Federal subsidy for Cody air service to continue

POWELL (WNE) — The federal government will continue to subsidize fall, winter and spring flights between the Cody and Denver airports, agreeing to pay United Airlines $841,000 to fly the route twice a day from October through May. 

The Jan. 29 decision from the U.S. Department of Transportation effectively guarantees that Yellowstone Regional Airport (YRA) will continue to have year-round commercial service in the coming years. 

Airlines are happy to fly to Cody in the summer months, when tourists drive up passenger numbers, offering service to Denver, Salt Lake and occasionally Chicago. However, they’ve generally been unwilling to fly to YRA without government help between October and May, when traffic sinks. To keep the service going, the Department of Transportation has been subsidizing those eight months of flights through its Essential Air Service program.

United has been receiving subsidies through the program since 2018 — to the tune of $850,000 a year — to provide service between Cody and Denver. However, the current contract ends March 1, which required the DOT to seek proposals for a new deal, which will run through May 31, 2022. 

United estimated that it will cost nearly $5.67 million to fly to and from Cody from October to May, with the twice a day flights yielding less than $4.83 million in revenue. The airline requested an $841,000 annual subsidy to cover the shortfall, which breaks down to $882 per flight and $23.54 per passenger; the Essential Air Service program allows subsidies of up to $1,000 per passenger.