Nov. 9—TWIN FALLS — A second daily flight to Salt Lake City has gotten off the ground from Joslin Field, Twin Falls Regional Airport, Manager Bill Carberry says popularity is building.
SkyWest Airlines' average plane capacity of the new afternoon flights, which started a week ago, has been about 50%, Carberry said, compared to the morning flight which has on average been about 85% filled.
SkyWest planes hold 50 passengers.
Flights to Salt Lake are at about 6:10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., with arrivals from Salt Lake City at about 2:52 p.m. and 10 p.m. There is not an afternoon flight from Twin Falls on Saturdays.
Carberry said the flight's popularity is expected to grow as travelers learn of the new flight, and expects to the flight to be particularly busy during holiday travel.
The contract for the extra flight runs through December, but Carberry said he is hopeful the flight will be extended.
"In the coming weeks, we will be reviewing what 2023 will look like," he said.
The Twin Falls City Council and Twin Falls County recently approved the new flight as part of its guaranteed revenue agreement it adopted this spring.
The revenue guarantee agreement stipulates that if the flights are not profitable to SkyWest, Twin Falls City and County will cover up to $400,000, split evenly.
So far, only $25,000 has been paid to SkyWest for the first quarter of the year. The second and third quarters have been profitable at $170,990 and $127,183 through August reporting.
SkyWest operates through a partnership with Delta Air Lines.
The strong profitable quarters brought talks of adding the additional flight.
"We don't have a lack of demand," Carberry said. " Twin Falls has a strong track record and is a growing community."
When the Twin Falls City Council discussed the flight in October, council member Nikki Boyd called the addition "good news," adding that she has family members "pretty excited about the good pricing at this point right now."
During the last few years, rural communities have suffered with fewer flights due to pilots retiring and labor market challenges amid the pandemic, Carberry said.
In March, SkyWest announced plans to end flights to 29 small cities, citing a shortage of pilots.
Carberry urged Magic Valley residents to check plane fares and "support the local airport."
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