For residents and travelers in the San Juan Islands, the shock over Thursday's crash of a Kenmore Air floatplane has given way to relief that no one died and hope for a quick restart to the flights that play a vital part in island living.
“Floatplanes are a lifeline to the islands, … so any time it's disrupted, it affects a lot of things,” said longtime Orcas Island resident Christopher Peacock of Kenmore Air’s role in getting people and cargo between the mainland and Orcas, San Juan and Lopez islands.
As of Friday, a company spokesperson said the airline expected to restart regular flights Saturday after a one-day pause.
While the lion’s share of island travel takes place on Washington State Ferries, Kenmore is the dominant provider for tourists looking to avoid ferry lines and islanders who absolutely, positively need to get somewhere fast.
Of the 90,000 passengers Kenmore flew last year, a fifth were to and from the San Juans.
“Air travel is second only to the ferries for how visitors arrive in the San Juans,” said Amy Nesler, with the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau.
In such a small community that relies so heavily on air travel, even a nonfatal accident shakes everyone," Peacock said.
A Seattle classic
Although it’s too soon to assess the impact of Thursday’s crash on Kenmore Air’s business, those in the industry hope it won’t dissuade people from taking one of Seattle’s signature forms of transportation.
Seaplanes are possibly as synonymous with Seattle as ferries. Locals and tourists have watched them glide past the Space Needle and skitter onto the surface of Lake Union for the last 100 years.
Many of those seaplanes belong to Kenmore Air, which has grown into the largest seaplane airline in the United States since it was founded near the north end of Lake Washington in 1946.
Kenmore Air mostly focused on private charter flights until 1986, when it expanded to regular scheduled services after buying out two competitors.
Today, the airline has become a key piece of the region’s transportation network, facilitating tourism to the San Juan Islands and British Columbia, travel between Seattle and coastal communities, and cargo service for island businesses and residents, with both sea- and land-based planes.
George Mulligan, a retired Kenmore Air seaplane pilot who flew in the early 2000s, said he remembers seaplane pilots being “part of the community fabric” in island and rural communities.
“I remember fondly being up north, out in the boonies, if someone was ill, (Kenmore Air) pretty much expected you to drop your schedule and take them to the hospital and get them attended to,” he said.
He hopes Thursday’s crash doesn’t change people’s perception of the company, which has only had one fatal crash, in October 1977, when seven people died flying over Stevens Pass in a DHC-2 Beaver.
Colleen Mondor, an author who specializes in investigating air accidents in Alaska involving similar aircraft, said incidents like Thursday’s crash can cause general anxiety for those with upcoming seaplane flights.
Questions for customers, community
Kenmore Air President David Gudgel said in a statement to The Seattle Times on Thursday that the company knows incidents like this can “understandably raise questions for our customers and our community.” The company is offering those with upcoming reservations full refunds if they wish to cancel their flights.
“We recognize that some customers may not feel ready to travel, and we respect that,” he said.
But while some customers told The Seattle Times they canceled upcoming plans for Kenmore Air flights, many others said they weren’t worried.
Patsy Pattison, 74, said she saw seaplanes continue to land on Lake Union throughout the day from her Seattle condo and decided to ultimately not cancel her flight with Kenmore Air on Sunday.
“If they know what caused (the crash), I would love to know that ahead of time," she said. "But at this point, I don’t feel concerned."
Mondor said a seaplane crash usually doesn’t have a lasting effect on a region’s seaplane economy if people don’t view it as a systemic issue.
Still, this crash may feel more raw for the region’s travelers, considering a crash of a DHC-3 Otter floatplane into Puget Sound off Whidbey Island that killed 10 people happened just four years ago. However, the accident involved a Friday Harbor Seaplanes flight, not a Kenmore Air flight.
The 2022 crash was caused by a broken link between the pilot’s controls and the plane’s tail, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded, prompting fleetwide inspections. But after the deadly incident, the seaplane industry as a whole remained strong in Seattle.
Until the cause of Thursday’s crash is revealed, it’s unclear whether Kenmore Air, or the region’s seaplane travel as a whole, will suffer. But Gudgel said he’s focused on the crash's impact on his employees and passengers, not his business.
'Kenmore keeps my relationship alive'
The Kenmore cancellations come at a tough time for locals, especially those who depend on tourism.
“A Friday on a summer weekend (has) got to impact a lot of people, and most likely family reunions and weddings,” said Peacock, who is also the former general manager of Rosario Resort.
This is a community long accustomed to interrupted travel.
For years, islanders have coped with frequent ferry cancellations as the Washington State Ferries fleet struggled with maintenance problems and crew shortages, although things have improved recently, locals say.
Weather is a constant challenge, especially for air passengers. Flights can be delayed or grounded entirely by fog or other weather that restricts visibility. On Thursday, heavy thunder and lightning thrashed parts of the islands, catching many islanders off guard.
Those vulnerabilities have forced many residents and businesses to be flexible.
“Our local transportation challenges may be more unique and have a more immediate effect than some other (tourist) places, but island businesses have grown accustomed to managing these kinds of interruptions,” said Nesler, with the visitors bureau.
Still, any extended cancellation of Kenmore flights would be widely felt. While a few other airlines serve the islands, Kenmore is the dominant player.
At the Friday Harbor Airport, on San Juan Island, Kenmore accounts for around 70% of the daily flights, said Mike Otis, airport operations manager for the Port of Friday Harbor.
In addition to people, Kenmore also carries “urgent,” or time-sensitive cargo, including marine spare parts and perishables, and for that reason was designated an essential service during the pandemic, the company said.
Although Kenmore’s 19,000 San Juan Islands passengers a year pales next to the nearly 2 million ferry passengers who traveled to or among the San Juans in 2025, the airline has a disproportionate impact “on our local economy or the well-being of island life,” said Carey Eskridge, executive director of the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce.
And for some smaller businesses, even a day’s cancellations can be painful.
Nesler said things were up in the air after the crash for several local innkeepers.
At one smaller business on Lopez, a guest whose flight was canceled had to scramble to find alternative transportation on the island. “If she hadn't, that would've been a weekend's worth of lost income” for the innkeeper, Nesler said.
And for some residents, an extended absence of Kenmore could bring other costs.
Tim Coffey, who owns three restaurants on Orcas, said he flies Kenmore at least 40 times a year to visit his partner, who lives in Seattle.
Coffey can leave work and "be at my partner's house an hour and 15 minutes later, and ferry cannot provide a service like that," said Coffey. "I sometimes joke, but actually, in all seriousness, Kenmore Air keeps my relationship alive."
News of the crash, including spectacular videos, has been such a major story that some islanders worry, even if Kenmore quickly restarts flights, some people will rethink their plans to fly to the islands.
Not Coffey, who, despite the accident, thinks it's safer to fly from Eastsound to Seattle than it is to drive to the airport.
"I'll gladly get on the next floatplane they offer me," he said. Accidents like Thursday's "are unfortunate," he added, but "my risk calculus tells me that it's still a good idea.
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