Natrona County Likely to Pay $453K to Maintain Flights to Salt Lake City

Oct. 6—Natrona County will likely pay approximately $453,000 to maintain local flight service to Salt Lake City through April, the board of county commissioners decided Tuesday.

The airline has been eliminating service to places where it's not making money, airport director Glenn Januska said. With flight traffic out of Casper down due to COVID, SkyWest stopped operating one of its two daily flights between Salt Lake City and Casper on Friday.

Without the additional money to make flying to Casper worth the airline's while, Januska said, the other flight was set to end by the start of November. That money, an estimated $755,000, will be funded 60% by the county and the rest from state transportation funds. Several commissioners noted on Tuesday that they'd also reach out to Casper to see if the city is willing to shoulder some of the local cost.

If SkyWest pulls its service from Casper altogether, Januska said, it will be difficult to get even one flight back whenever demand goes up again. There are only so many small aircraft in their fleet, and once a plane (and pilots to operate them) are allocated to another, more profitable market, it's harder to make the argument for service to return to Casper.

"(If) we're not going to do this... we would lose service in November," Januska said. "And then it would be very questionable whether we'd have that service back in the future."

The Wyoming Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Commission, is ready to approve the state's share of roughly $302,000 for the six-month guarantee once the terms of the agreement are finalized, commissioner William DeVore said.

While Casper has long been the only airport in Wyoming operating without any state subsidies, COVID has reduced both leisure and the more profitable business travel significantly.

Several members of the community testified at Tuesday evening's meeting that losing the flights would mean fewer business opportunities coming to Casper, restricted access to out-of-state medical facilities and less competition at the airport.

Some commissioners said they were reluctant to allow government subsidies into the local airport, but agreed that losing the flight would hurt the county.

"It's a lot of money for one flight a day, one in, one out," commissioner Dave North said, "but I do understand its importance to the community... Hopefully the city will ... help us out a bit."

Commissioners and public commenters noted that business travel to Casper has picked up slightly in recent weeks, with more set for the near future.

Commissioner Brook Kaufman and chair Paul Bertoglio also cited the planned Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple breaking ground in Casper this weekend — if churchgoers are going to travel to Casper for the temple, it's likely many of them would be coming through Utah. The $755,000 would constitute a minimum revenue guarantee for SkyWest, which operates the Delta flights out of Casper. It's meant to cover any potential losses for the airline between November and April, which includes the airport's slowest months — even in a pre-pandemic year, Januska said, January and February are quite slow. Add the COVID-19 delta variant and business travelers (who typically pay more for their flights) trading trips for virtual meetings, and the airport is bracing for an even tougher winter.

If all goes as hoped, come April the airport will be back to pre-pandemic traffic levels and won't need any additional subsidies.

Until now, Casper's airport was able to maintain its service just based on airfare and other revenue, but COVID has left some flights operating at a loss.

The proposed agreement with SkyWest assumes the airport will be able to fill 55% of flights to Salt Lake City in that six-month period. If more seats are sold, the county and the state will end up owing less to the airline. If demand proves to be lower than 55%, Januska said, there is a slight possibility the agreement — and with it, the daily flight to Utah — would be cancelled.

But based on the state's successful recent history with minimum revenue guarantees at other airports, that's unlikely. And since current flights between Casper and Salt Lake City are operating at around 70% capacity, the 55% estimate may even be a little conservative, Januska said.

With just one flight now, those headed to Salt Lake City or making a connection there have to catch the flight out of Casper around 7:30 a.m. If they're coming back through Utah, their only option is an evening flight landing around 6:40 p.m.

United Airlines still operates an average of four flights a day to and from Denver out of Casper.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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