Portland connection begins at Pangborn, with an Oktoberfest surprise aboard

EAST WENATCHEE — The first passenger off Pangborn Memorial Airport’s inaugural flight from Portland arrived dressed for the occasion, though perhaps not the occasion airport officials had in mind.

Wearing a dirndl, she stepped off the aircraft Oct. 3 bound for Oktoberfest in Leavenworth, where she planned to surprise her mother, who did not know she was coming.

Behind her came fellow travelers, a child receiving a commemorative coin and Port Commissioner Mark Spurgeon, returning from a trip made specifically to experience the new connection.

Then the flow reversed: A passenger in a wheelchair was assisted aboard, a young traveler filmed himself boarding a historic first flight and a family headed to Disneyland waved goodbye.

With those arrivals and departures, daily nonstop service between Pangborn and Portland International Airport became a reality.

The year-round Alaska Airlines route, operated by Horizon Air on Embraer 175 aircraft, adds Portland to Pangborn’s existing Seattle connection and gives North Central Washington travelers another gateway to destinations beyond the Northwest.

The arriving aircraft received a water cannon salute before passengers disembarked onto the ramp under a clear blue sky.

Trent Moyers, the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority’s director of airports, welcomed the crew with a commemorative coin. The keepsake features Wenatchee on one side and Portland on the other, marking the connection between the two cities.

Moyers also handed a coin to the first child off the arriving flight. Nearby, passengers posed for photographs, and Spurgeon joined Port CEO Jim Kuntz and economic development specialist Brooke Lammert for a celebratory wave in front of the aircraft.

For Spurgeon, the flight offered both a new travel option and a spectacular look at the landscape between Portland and the Wenatchee Valley.

“And it was nothing but eye candy,” he said afterward.

Spurgeon had traveled from Pangborn through Seattle to Portland to catch the inaugural flight back. A mechanical delay on his initial departure from Pangborn complicated that itinerary, but he credited Horizon employees Laura and Marta with helping rearrange his connection.

“They went the extra mile,” he said.

The new nonstop return was considerably simpler. Spurgeon said the flight pushed back on time, took off westward from Portland and banked across the Columbia River into Washington before climbing toward its cruising altitude.

With clear skies along the route, passengers could see the Cascade volcanoes from the left side of the aircraft and the Columbia Basin to the right.

“And on the left side of the plane, we go right past Mount St. Helens,” Spurgeon said. “Like, you can almost touch it.”

Mount Rainier followed, appearing even closer.

“It is, it was amazing,” he said.

Approaching Pangborn, Spurgeon could see Mount Stuart. Across the other side of the aircraft, the view stretched over the basin, with the Columbia River tracing its course below.

“I swear I could see Richland, and you could follow the Columbia River,” he said. “It is spectacular.”

Beyond the scenery, Spurgeon emphasized the possibilities for travelers continuing through Portland. He said he and Kuntz had been discussing how the departing flight would connect passengers to 35 flights across the West that could get them to their destinations by 5 p.m.

For local travelers, the new route also offers another way to begin a trip close to home, avoiding the drive over the Cascades to catch a flight from Seattle.

Spurgeon was already considering a trip through Portland to visit friends in Tucson later in October.

On the ramp, those possibilities were already taking shape.

An airport employee assisted a passenger in a wheelchair up the boarding ramp for the first outbound flight. A young traveler held up his phone to record himself boarding, excited to be part of the inaugural departure.

And a family in Disney-themed shirts headed toward the aircraft, confirming their destination when someone called out to ask where they were going.

For airport officials, Oct. 3 marked the launch of a new route. For the people stepping aboard and off the aircraft, it meant a surprise reunion, an anticipated vacation or simply a new way home.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media