Horizon Air to Fly Boise State Colors, Honoring Its 25-year Service to City

Horizon Air announced today that it plans to celebrate its more than 25 years of service to Boise by painting one of its new aircraft with Boise State University colors and marks.

The Boise State-themed Q400 joins Horizon’s other university-themed aircraft, which currently underscore its deep roots in Oregon and Washington by focusing on these institutions: the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, the University of Washington and Washington State University.

"Our four university-themed aircraft have generated an overwhelmingly positive response, and they hold a special place in our fleet,” said Dan Russo, Horizon’s vice president of marketing and communications. "Like the others, the Boise State-themed aircraft will be painted at no cost to the university and flown full time across our route system.”

"We are very proud that the blue and orange colors of Boise State University will be on display with Horizon Air,” said Bob Kustra, president of Boise State University. "Boise State is a university on the rise in the academic arena as well as on the field of play. Our inclusion with the public universities in Oregon and Washington is another indicator of our increasing stature. We thank Horizon Air for this special recognition.”

How soon the Boise State-themed aircraft might be seen at airports and in the skies has yet to be determined. The aircraft will be one of the 11 new Bombardier Q400s that will eventually join Horizon’s fleet.

Horizon is in the process of transitioning to an all-Q400 fleet, and its receipt of new Q400 aircraft is contingent on the successful sale or subleasing of the Bombardier CRJ-700 jets in its fleet. The Q400 is among the most environmentally friendly aircraft today, burning 30 percent less fuel and producing 30 percent lower emissions than comparable jets.

Horizon’s first four university liveries were painted on CRJ-700s. After these jets leave the fleet, Horizon will eventually replace them with Q400s sporting similar liveries.

Horizon serves 47 cities throughout Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Baja California Sur (Mexico), and British Columbia and Alberta (Canada). Together, Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines serve more than 90 cities and are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK).

An artist’s rendering of the planned BSU aircraft livery is available in high-resolution format in the Horizon Air Newsroom at http://newsroom.horizonair.com.