What do you get when you combine rural communities starved for air travel access, 9-seater airplanes and a “do it well or don’t do it at all” attitude? A nimble, sustainable and locally focused business called SeaPort Airlines.
As major airlines have continued the trend of reducing or cutting service to rural communities, Portland, OR-based SeaPort Airlines saw an opportunity to get involved and fill a need. SeaPort currently serves local routes in the Pacific Northwest and Mid-South by providing big-city access to smaller rural communities and also between regional hubs like their popular Portland-to-Seattle route.
It’s About Time
SeaPort passengers bypass TSA security lines at larger hubs like PDX and check in 15 minutes in advance of their flight at a separate terminal, particularly appealing to time-crunched business professionals. Ticket prices are kept affordable and parking is complimentary.
What’s not to like?
Rob McKinney, President of SeaPort Airlines, was gracious enough to sit down with me to discuss their take on sustainability, local community and strategic partnerships.
Access and Beyond
At the heart of SeaPort airlines is access. Rob explains,
From an economic development perspective, access to air transportation is critically important for rural communities. Excluding rural communities is a detriment to the Pacific Northwest and to America. Some of the communities we serve have been without air transport for over 10 years. And it’s not just about providing access. SeaPort is all about taking care of these communities – we consider ourselves to be their home-town airline. We treat our passengers as guests, not as cattle.
Sustainable Business
SeaPort is incredibly proud of the efficiencies they’re able to realize by using smaller planes to serve their communities. Rob details this out for us:
For most airlines, fuel represents 50% of their costs. At SeaPort, it’s only 25%. For example, it only takes us 45 gallons of jet fuel to fly from Portland to Seattle and our emissions are far less than the larger planes since we’re operating on one engine versus two. Sustainability is a natural by-product of being efficient in serving our customer base.
Local Community Partnerships
SeaPort takes their role as a “home-town airline” incredibly seriously. And they enjoy some amazing support in return from the communities they serve. Rob gives us some background on these partnerships.
We are fortunate to enjoy some amazing local community partnerships, particularly in the rural communities we serve. We support all sorts of small, local efforts because we really do believe in being a good community partner. We get multiple inquiries each week from local communities who want us to serve their local market but we don’t do things we can’t do well.
This community-focused philosophy has paid off big-time for SeaPort. Rob details an example of a partnership about which most companies can only dream:
A really amazing example is the Clatsop Economic Development Resources. They have a cadre of people that volunteer their time in a variety of ways to support our presence in their community. They provide us access to local business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce, they do anecdotal polling on flight schedules within the community and they offer suggestions for marketing avenues and new ways to reach people in their community. This is a community that’s had a 10-year lapse in air service and our viability is important to their ability to thrive as a community, so it’s a true win-win situation for both of us.
The Growth/Personal Touch Challenge
I asked Rob about the challenge of continuing to grow while maintaining the sense of community. Here’s how he sees it:
That’s a very real challenge that we think about all the time because it is so important to who we are as a company and who we want to continue to be. It really comes down to the people – that’s what makes any great company great. This shows up in who we hire and how we treat employees and doing a good job communicating our mission and vision so they can do the same as they interact with our customers.
SeaPort is a living example of how going smaller, more efficient and community-focused can quite literally launch a business. What’s your take on the uniqueness of SeaPort? Have you seen other examples of similar business models?
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of the leadership team with SeaPort Airlines. These folks are the real deal! Thank you, Megan, for highlighting such a great company!