andyrusch, Flickr

At 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, the final Great Lakes Aviation plane departed from the Laramie Regional Airport and just an hour and a half later the first United Express plane was on the runway. The 30-seat EMB-120 carried 25 people to Denver International Airport according to Airport Manager Jack Skinner, who also noted that every United Express flight has departed on time through two days of service.

Skinner says reliability was one of the biggest reasons why the Laramie airport made the change. Skywest Airlines is operating the United Express flights and the new station manager comes to Laramie from Missoula, where 98 percent of their flights left on time. Skinner reports that somewhere near 30 percent of the Great Lakes flights out of Laramie experienced delays.

At the moment Skywest is offering twice-daily United Express flights between Laramie and Denver, but Skinner says they are already looking for other cities to add as options for people who would prefer to fly in and out of Laramie. Skywest also operates United Express flights between Casper and Denver as well as Delta Connection flights between Casper and Salt Lake City.

“I think this is an excellent addition to the community,” said Skinner. “They’ve brought in well-trained staff and hired a couple of community members part-time. And if you’re connecting on United, there’s very reasonable rates.”

The Laramie flights to Denver operate out of Terminal B at Denver International Airport along with all other United and United Express flights. Flights can be book at united.com or by calling 1(800)UNITED-1.

More From K2 Radio