Boardings at Spokane International Airport declined 6.5% in September, the best year-over-year results since Express Jet Airlines shut down service.
Airport spokesman Todd Woodard said Express Jet’s low-cost flights, and the response from competitors, inflated traffic numbers during the 17 months the airline served Spokane. High fuel costs forced Express Jet out of business in September of 2008.
Since then, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines or its regional partner, SkyWest Airlines, have added or restored flights to Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago and Denver.
In September, 123,618 passengers boarded in Spokane, compared with 131,771 a year earlier.