Why Fly Out of Cody?

Yellowstone Regional Airport (YRA) and its advocacy organization, CYAIR, continue to work to improve air service to Cody. In a previous article, we looked at the many factors affecting the efforts to add another airline at the Cody airport. Having airlines understand that people in Cody want to fly out of Cody rather than drive to Billings is one of the most stubborn issues to address.

Aaron Buck, YRA Airport Director, heard from a company that arranges charter flights to Billings. They didn’t see a need to bring their charter service to Cody because they believed everyone in Cody would drive to Billings anyway.

This is a serious concern. This smaller charter company thinks their passengers from Cody will accept that they need to drive to Billings without complaint. If they believe that, how much do larger airlines we hope to bring in hold this belief?

Leakage Study

We hired RCC Associates to conduct a study to determine how many people fly out of nearby airports instead of Cody. The study also looked at where they traveled to. RCC Associates has done similar work for municipalities and other organizations within the tourism and aviation industries, making them a good fit for the project.

The first part of this study focused on local residents flying out of Cody. They looked at Park, Big Horn, Washakie, and Hot Springs Counties. The information mainly came from ticket reservations – focusing only on home zip codes and destinations. The YRA board uses the study’s results to untangle the multifaceted knot of inviting another airline to serve Cody.

What was Learned

75% of people flying to Denver (mostly residents of Cody and Powell) chose to fly out of Cody rather than take the extra time and fuel cost to fly out of Billings. This shows that local residents would most likely use YRA if other destinations became available. While we might intuitively know this, airlines considering serving Cody need the numbers.

The leakage study substantiated that YRA loses passengers traveling to Seattle, Las Vegas, and Phoenix to the Billings Airport as a departure point. In addition, a few choose to fly out of Bozeman. Currently, United serves these markets from Cody with a stop in Denver. Our goal is to bring in another airline that serves these destinations directly from Cody. Having actual numbers from this study helps during the discussions with airlines.

The True Cost of Flying out of Billings

This brings us back to the need for the entire community to help show airlines that Cody wants them here. They need to realize that passengers from the Cody area would prefer to fly out of Cody.

Locals might save a bit on airfare by flying out of Billings or even Bozeman. However, those flights often include an overnight stay. Plus, there’s the extra time, and wear and tear on vehicles to drive up and back. Sometimes that’s worth it. But factor in the message sent to the airlines, and you start to see the actual cost. From their point of view, why should they expand if the need is already being met?

It might not be reasonable for everyone to suddenly switch to using Cody’s airport more, but it’s worth considering. The more often local residents make that choice, the stronger the message YRA can use in their negotiations to bring in another airline. So what if locals made a concerted effort to primarily fly out of YRA? A strong message would be sent, and we would likely see another airline here sooner than later.

Take the Survey

Are you a traveler who uses Cody Regional Airport? Help us improve your experience by filling out a short survey. Your input will guide future changes and help us serve you better. It only takes a few minutes, and your feedback makes a difference. Thank you.
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