Butte Could Get Flights to Salt Lake City and Denver

Jun. 28—SkyWest Airlines says it would provide Butte flights to and from Salt Lake City and Denver over the next three years if it receives subsidies from a federal agency later this year.

That would start in January, giving Butte a second, big-city destination it has sought for years, if the U.S. Department of Transportation chooses that proposal over one by Boutique Air that would provide flights to Seattle and either Bozeman or Billings.

And the new flights to Denver would not require a separate revenue guarantee costing local entities hundreds of thousands of dollars. Landing a second airline or second city through such efforts has proven elusive in Butte so far.

The board that oversees Bert Mooney Airport is recommending the SkyWest proposal, which would initially entail one daily flight to Salt Lake City arranged through Delta Airlines and one daily flight to Denver arranged through United Airlines.

The daily flights would occur six days a week, with perhaps only one city getting a flight on Saturdays. But Pam Chamberlin, manager at Bert Mooney Airport, said two daily flights to each city would be possible if enough seats on the 50-passenger planes are sold.

SkyWest currently has two daily flights to and from Salt Lake most days arranged through Delta.

The U.S. DOT won't make its choice until this fall, Chamberlin said, but if SkyWest is picked, "It's the best news we have had in a long time."

On the surface, SkyWest's proposal has major advantages over Boutique's, since it includes daily flights to two major cities for an annual "essential air service" subsidy of about $997,000. A 2019 survey showed strong support in Butte for flights to Salt Lake.

Boutique has had commuter operations since 2014 but its proposal would cost the feds nearly twice as much in annual subsidies — between $1.77 million and $1.84 million — and of 36 weekly flights, 12 would go to Seattle and the rest to either Bozeman or Billings.

SkyWest and United had competing proposals for the subsidies in 2019, with SkyWest going to Salt Lake and United to Denver. The feds chose SkyWest.

"But this time they are working together," Chamberlin said.

J.P. Gallagher, Butte- Silver Bow's chief executive, said the proposal is "great news for Butte and all of southwest Montana."

"The addition of air service connecting to Denver will benefit personal and business travelers," Gallagher said Monday. "It will be critical for local travelers to fly out of Butte."

He said Butte was fortunate to have Chamberlin's leadership and if people support the airport and flights, "we could see an increase of more flights coming to Butte."

Butte has been seeking flights to a second major city through separate revenue guarantees — money an airline could count on if the flights were not profitable. The county's Tourism Business Improvement District has pledged $200,000 for that effort and another $200,000 has been raised to match that.

One previous offer from United Airlines to provide 84 flights to Denver in the summer sought $1 million over two years and maybe $100,000 more for startup costs. The local TIBD board balked at that in early 2020.

The Butte Local Development Corp. and Butte Chamber of Commerce have spearheaded efforts to land more destinations.

BLDC Executive Director Joe Willauer said they were "incredibly excited about the potential of SkyWest adding Denver" through the EAS (essential air service) process.

"In addition to this potential expansion through the EAS program, the air service development committee will continue to work to add additional destinations and keep striving to bring new flights and new destinations to Butte," Willauer said.

In 2019, when SkyWest and United were competing separately for federal subsidies, Butte's Airport Authority sought community input before it weighed in. In an online survey and public hearing, most favored SkyWest's flights to Salt Lake arranged through Delta.

Out of 1,856 people who took the survey, 61 percent favored SkyWest to Salt Lake while 39 percent wanted new United flights to Denver. The board recommended the Salt Lake proposal and the U.S. DOT announced that chose in December 2019.

Some local officials favored the Denver flights because United's hub in Denver is bigger than Delta's hub in Salt Lake. In July 2019, United had 502 departures out of Denver to 163 destinations each day, while Delta had 282 departures from Salt Lake City to 95 destinations each day.

The current proposal would keep Salt Lake, which many Butte residents like, and add Denver, which has more connections and destinations to the east.

___

Visit The Montana Standard (Butte, Mont.) at www.mtstandard.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.