Cody Airport Takes Action as United Delays Plague Western Travelers

This past week has been rough for those flying on United Airlines throughout the country. Cody has also been affected by the technical glitch that occurred on August 6, which caused the airline to request ground stops and caused delays. This is not helpful when Cody currently relies on one airline for air service.

Yellowstone Regional Airport (YRA) and CYAIR (YRA’s official advocacy and fundraising group) are working diligently to invite another airline to service Cody.

In a previous article, we discussed Denver’s issues. In this article, we will discuss in more detail how Denver’s problems affect travelers to Cody. While it won’t help if you’re stuck due to the issues, it can help to better understand them and know that people are working to turn things around.

Delays

Bill Tomcich, an air service and marketing consultant working with YRA and other airports, has investigated the reasons behind the delays. In his July 9th presentation to the board, he said, “This is a very big problem way beyond Cody.” The connecting flights have been problematic for Cody, Billings, and other non-hub airports throughout the West.

As he investigated the numbers, he discovered May flights into Cody had a 97% completion rate, but were only on time 66% of the time. June was about the same, with a 96% completion rate, and 72% of the flights were on time. July came in with rates of 98% for completion, with 74.6% on time. These numbers show changes are helping. The numbers also reflect United’s focus on completion rather than on-time rates. This industry strategy is to delay flights as needed to ensure connections are made. Your day is off if you arrive on time but can’t catch a connecting flight.

In looking at the numbers for the state, Cody is seeing better on-time rates than most other airports. Also, the 5:15 flight had zero delays in July and only four delays this year.

Earlier this year, representatives high in United’s operations planned to meet in Aspen, CO, to discuss the delays and other challenging issues United faces. Ironically, the flight the representatives were on was delayed by three hours, then cancelled. They eventually flew into Eagle and drove to Aspen for the meeting to address regional issues. Their flight out also encountered problems.

Needless to say, United is well-versed in delay issues and is actively seeking solutions. Over the past few years, they’ve focused on resolving issues at Newark’s airport hub. With that now complete, their attention turns to the problems in Denver.

Denver International Airport Creating Snarls

The weather is one factor that has plagued Denver International Airport (DIA) for years. The typical summer afternoon showers that move into the Denver area on a near-daily basis create microbursts that cause evacuations of the ramp, causing delays at DIA. Those delays ripple down to smaller airports, YRA included.

In addition, more construction is happening across DIA’s entire airfield than in the airport’s 30-year history. This construction causes excessive taxi time for aircraft both in and out. It also affects the amount of runway available, which means an increase in the required spacing between arriving aircraft. If that wasn’t enough, DIA also faces a shortage of air traffic controllers (ATC).

Metering Delays and Growth

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposes metering delays when the airspace and/or airport capacity is reached. In these situations, the air traffic controllers create delays to keep planes separated and everyone safe. However, that slows everything down further. Denver currently sees three ATC meter delays daily, while Salt Lake sees three yearly.

Adding more salt to the wound, Denver is experiencing record capacity. United has experienced growth, as has Southwest Airlines. Southwest now has a connecting bank of flights on top of United’s. Airlines bank flights (scheduling flights close together) to optimize connections and efficiency. In an ideal situation, that works. However, congestion can occur when two airlines schedule on top of each other. The result causes even more issues for air traffic controllers.

Solutions to the Air Traffic Delays

In his report to the board, Tomcich said that “United is keenly aware that [the delays are] a very big problem affecting their entire network.” Because of this, Denver is now the primary focus of its seven hubs. To begin addressing the tangle of issues, they are adjusting their schedule to avoid peak banking times. This will help reduce the susceptibility to ATC metering delays.

Currently, United delays entire flight banks to preserve passengers’ connections. That focus can cause overnight delays, which sometimes causes a late start to ensure the crews have the required rest time.

YRA Helping Passengers

With all the delays backing up passengers in Cody, Aaron Buck, director of YRA, talks with Skywest about getting the larger planes in – the CRJ700 and E175. Both have a larger capacity than the regular planes United uses for Cody and can free up the bottleneck. Arron continuously monitors this and makes requests to Skywest when needed.

When passengers are stranded, Cody Shuttle provides transportation. They have a van dedicated solely to this task daily and can reroute passengers as needed.

In addition, YRA and CYAIR continue to negotiate to bring in other airlines and destinations. A second airline, multiple destinations, and larger planes are the long-term solution for Cody. Yet each of these factors will take time to implement.

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