Helena Airport Runway Work to Halt Commercial Flights for 8 Days in June

Mar. 2—For eight days in June, there will be no large airline flights in or out of the Helena Regional Airport due to a $10.8 million runway project that officials said will ensure the pavement is safe for another 20 years.

The main runway will be closed June 6-13, airport officials said on their webpage. They also note that a runway rehabilitation project in 2000 closed the runway for 60 days.

And officials said the work will impact large carriers only and that smaller aviation will be able to use the two other paved runways and grass runway at the airport.

Airport director Jeff Wadekamper said it's just a maintenance task that is necessary at airports and that the airport has planned this with the large air carriers for quite a while.

"It's just an unfortunate thing ... but sometimes you just have to work on that pavement," he said.

The first phase will include a reconstruction of the eastern 2,700 feet of the runway. The airlines will still be able to use the runway during this time as the 9,000-feet runway has the adequate length to operate in a shortened status.

He said the plan includes a few days of "wiggle room" to deal with Montana's changing weather or construction equipment failure.

"We think we have a pretty good plan," Wadekamper said.

He noted early June is not the peak tourist airline traffic season at the airport, saying that it usually picks up in July, August and September.

Officials said "90% of the cost is covered by the Airport Improvement Program which is funded by a federally imposed surcharge on airline tickets, aviation fuel sales and air cargo transactions. The remaining 10% (or $1.5 million) is paid for by the Airport Authority and generated from other airport revenues."

They said no city, county, or state taxes are used to fund the local match.

The airport now has five flights a day offered by three major carriers: Delta, United and Alaska. The airport is seeking community support to entice American Airlines to come to Helena and offer a direct flight to Phoenix.

Officials said that in 2000 the entire runway had a full reconstruction, and the airlines used a parallel taxiway as a temporary solution and also used smaller aircraft. They said the smaller aircraft are no longer used by the airlines.

Wadekamper noted that engineers at the time gave the project a 20-year lifespan.

Airport officials said they have developed an aggressive phasing plan with multiple milling and paving crews working rotating shifts to minimize the impacts.

The airport just completed a $12 million expansion of its terminal and has room for more aircraft parking.

In 2020 the airport had 92,562 total passengers, a 62% dip from 237,378 in 2019.

However, passenger traffic has grown 23% from 2012-2018, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, the airport gained 30,630 seats into the Helena market as a result of increased flights and larger aircraft during peak travel seasons.

Also, Montana's two senators recently announced 68 airports statewide would receive $20,034,965 in federal grant funding to keep up with costs and continue projects amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The funding was part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Of that, Helena Regional Airport will receive $1,461,939. Glacier International Airport in Kalispell will get $2.8 million. Dillon, Ennis, Three Forks and Townsend airports will each get $13,000. Choteau and Lincoln airports will each get $9,000.

Great Falls International Airport will get $1.8 million and Bert Mooney Airport in Butte will get $1 million.

People with questions should contact the airport at (406)-442-2821 or email Jeff Wadekamper at [email protected].

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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