is a
Regional Airline subsidiary of the
Alaska Air Group , parent to both
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Horizon has major
Hubs in
Seattle and
Portland . Horizon Air also has an extensive
Codeshare arrangement with
Frontier Airlines , serving smaller markets from Frontier's Denver hub under the name '''Frontier JetExpress'''.
Horizon Air was formed in May 1981 and started operations on
1 September 1981 . Its first route was from
Seattle, Washington to
Yakima, Washington . In
1982 ,
Air Oregon was acquired and in
1983 Transwestern Airlines was acquired, making Horizon one of the largest regional airlines in the
USA . It went public in
1984 to raise money for expansion. In 1984 Horizon carried well over half a million passengers. It acquired its first jet, a
Fokker F28 , in
1985 and began operating feeder flights on behalf of both
Northwest Airlines and
Alaska Airlines .
Alaska Air Group , parent of Alaska Airlines, bought Horizon in
1986 and continued to operate it as an independent carrier. The airline has since completely replaced the Fokker F28 with the
Bombardier CRJ 700 . The airline shares its activities, bookings, and connection services with
Alaska Airlines ,
Northwest Airlines ,
Continental Airlines , and
KLM and also operates express jet services for
Frontier Airlines . The airline operates from its main hub in Seattle and has secondary hubs in Denver, Boise, Portland, and Spokane.
Alaska and Horizon inflight magazines are
available
here .
Horizon Air has been featured in several films, including the
1983 motion picture ''
WarGames ''.
''(Source: Alaska Group Almanac, November 2004)''
Horizon Air's fleet consists of the following aircraft as of
May 2005 :
The average Horizon Air fleet age is 5.6 years old in March 2006.
The CRJ-700 is a 70-seat, low-wing jet, while the Dash-8 is a 37(Q200) or 74(Q400) seat, high-wing
Turboprop . Horizon Air recently converted its outstanding CRJ-700 orders into Q400 orders.
- Flight International, 5-11 April 2005
