The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Houston service guarantees are an issue
By Mark Reaman
While passenger projections for summer air service into the Gunnison airport (GUC) is trending slightly up for the summer, July is looking off compared to last year by about 9%. Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority air consultant Bill Tomcich told the RTA board at the June 28 meeting that July appears to be off for most mountain resorts and the thought is that the mid-week July 4 holiday is playing a major role.
“The average for the summer at GUC is a bit ahead. May had a very strong load factor and June was a very good month. But since July 4 falls on a Thursday, it is impacting July numbers and that holds true across the entire industry,” he said, noting that passenger counts coming into GUC looked good compared to similar locations.
He said the fall is looking strong, but it is too early to get a solid read on the autumn travel situation. He said the local market has reacted well to United Airlines’ additional daily flight into and out of GUC. “Having twice daily service through the fall and throughout winter will be great for locals,” he said.
Tomcich said JSX appears encouraged with its Dallas to GUC summer service going to nine flights a week. “They are happy with this market,” he said.
As for winter, Tomcich said the minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) contract with the RTA and United Airlines for Houston flights came in higher than anticipated last ski season despite a healthy 72% load factor. He said operating costs were higher than expected and issues with construction at the Houston hub resulted in constrained gate capacity, which limited connecting opportunities through Houston.
“My advice is to stay the course with Houston and see what we can do on the cost side,” he told the board. “If the RTA walked away from the MRG, I’d guess United would keep the route daily during the holidays and go down to two flights a week the rest of the winter.” Last winter United provided daily service and the MRG was $521,000.
Tomcich indicated the MRG model is taking a toll on many resorts but given the recent performance of the Houston to Gunnison route, the RTA has a fairly strong position from which to negotiate.
RTA board member Ian Billick asked what the impact to the community would be if the level of Houston service declined. “We provide the MRG for community benefit, not to reach a certain number of flights,” he said. “A cost-benefit analysis of the impact would be helpful.”
“The other part of that is if we pay United $500,000, what else could that money be used for,” said RTA board member Laura Puckett Daniels. “An analysis with different models showing the impact of zero flights from Houston, the current number of flights and somewhere in the middle would be valuable.”
RTA board chair Janet Farmer said the nonstop Houston flight was important to her and many others.
GUC airport manager Rick Lamport said a Colorado economic study indicated that the GUC airport is responsible for $121 million in local economic activity for the county.
Tomcich said he would gather the data for the board to consider.
GUC airline mechanic Eddie Avila said he was very busy last year and had received positive feedback from the major carriers. Having an airline mechanic located in Gunnison is a major benefit since if a problem occurs without an onsite mechanic, a qualified mechanic might have to come in from Montrose, Grand Junction or Colorado Springs, delaying flights.
Avila said while he enjoys the work, he indicated he sometimes feels overwhelmed having to keep up with training for new aircraft that is increasingly becoming more high tech. That is a type of certification he does on his own without financial assistance from the RTA, but the RTA does help to subsidize his contract.
“Eddie has been a real gem to have here the last six years,” said Lamport.
“He definitely helps keep the airline reliability numbers at GUC good,” added Tomcich.
