The Bobcat Nation

Over the past year most deplanements/emplacements per KBZK. Increase of 28% over three years. Will probably have the most for the calendar year.

And with that, it is safe to assume that BZN will just continue to outpace the rest of the state going forward until it's by far the largest in the state, or will Billings leverage the oil fields and make a comeback in the coming years?

I assume the Billings numbers are already somewhat skewed as they are the hub for all of the federally subsidized puddle jumper flights ... although those numbers may not add up to much (in terms of people transported ... just huge in $$$ spent).

Being able to say you have the busiest airport has to help attract new businesses to the area.

There was an article in the Gazette a few weeks ago about the airports. From what I have seen, some airfares out of BZN are cheaper than out of Billings, could that be due to the subsidies that BZN offers?

WeedKillinCat wrote:There was an article in the Gazette a few weeks ago about the airports. From what I have seen, some airfares out of BZN are cheaper than out of Billings, could that be due to the subsidies that BZN offers?

I'm not sure if BZN offers any direct subsidies -- I just thought that some routes had guarantees on them from local businesses (Big Sky, etc.)? So if nobody took the flights, the airline would still get a minimum amount of revenue. But judging by how full every flight I take into Bozeman has been (SFO to BZN), it seems like they are filling them up pretty well.

I could be totally wrong on this, of course. That's just what my brain seems to have gleaned from some things I read a long time ago.

For me, I always try to fly in BZN simply because it has direct flights from the Bay Area, which is SO much nicer than taking a tour of the Western US on the way. The one downside to BZN as compared to the other airports, however, is that rental cars seem to be way more expensive.

I heard that the Billings airport is going to be shut down on weekends for part of the summer, while they repair and/or improve one of their runways. Is that really true? If so, I'll be curious to see the resulting short-term and long-term impact on their passenger numbers.

John K wrote:I heard that the Billings airport is going to be shut down on weekends for part of the summer, while they repair and/or improve one of their runways. Is that really true? If so, I'll be curious to see the resulting short-term and long-term impact on their passenger numbers.

It's true. It'll be closed for six weeks from mid July to mid August.

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Bozeman received a fed grant of almost $1m to go along with the financial support put forth by local businesses (around $700k) These monies are used to lure airlines and subsidize their routes, which is supposed to lead to lower ticket prices in the end.

Billings does not/ has never used that model.

Two different client bases as well.