Horizon Air is an American regional airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, United States, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group, and it is paid by fellow group member Alaska Airlines to staff, operate, and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed, and sold by Alaska Airlines. Planes operated by Horizon are co-branded as Alaska Horizon to differentiate Horizon's planes from those operated by Alaska's other regional airline partner, SkyWest Airlines.
Horizon Air started operations in September 1981, was purchased by the Alaska Air Group in November 1986, and continued to fly as a separately branded airline until 2011, when it shifted to the current capacity purchase agreement business model.
The airline is headquartered in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, not far from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and the airline's primary maintenance base is at Portland International Airport. Horizon also considers Seattle–Tacoma and Portland airports its hubs.
History
Horizon Air was formed in May 1981 by Milt Kuolt, Joe Clark, and Bruce McCaw, with initial plans to fly to Hawaii but later changed to serve Washington state.[4] The airline started operations on September 1, 1981, with three Fairchild F-27 aircraft.[5] Its headquarters were in an area that is now within SeaTac, Washington.[6]
Horizon Air's first route connected Yakima to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport and was followed a week later by Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco to Seattle.[7][8] The general offices of Horizon Air were operated out of an old house behind Sea-Tac Airport. Horizon acquired Air Oregon on June 17, 1982,[9][10] after both airlines were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly, in order to consolidate and reduce their operating deficit.[11] Horizon agreed to purchase Transwestern Airlines of Utah in September 1983, once again to try to reduce operating deficit of the airline.[12]
A single Fokker F28 twin jet, purchased in July 1984 from an African carrier, was the first jet owned by Horizon Air (however, the first jet operated by Horizon was a wet leased Douglas DC-9-10).[13][14]
An initial public offering occurred in 1985 to secure operating capital, which after only one profitable year since founding, was needed to keep the airline afloat.[15] That summer, Horizon entered into its first codeshare agreement with United Airlines,[16] and on September 8, Horizon signed an agreement with de Havilland Canada to begin purchasing the airline's first brand new aircraft, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 twin turboprop.[17][18]
Late in 1985, Horizon entered into an agreement to purchase their chief competitor in Washington, Cascade Airways,[19][20] but by early 1986 were released from the agreement.[21] Merger talks between the two had begun in late 1982.[10]
In January 1986, the airline became an international carrier when it began service to Calgary, Alberta, in association with Cascade Airways.[22]
Acquisition
Alaska Airlines struck a deal to acquire Horizon Air in November 1986.[23] The year before, Alaska had undergone a major corporate restructuring with the airline now being owned by the Alaska Air Group, an airline holding company. Under the agreement, the Alaska Air Group became the owner of Horizon Air after approval by the Transportation Department in late December.[24][25] The Alaska Air Group continued to operate Horizon as a separately branded airline, with a codesharing agreement with its new sister airline, Alaska, while ending its codeshare with United Airlines.
In 1988, Horizon signed a code share agreement with Northwest Airlines.
International service was expanded in May 1989 with flights to Vancouver and Victoria
Destinations
Horizon's 45 destinations are located in the U.S. states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.[39]
Services
On-board meals and beverages
Flight time permitting, passengers in the main cabin are offered a complimentary small snack (cookie, nuts or a snack mix) and a beverage.
Horizon, like its parent airline Alaska, focuses on serving and selling items produced on and inspired by the West Coast.[40][41] Coffee from Portland-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters is served on all flights.[42]
Horizon's aircraft are equipped with a First Class cabin and Premium Class cabin and offer a similar onboard experience to that of Alaska, with complimentary meals in First Class and complimentary alcoholic beverages in both classes.
On-board Internet access
Fleet
Current fleet
As of August 2025, Horizon Air operates the following aircraft:[45]
The Embraer 175 is a regional jet operated in a three-class configuration (first class, premium class, and main cabin) with a total of 76 all leather, reclining seats. The premium class and main cabin sections of the aircraft have two seats either side of the aisle, while the first class section has a single seat on one side of the aisle and two seats on the other.
Former fleet
Horizon Air has previously operated the following aircraft:
Aircraft livery
At the start of the carrier, Horizon livery had a painted sunrise with a small beach with capitalized words saying "Horizon". Until 2011, the Horizon Air livery was very similar to that of its parent, Alaska Airlines, except for a dark red (rather than blue) cheatline, and the tail featured a stylized sunset logo, rather than an Eskimo. Two E175s are currently painted in special liveries.
Photo gallery
Flight accidents and incidents
- On May 2, 1986, a Fairchild Metroliner was hijacked over Oregon, between Eugene and Portland. The pilot convinced the hijacker to allow the plane to stop in Hillsboro to refuel and even let the pilot off the plane, who then called the FBI.[53][54]
- On April 15, 1988, Flight 2658, a Dash 8-100 (N819PH – Great City of Sun Valley), en route from Seattle to Spokane with 37 passengers and 3 crew members, crashed after attempting an emergency landing at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac). The number two (right side/starboard) engine caught fire (due to a manufacturing defect) after take-off from Seattle. Loss of hydraulic pressure due to the fire caused the aircraft to veer off the runway, across the grass, across Taxiway B, and crashed into the B7 and B9 jetways, destroying the plane. There were four serious injuries but no fatalities.[55][56]
Lawsuits
In November 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Horizon and Alaska Airlines on behalf of the passengers on board Flight 2059, alleging that the passengers' lives were put at risk by an off-duty pilot who was allowed to ride in the cockpit and who attempted to shut off the engines during flight on October 22, 2023, and seeking an injunction that would require the airlines to "conduct reasonable examinations" of all employees with access to the cockpit immediately prior to boarding.[65]
In July 2024, Horizon was sued by a flight attendant for the airline, who alleged that she was "repeatedly and severely" sexually harassed by two Horizon pilots from September 2023 through February of 2024 and that Horizon's human resources department "took no action" to protect her.[66]
See also
- Air transportation in the United States
Bibliography
External links
References
- Aircraft Company/Telephony/Three−Letter Designator Encode FAA.gov, retrieved Nov 24, 2023^
- Federal Aviation Administration – Airline Certificate Information – Detail View Av-info.faa.gov, retrieved May 17, 2017^
- Alaska Air Group announces leadership transitions at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air