After a devastating December in which it was forced to cancel hundreds of flights owing to weather, Horizon greeted a new weather disaster along the I-5 corridor and the Washington Mountain passes. December’s heavy snows are now being washed away by rain causing serious flooding in southwestern Washington inundating I-5 and cutting off Seattle from Eastern Washington. Horizon has altered its walk up fares to a special $119 one way for Seattle-Portland flights for travel through Saturday. The Seattle-Portland offer began January 7.
Horizon operates 25 daily flights each way between Seattle and Portland on weekdays, and 18 flights each way on weekends. From Seattle, Horizon serves Lewiston/Clarkston, Pasco/Tri-Cities, Pullman, Spokane, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima. Alaska Airlines flights between Seattle and Spokane will also be eligible for the special fare.
Unless travelers are willing to take a major detour around I-5, flying appears to be their only choice right now for getting between Seattle and Portland, because the Amtrak rail line that links the two cities is also closed due to the flooding. Indeed, Amtrak contacted Horizon to ask for assistance in transporting its passengers stranded in Portland. Horizon was able to help by adding two more flights from Portland to Seattle specifically for the Amtrak passengers, in addition to the other flights it added to meet the greater demand.
"This region is our backyard, and these are our communities. We want to extend a helping hand to folks by offering this special fare to these affected cities," said Dan Russo, Horizon's vice president of marketing and communications. "We've had a tremendous response to our special fare between Portland and Seattle, and with today's closure of mountain passes in Washington, it felt only right to offer this to those traveling between eastern and western cities in the state as well."