Cites fuel savings from 76-seat planes

Seattle-based Horizon Air, the regional partner of Alaska Airlines, said that due to the escalating cost of fuel, it will accelerate the transition of its fleet to a single aircraft type – fuel-efficient 76-seat Q400 turboprops. It already has 34, and expects 14 more to be delivered in the coming months. Horizon said it will eliminate its 12 37-seat Q200s from the fleet by late October instead of April 2009, as planned earlier; and will also start to phase out its 70-seat Canadair regional jets this fall. By the end of next year, Horizon said, it should be flying nothing but Q400s. As a result, the airline will be changing its schedules later this summer, in some cases reducing daily frequencies as its changes the aircraft mix. For example, the airline will reduce frequencies between Portland-Sacramento, Portland-Burbank, Portland-Ontario, Portland-San Jose and on its Portland-Seattle shuttle service.