SAN JUAN AIRLINES

San Juan Airline and Kenmore consolidate service

By Sharon Kivisto

posted 05/10/05
Changes are in the works for the two scheduled airlines serving San Juan County. Kenmore Air and San Juan Airlines will no longer be competing for passengers on the same routes. Kenmore will take over the Friday Harbor/Seattle and Port Angeles/Seattle routes. San Juan Airline will concentrate on the Friday Harbor/Bellingham; Friday Harbor/Anacortes; and inter island routes.

San Juan Airlines Marketing Director Paul Hopkins said, "The two companies are consolidating routes to insure longterm quality service to their customers." San Juan Airlines is still a viable, growing company, he said. The airline also offers charter service. There will be no interruption of service, according to Hopkins.

San Juan Airlines recently celebrated its third anniversary after being restarted in 2005. The original San Juan Airlines was formed in the 1950s.

Kenmore began in 1945. The history of Kenmore Airlines is available on the airline's WEB SITE.

Island Air also serves San Juan County, providing service on a charter basis. Island Air has a contract with San Juan Island Emergency Medical Services to fly patients off island to mainland hospitals. Medflight provides helicopter service for patients.

San Juan Airlines marks three year anniversary

San Juan Airlines two Caravan 608B can each carry nine passengers.

posted 02/08/05
Travelers can climb aboard a San Juan Airlines Caravan 208B at Boeing Field and 27 minutes later land in Friday Harbor. For the past three years, passengers have counted on the airline's scheduled flights to the San Juans. It also served Anacortes, Bellingham, Skagit Regional Airport and Port Angeles. In the future, if U.S. Customs hurdles can be overcome, the airline will fly to Victoria.

Clyde Carlson and his son Steve - at the prodding of San Juan Island Realtor Pat O'Day - restarted San Juan Airlines Feb. 7, 2002. The original San Juan Airline was begun in the 1950s by Roy Franklin. It was closed in 1987 by Jim Sherill. He sold the name and the route to Victoria to Horizon Airlines. The name was unused and happened to become available in 2002 when the Carlsons were starting their airline.

O'Day encouraged the Carlsons to start the air service. He believed reliable wheeled air service from Seattle was "critical to the new kind of resident," he said. "Look how we've changed in the past four years. There has been an enormous maturity. The island has become the Martha's Vineyard of the Pacific Northwest." To him, the comparison means the islands are a scenic, vibrant, desireable area that is growing in popularity and appeal. O'Day said, "The airline is secure. It is a viable business under Clyde's calm hand,"

In the 1970s when Clyde was working for Lake Union Air Service, he saw the wisdom of offering scheduled service from Seattle to the San Juans. Passengers traveling to the San Juans would charter a plane for about $300. The planes would often fly back empty. A few hours later, someone might call from Roche Harbor and want a flight back. "I watched that for years," he said. "I tried to talk (the owners) into offering scheduled service."

After spending time in Southeast Alaska offering scheduled service between cruise ships and the mainland, Clyde moved back to Washington and purchased Lake Union Air Service in 1980. Scheduled service began the next year. "In 1981, on the July 4th weekend, Wilma Haslen was my first passenger," he said. Last year, between the Fourth of July and Labor Day more than 800 passengers flew to the San Juans.

Carlson sold the business in 1987 to Bruce Levin. In 1993, Kenmore bought the airline from Levin. Kenmore Airlines offers floatplane service from Lake Union to the San Juans.

Paul Hopkins of San Juan Airlines said the public probably isn't aware of all the freight San Juan Airline carries - for example fresh fish for island grocery stores. "We also fly injured animals for Wolf Hollow for free," he said.

Plans for the future include offering service to Oak Harbor and to Victoria. Carlson would like to carry more passengers per flight. The FAA limits the number of passengers to nine on flights with a single pilot. All other countries allow more passengers on single pilot flights. The 208B is built to carry 14 but is fitted out for nine people for San Juan Airlines. The airline also has 206 and 207 Caravans.

For more information about San Juan Airlines visit the Web site at www.sanjuanairlines.com or call 800-874-4434.

Lower airfares to Bellingham and Anacortes

posted 05/25/04
San Juan Airlines is now offering lower airfares departing San Juan Islands to Bellingham and Anacortes. Fares will be as low as $25 each way, $50 round-trip, including taxes and fees. Islands served under this new fare include San Juan Island (Friday Harbor), Orcas Island (Eastsound), Lopez Island, and Blakely Island.

Travel time between the San Juan Islands and Bellingham via the Washington State Ferry can take up to 6.5 hours and up to 5 hours from Anacortes, at a cost of $43.75 for a car and driver. Flight time between Bellingham and the San Juan Islands, via San Juan Airlines, takes only 15 minutes each way, 12 minutes to and from Anacortes.

San Juan Airlines Marketing Director Paul Hopkins says, "With flights this short and fares this low, it allows the residents of San Juan County to go off-island without using the entire day for travel. It brings back the convenience and affordability of traveling to the mainland for doctor's appointments, business meetings or just enjoying some of the many activities in neighboring counties."

San Juan Airlines has been serving the San Juan Islands since the 1950s. The company also provides daily scheduled service to and from Seattle, Port Angeles, Anacortes, Bellingham and British Columbia. For more information, visit their Web site at www.sanjuanairlines.com or call 800-874-4434.

San Juan Airlines expands

posted 01/15/04
San Juan Airlines, the locally owned airline, is now also serving Port Angeles. Several flights a day will be provided between Seattle's Boeing Field Terminal and William Fairchild International Airport. Horizon Airlines dropped service to Port Angeles on Jan. 6, 2004.

Carlson said, "The timing couldn't have been better. King County just completed the restoration of the Boeing Field Terminal Building which is now a comfortable and historic jewel box. Also, with the ever increasing security complexity, delays, and costs at Sea-Tac, Boeing Field now makes travel to and from Port Angeles more convenient and economical.' If outbound on other carriers, San Juan pledges to deliver you and your luggage to and from Sea-Tac, by van, in less than 15 minutes."

San Juan Airlines began operation in 2001 with flights several times a day from Boeing Field to Friday Harbor and all of the San Juan Islands. The carrier also serves Bellingham and Anacortes. Clyde Carlson, Executive of San Juan Airlines along with his son Shane Carlson also own Northwest Seaplanes which provides charter services from Seattle to western Canada

San Juan Airlines flies again

posted 02/11/02
San Juan Airlines will take wing with Steve Franklin and Shane Carlson, sons of Northwest aviation pioneers, at the controls. The two men recently purchased West Isle Air and plan to expand and strengthen service to the San Juans. Franklin's father, Roy, founded the original San Juan Airlines in the 1950s.

Carlson's father, Clyde, began the first floatplane service to the islands from Lake Union. He sold that business to Kenmore Air in 1993. He owns Northwest Seaplanes which has been flying wheel-based and floatplanes to the San Juan Islands since Harbor Air shut down in 2001. With the creation of San Juan Airlines, Northwest Seaplanes will concentrate on its flights from Seattle to British Columbia, Canada.

West Isle Air flew passengers from the islands to Anacortes and Boeing Field in Seattle. San Juan Airlines will provide service from Friday Harbor, Eastsound, Lopez, and non-ferry served islands to Anacortes, Bellingham and Boeing Field. Free shuttle van service will transport travelers from Boeing Field to SeaTac International Airport.

Shane Carlson said customers can count on the same reliability and friendly service and look forward to the future with confidence. He plans to steadily upgrade equipment.

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