The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
JSX already a “slam dunk”
By Katherine Nettles and Mark Reaman
The new business-class air service flying direct from Dallas to Gunnison with an origination in Austin this summer is already filling up fast and flights haven’t even started. More than 70% of the scheduled seats on boutique air carrier JSX Air are already booked.
The twice weekly service (Thursdays and Sundays) that flies out of Love Field to GUC will run from June 30 through Labor Day weekend. Each plane has only 30 seats so passengers do not have to go through TSA security and can bring free bags and get complimentary cocktails and gourmet snacks.
The Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) board had agreed to budget $90,000 to guarantee the flights in May, thinking it was an interesting way to touch the Austin market which has been in their vision for years. At the June RTA meeting the early success for the flights were greeted with enthusiasm.
“It is off the charts. A slam dunk,” said RTA air consultant Bill Tomcich of Airplanners LLC.
“It is very successful,” agreed his partner Kent Myers.
Looking at the JSX website on Tuesday, June 14, the planes were sold out on June 30 and on two of the four Thursday departures from Dallas in July. Two seats were still available on July 7 for $639 per person one way. July 28 seats were available for $599 per person one-way out of Dallas and $689 out of Austin.
Two people attending the June RTA meeting spoke in appreciation of the new service as well. Bryan Wickenhauser, owner/operator of the I Bar Ranch in Gunnison, said he was excited to fill his music venue with more people from the strong music crowd coming out of Austin. “We do have the capacity to handle many more people,” he said of the I Bar.
Jim Jose with SHM Architects in Crested Butte said he also really appreciated the hard work that went into getting JSX into GUC. “We have many clients that use this service, and now that it’s expanded to the Dallas Love Field that’s really helpful,” he said. “We have a main office in Dallas and we commute our interns and young professionals that come and go from this office for short stints of work…it is really helpful to get this non-stop flight.”
Tourism and Prosperity Partnership executive director John Norton said the numbers are exceeding any expectations. “JSX is on fire. Seventy percent of the seats are sold for the summer,” he marveled. “The planes aren’t very big—30 seats—but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
