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Cody airport saw an increase in people flying in 2024

A small airplane with "Delta Connection" on its side flies against a bright blue background.
Tomás Del Coro
/
Flickr Creative Commons
The Delta connection between Casper/Natrona County International Airport and Salt Lake City is operated by SkyWest Airlines.

More people boarded airplanes in Cody last year than in 2023. But as of now, a new airline isn’t on the flight schedule for this summer.

The only carrier flying out of Cody is United Airlines. 2024 enplanements, or how many people boarded planes, was up about 10 percent over the year prior.

“ Last year we were fortunate to have a significant increase in number of seats provided by United, four flights a day for the majority of the peak of summer,” Aaron Buck, the Director of Yellowstone Regional Airport, said.

Those four flights a day in peak months will continue in 2025, Buck said. It doesn't look like Delta is coming back to Cody this year after it left because of low profitability in 2021.

“As far as Delta goes, I don't think we're going to see [them] this year. I think 2026 is what we're continuing to look for,” Buck said.

A new leakage study coming out this month looks into how Cody might poach people flying into Billings and Bozeman. Buck hopes it might help convince the airline.

He said the airport is also exploring another study that would add a new approach to landing for pilots to follow that could increase the reliability of flying to Cody in the wintertime.

“ What the contractor would do was they would look at different other angles and not necessarily be exactly straight in and some curvature to that and allow them to miss some of the high peaks on the way in and get down lower, faster and still be completely safe,” he said.

The topic is being discussed at the Yellowstone Regional Airport’s board meeting on Wednesday.

United Airlines is also the only carrier in Laramie. The number of people flying out of Laramie increased by 7% in 2024 versus the year before.

Leave a tip: oweitz@uwyo.edu
Olivia Weitz is based at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. She covers Yellowstone National Park, wildlife, and arts and culture throughout the region. Olivia’s work has aired on NPR and member stations across the Mountain West. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and the Transom story workshop. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, cooking, and going to festivals that celebrate folk art and music.

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