Roberts Field

History

Built in the 1920s, passenger flights arrived at the airport in 1940. During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber base. After the war the federal government sold the airport to the city for $1.

Passenger service

United Airlines was the only airline at Redmond in the late 1940s; in 1947, United Douglas DC-3s flew Portland, OR - Redmond, OR - Klamath Falls, OR - Sacramento - San Francisco - Monterey, CA - Santa Barbara, CA - Los Angeles. By 1959 United was operating Convair 340s Seattle - Portland - Redmond - Klamath Falls - Sacramento - San Francisco and back.

United would end mainline service to Redmond and by 1960 West Coast Airlines Douglas DC-3s were flying Portland, OR - Salem, OR - Redmond, OR - Klamath Falls, OR - Lakeview, OR - Burns, OR - Boise. West Coast Airlines later merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West which became Hughes Airwest. In 1972 Hughes Airwest Fairchild F-27s flew nonstop to Portland and direct to Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle. By 1975 Hughes Airwest had introduced McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jets to Redmond, flying nonstop to Portland and direct to San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1980 Hughes Airwest had four DC-9 flights a day from Redmond: twice to San Francisco via Redding and to Seattle twice via Eugene. Hughes Airwest merged into Republic Airlines which continued to operate DC-9s to Redmond. In 1981 Republic DC-9-30s flew nonstop to Portland, Eugene and Klamath Falls, continuing to San Francisco or Seattle.

Other airlines that scheduled jets to Redmond included Alaska Airlines Boeing 727-200s to Los Angeles and Seattle, Pacific Express BAC One-Elevens to Portland, San Francisco and other cities, Pacific Southwest Airlines BAe 146-200s to San Francisco and Reno Air McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to San Jose.

On August 1, 2006 Horizon Air began twice daily nonstops to Los Angeles with 76-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s. This was reduced to one daily flight on June 24, 2008, due to rising fuel prices. By 2010 this flight to LAX was eliminated altogether. In the late 2000s (decade), Allegiant Air flew McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Las Vegas twice a week and twice-weekly to Phoenix, Arizona's suburban airport Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA), also with MD-80s. In early 2012 Allegiant Air indicated it would fly to Oakland, California beginning in April. However, on May 23, 2012 Allegiant Air announced it would end all service to the airport on August 12.

Current service

In 2005 Delta Connection flights on SkyWest Airlines began to Salt Lake City on Canadair CRJ-100s, now replaced by the CRJ-700. All United Express flights on SkyWest Airlines are being flown with Canadair regional jets following the retirement of Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias by SkyWest. All Alaska Airlines flights operated by Horizon Air are operated with the Bombardier Q400, the largest and fastest of the Dash 8 family.

Horizon announced cuts to Seattle and Portland service in 2009, as it continued to phase out its smaller aircraft in favor of Q400's. The airline's seat capacity from Redmond is expected to remain nearly the same. United Express announced it would make its regional jet service to Denver year-round, thus giving Roberts Field passenger service to a second hub in the intermountain west in addition to the Delta Connection service to Salt Lake City.

United Express then announced it would upgrade its CRJ 200 flights to Denver from weekend only to daily and also would expand service to San Francisco as the EMB-120 was replaced with CRJ 200 regional jets. This will increase daily seats despite the reduction from three flights per day to two. Flight time will be reduced by nearly an hour.

Passenger boardings increased in the first half of 2010. United resumed three Redmond-San Francisco jets a day in November 2010 after several years where they had two. 2011 passenger boardings were 3% higher than 2010 (through October).

In early 2013 American Eagle announced it would offer nonstop service to Los Angeles as a feeder service for American Airlines with these flights replacing the service formerly operated by Alaska Airlines regional connector Horizon Air. A method known as a "travel bank" was used, where local individuals, businesses, and civic entities pre-purchased travel vouchers from the airline, acting as a commitment to the required level of demand on the route, which began in June, and is served by Canadair CRJ-200 regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines branded as American Eagle service.

By mid-2014 United announced the end of all flights between Portland and both Redmond and Eugene, due to regional affiliate SkyWest's elimination of the EMB-120 from its fleet; the routes are ostensibly unable to support CRJ service. One year later, a transition of the once-daily Los Angeles flight to irregular seasonal operations was acknowledged by American Airlines; the route is to stop in September, restart for the December holidays, and then continue its hiatus until summer 2016.

In summer 2016 daily service was added on American Eagle between Roberts Field and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, also using regional contractor SkyWest's CRJ-700; the flights began sooner than expected due to travel-bank fundraising among the Central Oregon community.

Passenger terminal

A passenger terminal was built in 1950 and replaced in 1981 by a 6,000-square-foot (560 m²) terminal. In 1992-93 the terminal was expanded to 23,000 square feet (2,100 m²).

By late 2009 Roberts Field completed another large terminal expansion, designed by HNTB.

Along with increased parking, the facility has increased its area by about 600%, allowing more room for security and traveler services, as well as concessions and gate operations. While the new bi-level structure is capable of supporting jet bridges, the low frequency of full-size jets operating from the terminal, and no indication of tenant airline desire, means that these bridges are not currently included, though walking distance to and from planes has been reduced.

In October 2009 most sections of the expanded passenger terminal opened for public use; the improvements include more numerous check-in counters and bathrooms, along with a two story, windowed departure lounge. Travelers also may now use covered walkways between aircraft and terminal.

A year after the expansion's completion, a bar and restaurant was opened in the secure area after a contentious permitting process; efforts to add pizza and coffee outlets to the non-secure area are now underway. While there was a restaurant in the check-in hall until 2009, this is the first time in Roberts Field's history that food and drink are available in the departure gate area. If initial OLCC approval is continued, it will also become the second location in Oregon allowed to serve alcohol beginning at 5 am, following Portland's airport.

Since the airport began displaying public art in the terminal, it has sold nearly $100,000 worth of artworks to travelers.

Infrastructure

The airport upgraded its mass-casualty vehicle in 2011 due to larger commercial jets using Roberts Field; while the old unit could handle 37 patients, the new truck is prepared for an incident involving over 100. In early 2012, the airport began hosting a MEDEVAC helicopter operated by Lifeflight. In May 2016 the airport runways were closed for nearly three weeks, allowing their intersection to be reconstructed as part of a project to re-pave them both.

Facilities

Roberts Field covers 2,518 acres (1,019 ha) at an elevation of 3,080 feet (939 m). It has two asphalt runways: 5/23 is 7,038 by 150 feet (2,145 x 46 m) and 11/29 is 7,006 by 100 feet (2,135 x 30 m). It has one concrete helipad H1, 48 by 48 feet (15 x 15 m).

In 2011 the airport had 48,693 aircraft operations, average 133 per day: 71% general aviation, 19% air taxi, 10% airline, and 1% military. 75 aircraft were then based at this airport: 81% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 7% helicopter, and 5% jet.