The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Fly direct to Oakland and Phoenix
It’s official: low-cost carrier Allegiant Air will be providing direct service from Phoenix and San Francisco this winter. The flights will originate from the Phoenix Mesa Airport and Oakland International Airport two times per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
This new service will make it possible to fly from Oakland with a starting fare of $113 one way, and $83 one way from Phoenix. That’s significantly lower than the $400 to $600 range typical from those markets. Mike Martelon, president and CEO of the Telluride Tourism Board, said the flights will also significantly reduce the travel time for tourists, from the time they reach their originating airport to the time they reach a local ski resort. He is hoping Crested Butte’s ski area will help to fund the flights.
San Francisco travelers will reach the Telluride Ski resort in three hours and 25 minutes instead of five hours and 39 minutes, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in three hours and 10 minutes as opposed to five hours and 43 minutes.
The results are similar for Phoenix, bringing travel time to Telluride down from four hours and 39 minutes to two hours and 45 minutes. Travelers will reach CBMR in three hours and 10 minutes as opposed to six hours and 30 minutes.
“That’s not only air time but also the time to drive from Montrose to Telluride, Montrose to Gunnison and Crested Butte,” Martelon said.
The contract with Allegiant was signed on Tuesday, September 25, after more than a year of negotiations. Scott Stewart, director of the Telluride Montrose Regional Air Organization (TMRAO) said, “We’re very excited, a lot of people over here really recognize it as a potential game changer. As an airport that deals with a lot of leisure travelers who are price sensitive, it’s critical to start attracting low-cost carriers.”
So far, the Montrose Regional Airport, the city of Montrose, the town of Telluride, the town of Mountain Village and the Telluride Ski Resort have joined TMRAO in contributing to the program. Stewart and Martelon hope the Gunnison Valley will join in as well. Earlier this month, they made a pitch to the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority, Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association to contribute $150,000—about a week before the announcement was expected to go public.
Martelon said primarily digital marketing will be used to let people in target markets know about the new service and drive them to Allegiant’s booking engine. Allegiant will do its own marketing on its site, including packages and ads for regional hotels and businesses. But the request came too soon for Gunnison Valley players to make a decision, and they’re still evaluating the opportunity.
According to RTA executive director Scott Truex, he and airline consultant Kent Meyers have met with board chairman Chris Morgan regarding the Allegiant Air program. “We sent a recommendation to the board but are waiting to hear back from board members before we announce a decision,” he said.
Jeff Moffett, director of Crested Butte Vacations at CBMR, said the ski resort certainly understands the growing role regional partnerships could play in securing air service. “We believe the lead the Telluride Montrose Air Organization has taken is not only good for themselves and their community, but they’re sincere that this could be a benefit to the others in the region, including CBMR,” he said.
Yet Moffett acknowledged the idea was a little out of the box, and the resort is continuing to evaluate how the partnership would be structured. “We have a lot of interest and we have a lot of questions. We’re working through that and haven’t made a decision at this time,” he said. “If we are going to participate, being on board sooner than later is only going to benefit our return, so this is a front-burner project.”
“We certainly hope they can [come on board] because not only is it going to help out with the economy in Gunnison and Crested Butte… but we also think it will be beneficial for locals,” Stewart said. He and Martelon hope the Gunnison Valley will participate, and have forecasted that about 11 percent of 10,000 incoming seats would end up in Gunnison and Crested Butte.
And as far as Martelon is concerned, the risk with this program is much smaller compared to partnerships with traditional airlines. With United and other airlines, local money goes to revenue guarantees. In this case, local money primarily goes to marketing—what he calls getting “the money in front of the plane and the resort and the way to get to the resort.
“In terms of risk, it’s fiction,” he said.
Whatever local officials decide, the service begins December 15 and runs through April 3. If the arrangement is successful, the TMRAO and Allegiant hope to extend it into the summer. The schedule starts as follows:
Wednesday Service
Oakland to Montrose departs at 8 a.m. and arrives at 11 a.m.;
Montrose to Oakland departs at 11:45 a.m. and arrives at 1:15 p.m.
Phoenix-Mesa to Montrose departs at 8 a.m. and arrives at 9:20 a.m.
Montrose to Phoenix-Mesa departs at 10 a.m. and arrives at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday Service
Oakland to Montrose departs at 7 a.m. and arrives at 10 a.m.
Montrose to Oakland departs at 10:45 a.m. and arrives at 12:15 p.m.
Phoenix-Mesa to Montrose departs at 1 p.m. and arrives at 2:20 p.m.
Montrose to Phoenix-Mesa departs at 3:05 p.m. and arrives at 4:15 p.m.
Flight times may vary through the season, so visit allegiantair.com for exact flight times.
