Cruise passengers could help save Denver flights

Lewiston City Councilor Hannah Liedkie has requested a meeting to explore revenue from cruise boat passengers to help subsidize Lewiston’s United Airlines nonstop Denver flights.

Liedkie’s willingness to examine that idea comes after United asked for direction by Oct. 1 about if it could receive a $4.9 million revenue guarantee in the coming year for the Denver-Lewiston service.

Discussion of the topic was part of a Lewiston City Council meeting Monday where the city’s elected officials approved the first reading of an ordinance that would change rules to limit overnight parking in certain municipal lots.

The council didn’t vote on a request for a joint meeting of the Lewiston City Council, Nez Perce County Commission and Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport Authority board along with the ports of Lewiston and Clarkston because no council member made a motion for it.

The meeting would have been to discuss a revenue guarantee for United in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

The item about the joint meeting was added to the council agenda as part of a misunderstanding, Liedkie said.

She had an email discussion with Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport Director Michael Isaacs, she said.

“I had suggested that I would be a part of a meeting where we discuss with the ports his idea,” Liedkie said. “I did not request a joint meeting to discuss (a revenue guarantee). In fact my email was specifically pointed to going after different funding sources. …There’s work to be done before we bring it, if we bring it at all.”

A total of 40% of summer seats on United flights are filled by cruise boat passengers, and if 20,000 of them paid a $200 fee it would generate about $4 million a year, Isaacs said at an airport board meeting last week.

Cruise boat passengers often pay more than $4,000 per person for the excursions on vessels that follow a multi-day route along the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon and Washington.

United is seeking a $4.9 million revenue guarantee in the coming year to continue its nonstop Denver-Lewiston flights, which would be shifted to larger aircraft.

United would replace the 1990s-era, 50-seat CRJ-200 jets on the flights with 70- to 76-seat E-175 jets under the proposal.

But it is not clear how the community can provide the money United is requesting.

The city of Lewiston and Nez Perce County didn’t include any money to subsidize the flights in their budgets for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Council President Jim Kleeburg had a stance that was similar to Liedkie’s.

“I have no problem sitting down having a meeting with everybody, but I’m not sure what we’re going to get accomplished because I don’t think we’re going to be stepping up to the plate with a big fat check,” he said.

The United service debuted in Lewiston in 2021 and received $4 million from Nez Perce County over three years as part of the deal that brought the airline to Lewiston. The county’s $4 million came from its $7.8 million allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

In the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, United has a revenue guarantee with the city of Lewiston worth as much as $4 million.

The city of Lewiston provided that support after United stated it lost $5.5 million on the flights in 2023.

In another matter, the council approved the first of three readings of an ordinance that would change city rules to ban overnight parking in certain municipal lots including those at the Lewiston Community Center as well as ones on D and F streets in downtown Lewiston.

Vehicles in violation could be towed if the ordinance passes, said Lewiston City Attorney Jennifer Tengono.

Signs would be posted in the lots about the rules and there would be processes to make exceptions for Lewis-Clark State College students and others who live downtown, Tengono said.

The proposed ordinance is based on “numerous citizen complaints” and concerns of several city departments, she said.

The city is seeking to update its parking regulations to “better protect public property and ensure the fair use of municipal parking lots by all community members,” according to an agenda item summary. “Currently, these lots allow unlimited parking with minimal oversight, leading to potential misuse and limited availability for public events.”

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