Flight/lodging reservations for winter similar to last season

Keeping an eye on February and March

By Mark Reaman

As the valley heads into the great 2025/26 ski season, airline and lodging reservations are looking good for the early part of the season while February and March are lagging a bit compared to last year.

Gunnison Valley Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) airline consultant Bill Tomcich informed the board at the November 7 meeting that “winter bookings look strong for the holidays, especially on United. Bookings in February and March are pacing behind the same time last year.” He said while official future numbers are not shared by American Airlines, he was told the bookings are on par with last year relative to the capacity decrease of using smaller jets this coming winter. “In the long-term, American plans to keep Gunnison as a mainline market. And Chicago is doing very well. The flights are already booked 38% through December and that’s good news.”

Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP) executive director Andrew Sandstrom said based on their observations, lodging is tracking the airline bookings. “Generally, the first part of the season is pacing a bit ahead of last year while later in the season is behind. Occupancy overall based on the properties we track indicate more owner occupancy this coming year and fewer paid visitor stays,” he said.

“Our marketing is ramping up and peaks around the holiday season. The hope is to get a bit of impact to help February and March which right now is lagging behind.”

Tomcich reviewed that fall flights carried the recent summer success in terms of bookings. He said both September and October passenger counts were record months jumping 40% over 2024. He said boutique air carrier JSX also had a successful summer being up about 12%. “Locals are definitely using the airport and taking advantage of the increased capacity in Gunnison,” he said.

Tomcich and GUC airport manager Rick Lamport said GUC was not immediately impacted by flight delays or cancellations due to the federal government shutdown.