University of Idaho President Scott Green and other local leaders gathered at Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport Wednesday morning to celebrate the first of many non-stop flights to Boise now available through Alaska Airlines.
Green told the Daily News afterward that this has been a goal of his since he first became UI’s president in 2019. He met with Alaska Airlines senior management team in person in Seattle and had “frank conversations” about what it would take to provide Boise flights.
Green said most of the university’s students come from the Treasure Valley, and providing direct flights to Boise will benefit enrollment by making traveling back and forth convenient for those students and their families. Green also said it connects the university to its Boise campus, as well as legislators at the state capitol.
As part of an agreement between the airline and the University of Idaho, the UI will guarantee payments of as much as $500,000 a year for three years if the flights do not make at least a 10 percent profit. The Pullman-Moscow airport will waive its landing fees for Boise flights and has pledged at least $25,000 toward advertising the new route.
The airport is continuing to work with Alaska Airlines to potentially provide nonstop flights to Denver. It is also planning to construct a new 50,000-square-foot terminal with four gates that is expected to open in 2023.
