No reason remains to fly out of Billings instead of Cody, local airport supporters said Friday.

•A new deal with United Airlines matches Cody fares to within $10-$40 of Billings rates depending on how early the flight is booked.

•Flights will leave Cody for Denver in the morning and arrive in Cody in the evening, making it easier to catch connecting flights at DIA. United also is expected to add a summer mid-afternoon flight to meet demand.

•Daily service from Yellowstone Regional Airport will be on a 50-passenger jet instead of a 30-passenger Dash 8 turboprop.

•The new terminal will have restrooms for passengers in the security area.

“We’ve broken all the barriers as to why people weren’t flying YRA,” Rich Petersen said. “Now it’s time for the citizens of Park County to put their money where their mouth is.”

He was part of a delegation representing the new Cody Yellowstone Air Improvement Resources organization, which gained major concessions from the airline during a recent meeting in Chicago.

In exchange for the concessions from United, people need to “prove” the benefits of the improved service by using the airport.

And, local businesses, governments and individuals need to pledge a maximum $155,000 in revenue guarantees, more than double last year’s total.

“If we fail here, we’re done,” YRA manager Bob Hooper said. “But with fares that in-line, people can no longer afford to drive to Billings.”

The more people who fly YRA, the lower the subsidy will be, Hooper said.

The total revenue guarantee tallies more than $750,000, but Cody Yellowstone AIR is seeking Wyoming Department of Transportation funding for most of it.

If the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission votes May 25 to provide the revenue guarantee match, “then we’re on to make this happen,” Forward Cody CEO James Klessens said. “This is a bigger nut than we’ve had to crack in the past, but it solves all the issues people have had forever.”

Businesses for whom air service is crucial will be asked for pledges this summer toward the $155,000 goal. Officials hope to have pledges in place by October.

The ultimate goal, Petersen said, is to reach a point where the airport is so heavily used that subsidies are no longer necessary. The $155,000 guarantee is only in case “everything goes wrong,” he said.

Petersen said historically the burden of flight guarantees has fallen on a few donors. But with the $32 million economic impact of air service spread around the region, so too should support for the airport.

In Jackson, 90 percent of hotels, 80 percent of restaurants and 70 percent of retail businesses contribute to the revenue guarantees as a “cost of doing business,” Klessens added.

The result for Jackson has been expanded air service, he said.

“Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to grow air service (at YRA) and not just maintain it?” he added.

A study found 48,000 passengers leave the Cody area to fly from Billings, more people than use YRA.

Once they leave Cody, only 20 percent then flew United. Petersen called previous contracts “lose-lose” for YRA and United.

Those who fly out of Billings spend money on hotel rooms, dining and shopping in that city instead of in Cody, Klessens said.

The benefit is huge to keeping those “cheeks in the seats” in Cody, he said. “It’s  a daunting challenge but we have no doubt the community will step up.”

Cody Yellowstone AIR, which replaces the past Cody Yellowstone Air Service Organization, is incorporating and seeking non-profit tax status.

The adjusted pricing began last week, though the airport is still finishing the previous contract.

United Airlines' future discussed
by Carole Cloudwalker  Cody Enterprise
Tuesday, April 20, 2010    

A Cody contingency will travel to Chicago on Wednesday to meet with United Airlines officials concerning the company’s flights here after September.

Yellowstone Regional Airport Manager Bob Hooper says United has agreed to serve YRA as United Express from June through September with no subsidy.

He said the Chicago trip is aimed at negotiating with United for service beyond September.

“We will try to get United to work on an enlargement” of its agreement, Hooper said.

He said the company has an agreement with Continental, flying as United Express, to serve Cody through the end of May.

He told the airport board Friday that members of the newly renamed “Cody-Yellowstone Air” group (formerly Cody Yellowstone Air Service Organization, or CYASO), will accompany him on the trip, as will officials from the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division.

Hooper and James Klessens of Forward Cody will be among those making the trip as representatives of CYA.

The YRA board, which usually meets the second Wednesday of each month, met Friday to allow Hooper to travel to another meeting this week.

The board has been convening special meetings to approve interim pay requests and make decisions related to the new terminal currently under construction.

YRA claims $31M impact
by Kristen Inbody  Cody Enterprise
Monday, March 08, 2010

The annual economic impact of Yellowstone Regional Airport is about $31 million, according to a new study.

Commissioned by the state, the study found YRA’s total area impact includes 290 jobs with a $7.9 million payroll, YRA manager Bob Hooper told the city council last week.

The $31.2 million impact includes $13.2 million in direct impacts, the $6.5 million spent by visitors arriving by air and the $11.6 million ripple effect of the money those visitors spend, such as a tourist spending money on a hotel room and the hotel worker later shopping in Cody.

Statewide, airports contributed 14,500 jobs, $375 million payroll and a $2.4 billion impact, with $50.2 million in taxes, the study found.

New terminal

The new $12.5 million YRA terminal is slated for completion in December.

“It’s going to be a beautiful building,” Hooper told the council.

The new terminal is 28,000 square feet, LEED-certified, will have increased security and will feature a restaurant facing the runway.

The waiting area after screening will have restrooms and more seats - “the number one request we get,” Hooper said.

The terminal also will have 344 parking spaces, compared with 188 today, and a baggage claim area three times the size of the current one.

The new terminal was 95 percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, 2 percent by YRA and 3 percent by the state.

Hooper outlined three options for the old terminal: leasing the building, selling the building (but not the land) or demolishing the building and saving the land for future aviation development.

“Once we know what the appraisal comes in at and the use of the building, we’ll go forward,” he said.

The council also approved a request from YRA to jointly execute a federal grant agreement for up to $500,000 for the terminal access road from the Greybull Highway.

The money will be used for paving the entrance road, parking lot and ramp area this summer after most of the construction is completed.

Forward Cody adds ‘specialist’ by Kristen Inbody  Cody Enterprise Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Scott Wagner began work with Forward Cody this week as a business development specialist. “I look forward to the opportunity to help businesses in Cody be more successful,” he said. Before Forward Cody, Wagner, 43, offered business, bankruptcy turnaround and technology consulting services. In his new position he will put those skills to use, focusing on retention and expansion of local businesses. “We have the business experience to help them solve their problems, whether financial, marketing or whatever it is,” he said. A business owner looking to add employees, one trying to find a new site or “anything pertaining to business, we’re here to help,” he said. One of Wagner’s goals is to meet every business owner in Cody in the coming months. “My door is always open, and I’m here to serve Cody,” he said. Wagner is a 1985 Powell High School graduate, is married to Eastside teacher Beckie Tilden, and has children S.J., 19, Zach, 18, and Megan, 13. Wagner began college at the University of Utah on a football scholarship but was injured and later graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in economics. In Powell he worked for the Wall Street bond rating firm, Fitch and then for American Capital Access. Wagner said he’s always been interested in business. “I love going in and helping businesses solve problems and helping them be more successful,” he said. “That intrigues me “ to be able to help solve problems.” As a bankruptcy turnaround consultant, Wagner worked with business owners in bankruptcy or on the verge, and with bankers and others “trying to save the day” and develop a resolution to satisfy them all. “I hit the ground running,” he said. “We’ve been working with people already.” Wagner replaces Kelli Thornton, who left Forward Cody to work in event planning. Forward Cody CEO James Klessens said 22 people applied. “We needed someone who could get out and into the guts of businesses,” he said. Wagner has already proven himself in his first two days on the job, Klessens added. Old Post Office The strapping man joined Forward Cody just in time to lug boxes to the organization’s new office. A year after setting up shop in the Park County Complex, Forward Cody is moving to the Old Post Office Building on 13th Street. The organization was among those forced to leave the Complex to make room for more than a dozen new jobs at two oil companies. No joke, Forward Cody will be up and running April 1. “I’m looking forward to getting downtown,” Klessens said. “It’s going to be nice to be where the action is.”