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By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune October 09. 2014 5:27PM Medford airport has busiest September ever More than 59,000 passengers flew in and out of the Medford airport last month. PHOTO/ Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Alaska's Horizon Air unit has been the big winner as Medford airport numbers continue to grow following the cessation of commercial flight in Klamath Falls earlier this year. The Medford airport had its busiest September for commercial service on record. The 59,215 passengers who passed through the gates easily topped the 2012 standard of 56,077. The cessation of commercial service to Crater Lake / Klamath Regional Airport when United Express pulled out in June proved an immediate windfall for Medford, turning a mediocre year into what now looks like its best in history. "When you are an hour to an hour and a half from an airport that closes, you'll definitely see an impact," said George Hobica, founder of Los Angeles-based Airfare Watchdog. "The converse is true too. If Appleton, Wisc., gets new service, Milwaukee catches cold." Through nine months, the Medford airport has seen 492,368 passengers. September's 8.4 percent gain over the 54,615 a year ago pushed the annual pace 2.1 percent ahead of 2013. No airline has benefited more from the Medford airport's resilient second-half run than Alaska. Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, whose Horizon Air arm operates flights in and out of the Rogue Valley, will easily blow away annual combined passenger totals prior to 1986 by year's end. Alaska accounted for 32,449 passengers, a 16.6 percent jump from September 2013. "There are all kinds of reasons Alaska is doing good, the main one is their service," said Brian Mein, owner of Caveman Travel in Grants Pass. "When problems come up, they fix it; they really take care of their people. Looking at what they are doing, it's more than just what happened in Klamath Falls." Mein said it would be nice to see Alaska flights to Phoenix, a current hole in the Medford airport's coverage, but he doesn't expect to see major changes. "We're in between San Francisco, Portland and Seattle," Mein said. "If they added more cities, it would make Medford like a hub." Rather than ratchet up passenger options, however, Alaska is standing pat, a spokesperson for the Alaska Air Group said. "We've increased service over the past year or so already, going from three flights daily between Portland and Medford to six daily flights," Alaska's Bobbie Egan said. "We don't have any further plans to expand at this time." Most of the passengers who would have flown United Express out of Klamath Falls now board Alaska's fleet of 70- and 90-seat Q-400s. United Express recorded a 12.9 percent drop in passenger count, but remained the second-largest player in Medford with 15,103 passengers last month. "United has been cutting unprofitable regional routes for some time," Hobica said. "They intentionally cut their market share in Cleveland, where they used to have a hub, because they weren't making money. It used to be airlines added planes to gain market share, but now they are happy to be whatever size — and to make money." While Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air saw a 65.5 percent gain in passenger count, Delta Connection added 5.6 percent. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31, and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/Economic Edge. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141009/NEWS/141009655 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->