The seat belt sign has been turned on, so to speak, and American Airlines’ inaugural nonstop flight to and from Redmond’s Roberts Field and Los Angeles is set for takeoff the second week of June.
The official word came from the airline on April 4, after an intensive effort by economic development, business and other groups to raise $350,000 required by the airline to offset intitial costs of the service. The funds are part of an overall $1.2 million package that also includes a federal grant.
Scheduled service will begin on Monday, June 12, with daily flights leaving Redmond at 8:10 am, landing in Los Angeles at 10:25, then departing at 6:50 pm to arrive in Redmond by 8:55 pm.
As of April 10 American’s online reservation system showed that a roundtrip flight on June 19 was available for a total cost of $219.80. There were 30 of 50 maximum seats available by late afternoon.
However, the online system did not indicate any flights available the first day of initially-announced service on June 12.
The American service will be under the banner of American Eagle, operated by Skywest Airlines, which also supplies flights for Delta and United Airlines out of Redmond to Salt Lake City and Denver, respectively.
Skywest will fly the Canadian manufactured Bombardier CRJ, a 50-seat regional jet that is a mainstay of short haul jet service often connecting smaller regional markets to major hubs.
