Lewiston council punts on United flights

The stalemate over subsidies for United Airlines’ nonstop Denver flights continued Thursday at a Lewiston City Council meeting.

Councilors refrained from pledging money to back the service or take an intermediary step such as proposing a time to meet with the Nez Perce County Commission.

Airport officials announced in September that United wanted a $4.9 million revenue guarantee to support the flights during the fiscal year that started Oct 1.

Nez Perce County and the city of Lewiston jointly own the airport. At this time, neither entity has money earmarked for a subsidy in its budgets.

The discussion about the Denver-Lewiston flights happened at a meeting where the council renewed funding for Valley Vision, the Lewiston Civic Theater and the Boys & Girls Club of the Lewis Clark Valley, but not Beautiful Downtown Lewiston.

Exactly what happens next on the United flights is not clear. United officials haven’t commented publicly on their position.

In September, Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport Director Michael Isaacs said United wanted direction by Oct. 1. Then at an airport board meeting on Oct. 15, Isaacs stated the airline had agreed to wait until that day.

Councilor Kassee Forsmann said Thursday that while she appreciates the importance of the airport, she couldn’t support giving any money until there is a vision of how United could wean itself from city revenue.

The United flights started in 2021. They were first backed by $4 million over three years from Nez Perce County that used federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Then the city of Lewiston provided a revenue guarantee worth as much as $4 million that ended Sept. 30.

“We have to show that we mean business for the citizens so they’re not just forking up cash all the time out of their tax dollars and not seeing results,” Forsmann said.

And while Lewiston ticket prices as a whole have fallen significantly since the United flights debuted in Lewiston, a lot of people still can’t afford to fly on them or the direct Seattle or Salt Lake City Delta flights, Forsmann said.

“They’re not seeing the benefit of it,” she said.

United has already taken an important step to bolster profits by replacing the 1990s-era, 50-seat CRJ-200 jets on the route with newer 70- to 76-seat E-175 jets at the end of September, Isaacs said.

The larger planes have 12 first-class seats, which are big revenue generators for airlines, he said.

“They’re already 75% full in first class,” Isaacs said.

The E-175 jets, unlike the CRJ-200s, can fly with a full load of passengers even in hotter temperatures, he said.

In the long run, the value of direct Denver flights will grow even more, Isaacs said.

The Denver airport is the third-busiest airport in the nation, with seven runways and room for five more, he said.

The nonstop flights the Lewiston airport offers to Denver, Salt Lake City and Seattle benefit existing employers and are helping attract new businesses to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, said Gary Peters, chairperson of the airport authority board.

“We’re right on the cusp of making this thing work, making this stick, being the region’s airport for business travelers,” said Peters, who attended Thursday’s meeting with all of the members of the airport authority board.

“If we say no now, we’re not going to get another chance,” Peters said. “We will be a one-horse town.”

A revenue guarantee this year could be a stop-gap measure while city, county and airport officials identify other ways to sustain the service, perhaps tapping federal or state resources, said Joe Gish, an airport authority board member.

Gish is running for Nez Perce County commissioner in November against Democrat Pete Gertonson. If elected to the commission, Gish stated he would support a revenue guarantee.

In other business, the city council approved providing Valley Vision as much as $40,000 this fiscal year along with as much as $30,000 to the Lewiston Civic Theater and as much as $18,000 to the Boys & Girls Club.

The council didn’t vote on money for Beautiful Downtown Lewiston (BDL), which received $30,000 in the last fiscal year. Councilors noted the organization hadn’t provided information such as an annual report about its activities.

BDL has faced challenges in the last year, including the resignation of its executive director, Brenda Morgan, in June. Morgan’s position remains vacant.

The council left an option open for the organization to return and request money at a later date.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.