A third airline is offering local service.

Sitka-based Harris Aircraft Services Inc. last week began offering daily flights between Haines and Juneau aboard its nine-seat Piper Chieftain Navajos, said office manager and director of marketing Ali Clayton.

Clayton said the company decided to move into Haines because of its relationship with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. “We work really closely with SEARHC, and after talking to their director, they wanted to see us offer something so there would be more options and consistency,” she said.

Harris Air also heard Wings of Alaska, another local airline, was closing its Haines office. Local Wings office manager Marlene Wilson said that rumor is unfounded. Others inside the airline industry, however, said this week they’ve heard of a possible sale of Wings by its owner, Portland, Ore.-based Seaport Airlines, to Fjord Flying Service of Gustavus.

Owners of Seaport and Fjord did not respond to messages left at their offices late Wednesday.

Harris’s Clayton said the Sitka-based airline has operated Instrumental Flight Rules (IFR) equipment longer than any other outfit in Southeast. IFR uses instruments and other equipment to navigate, as compared to Visual Flight Rules (VFR), which rely on visual cues and clear conditions to operate the aircraft.

“I know that especially in the winter, Wings cancels a lot of flights because of their lack of instruments,” Clayton said. “We operate IFR all the time in both our aircraft.”

“I think the people of Haines and Juneau will find our flights very reliable and consistent, by operating IFR all the time,” she added. “There are certain approaches in the IFR world that we are allowed to do because of our equipment, which allows us to fly in inclement weather.”

The company also prides itself on experience and doesn’t currently employ any pilots under 40, she said.

Harris Air is currently offering one morning flight a day from Haines that stops in Juneau and continues on to Sitka.

Clayton said the company is talking to Wings to work out an agreement to use its terminal at the Haines Airport.

Harris Air is operated out of Sitka and owned by the Harris family. The company started in 1998 as a maintenance shop. In addition to the two float planes it uses for flying into more remote locales, Harris Air uses two Piper Chieftains for flights between larger communities.