Eugene Airport - History

History

During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Force.

Eugene Airport has been served by many different carriers to different destinations.

  • West Coast Airlines began service to Eugene in 1947, becoming the second airline serving Eugene. In later years, West Coast operated Fairchild F-27 turboprop service as well as Douglas DC-9-10 jet service from the airport before merging with Bonanza Airlines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West.
  • West Coast Airlines became Air West in 1968.
  • Air West became Hughes Airwest in 1970 and served Eugene with flights to several cities in California including San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as the Pacific Northwest including Portland and Seattle and also to Boise and Denver with Douglas DC-9-30 jet service.
  • The original Frontier Airlines began two daily Boeing 737-200 flights to Denver, via Salt Lake City in July of 1979. However in December of that year, Frontier rerouted the Denver service through Boise, reducing the flight time by 25 minutes.
  • Eureka, California based commuter airline, Century Airlines began flights to Crescent City, Eureka, Portland, Sacramento, and San Francisco out of Eugene in December of 1979.
  • Republic Airlines absorbed Hughes Airwest in September, 1980, taking over Airwest's flights to and from Eugene. However, it reduced the frequencies of Hughes Airwest's flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, as well as Eugene-Pasco-Yakima and Eugene-Redmond-Klamath Falls as well as ceasing service to Boise and Denver completely.
  • American Airlines launched its first service to Eugene in 1985, beginning onestop, direct McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliner flights to Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago via Portland, on July 2 of that year.
  • Pacific Southwest Airlines began its first ever jet service to the airport with three daily British Aerospace BAe 146-200 flights to San Francisco, which began in December.
  • On August 24, 1986 the original Frontier Airlines ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy, ending its seven year long service to Denver.
  • Continental Airlines began Boeing 737 service to Eugene in April of 1987, picking up Frontier Airlines' previous service to Denver. Frontier's service to the airport ended when the airline filed for bankruptcy the previous year and was acquired by Continental's parent company, the Texas Air Corporation.
  • American Airlines flew three daily Boeing 737 flights to San Jose from December 2, 1988 until September 10, 1993.
  • Delta Connection (SkyWest Airlines) flew Canadair CRJ-200 regional jets nonstop to Salt Lake City from March, 1995 until 1998 when it ceased the route due to a fleet shortage.
  • America West Express (Mesa Airlines) started regional jet flights to Phoenix in September 1999.
  • Delta Connection (SkyWest Airlines) resumed Canadair regional jet service to Salt Lake City on May 1, 2004 with $1.2 million of incentives offered by various public and private sources to kick-start service.
  • United Airlines flew Boeing 737s to San Francisco until January 6, 2003 (United Flight 1423 was the last 737 flight out of Eugene). United previously served Eugene with Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 jetliners as well.
  • SkyWest Airlines took over for United flying Canadair regional jets to San Francisco on January 7, 2003
  • America West Express (Mesa Airlines) also started flights to Las Vegas in March 1, 2003.
  • Horizon Air flew to Los Angeles from June 4, 2007 until June 6, 2010 when it ceased the route.
  • United Airlines resumed Boeing 737 flights to San Francisco in March of 2008, but later ended them in August of that year.
  • Delta Connection (ExpressJet Airlines) flew Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets nonstop to Los Angeles until September 1, 2008 when Delta ended its contract with the ExpressJet.
  • Allegiant Air began offering McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliner flights nonstop to Phoenix/Mesa in October of 2008.
  • Allegiant Air launched twice weekly McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliner flights nonstop to Los Angeles on June 3, 2010 and continues the service presently.
  • Allegiant Air announced Eugene's first ever non-stop service to Hawaii in 2012. The once weekly flight to Honolulu was launch on November 17, 2012 and uses a Boeing 757-200, the largest commercial aircraft to operate from the airport on a regular basis.

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