A change in management philosophy at Seattle-based Horizon Air will next see it adopt the colors and livery of its parent company, Alaska Airlines, and largely retire the Horizon brand by some time early next year. The decision follows a shift to a 100-percent capacity purchase agreement (CPA) model starting January 1, when Alaska Airlines began assuming complete responsibility for managing Horizon's route network, along with all the risk associated with marketing and selling seats on the airlineπs fleet of Bombardier Q400 turboprops and CRJ700s.

During the year-long transition to the Alaska brand, Horizon expects to shed its remaining 13 Bombardier CRJ700s, giving it a uniform fleet of 48 Q400 turboprops by year-end. In fact, by this June Horizon hopes to move all its CRJ700s; Alaska has already signed a new capacity purchase agreement with St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines to fly the remaining five CRJ700s between the Pacific Northwest and California, and plans call for Horizon to sublease eight of the airplanes to another U.S.-based regional.

As part of the brand change, Horizon will repaint its Bombardier Q400 fleet with a new paint scheme prominently featuring "Alaska" across the fuselage and the company's Eskimo logo on the tail. The Horizon logo will also appear less prominently on the sides of the aircraft in Alaskaπs dark blue color.