economic climate to cut capacity instead.
"These cuts were reductions we had under consideration anyhow because the routes were not performing well," Russo said.
After leasing the four airplanes, Horizon's fleet will consist of 40 Q400s and the remaining 13 CRJs, which it is still actively marketing to other airlines.
(Dominic Gates - Seattle Times)
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