WOMF for Astoria

You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. This well-worn phrase applies to coverage of air service in Astoria. Associated Press picked up a story from the local paper this week that echoed all over Portland media stating that since air service in Astoria has been so poorly utilized here Newport makes the pitch to cut back on flights here while adding flights there. The story is another example of incomplete reporting for the sake of creating controversy.

There is no doubt that Newport is better positioned geographically to make taking a flight more attractive that taking a long drive but they have something else that takes advantage of the local air service. It's called marketing. Discover Newport is an organization that is working to bring more people out of metropolitan areas to visit and they have incorporated air service into their message.

We have nothing like it here.

There was plenty of excitement about Astoria finally getting regular air service back but then the ball was dropped. There was a great deal of effort involved in getting a state transportation grant in place, months of wrangling with Newport over which airline to bring in, negotiations finally lead to Seaport getting the nod over Cape Air. Then local efforts pretty much stopped.
Newport did a better job negotiating flights so it took months of operation to make changes in Astoria flight scheduling. With an average of two persons per flight we are now where we should have been from the beginning and by this time that usage should have increased to four. To be viable long term Seaport needs 60% usage. This latest report on Portland media does nothing to help the situation.

Here's the rest of the story. Seaport has now opened discussions with CEDR looking for help from that organization in establishing a business marketing plan that would bring in local hotels, motels, restaurants and attractions to develop weekend getaway packages that would be marketed in the Portland Area. Seaport is also taking a hard look at Long Beach but can't use funds from Oregon Connect Two to market their service in Washington State. There is a solution somewhere for that but it will take some outreach on the part of local organizations and work to find marketing dollars to make that Washington connection happen.

Did you know that if you catch the 4:25am flight out of Astoria you can make Seattle in about two hours? Well people in Seattle can do the same thing coming here.

There is tremendous potential for tourism in having an air service here. Let's pick that ball back up and run with it.

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