Casper-Natrona County International Airport moving forward after Delta Air Lines departure

CASPER, Wyo. — On Dec. 3, the final Delta Air Lines flight left the Casper-Natrona County International Airport for Salt Lake City, Utah. Now, the local airport is preparing to see what business with only one airline carrier looks like, while working to bring another in.

Airport Director Glenn Januska said he could see one of two outcomes: Either airport customers who previously utilized the Salt Lake City connection will switch to flying with United Airlines, the remaining carrier in Natrona County, or they will look to fly out of other regional airports such as Denver’s. Januska told Oil City News that market research shows the Natrona County airport loses roughly 50% of its potential customers to Denver.

“Right now, having only been about a week, it’s just too soon to say,” Januska said. “I think we’ll have a clearer image of the effect in a month’s time.”

However, Januska also said that it will be hard to determine what percent of customer fluctuation is a result of Delta’s departure.

“It’s really hard to pin trends on any one specific thing,” he said.

Januska added that with the increased traveling that comes with the holiday season, United is looking for ways to potentially increase capacity. According to Januska, United representatives have been in discussions with airport personnel, looking for ways to service more customers now that Delta is gone.

Options include adding flights out of Casper or using planes with more seating. Januska said he believes using larger aircraft is the more cost-effective method. United Airlines has not made a determination yet on routes it will take to increase capacity, though.

“If you go from a 50-passenger airplane to a 75-passenger airplane, that’s more cost-effective for the airline since they’re getting additional passengers at much less cost to fly [than adding additional flights],” Januska said.

In the wake of Delta’s departure following the non-renewal of Natrona County’s minimum revenue guarantee, airport staff have been working to bring a new airline to the local airport as well. Januska said he is unable to share specific details, but noted there have been discussions with airlines that he called “promising.”

When it comes to attracting new airlines, the Casper-Natrona County International Airport sends out regular announcements to national carriers with news of positive goings-on in the community. Januska said recent examples of positive local news he’s shared with airlines nationwide include the new Wyo Sports Ranch and the Mesa Natural Gas Solutions project in Evansville.

“I call it my ‘good news folder,'” Januska told Oil City News on Wednesday, “but it doesn’t even have to be anything that huge. If a local business hires 10 new employees, I’ll share that too.”

In addition to keeping airlines abreast of what is happening in the Casper area, the airport also offers services and incentives to help attract new carriers, Januska said.

“The way it used to be, the airline assumed all of the risk,” he said. “What we do now, and what has happened in the industry as a whole, is two things. We work with consultants to do market studies that the airlines used to do themselves. … When we approach an airline, they want to know what our true market is; they want to know how feasible it is to start service in Casper. And they want to know, if they fly down to Dallas or Phoenix — because those are the hubs — how many are going to connect and for how many is that their end destination. A lot of people go to Midland, Texas; and United doesn’t have service to Midland through Denver. So in that case, an airline like, say, American going Dallas would be better for the people here.”

As far as incentives go, Januska said the airport works to offer things such as marketing and advertising support, waived landing fees and more.

One such financial incentive Januska also mentioned is a minimum revenue guarantee, which the airport previously held with SkyWest Airlines to service Delta’s flight to Salt Lake City. In an MRG, counties or municipalities pay the difference between what a corporation states it needs to make and what it actually makes.

The prior MRG frequently drew the ire of Natrona County Board of County Commissioners members and the public, even as commissioners continued to extend the agreement for multiple years. However, Januska said that agreement deviated from the original function of an MRG: “MRGs started off not as an ongoing financial commitment to keep an airline in a market,” he said. “What it originally was, was a way to help mitigate the risk of an airline as they moved into a new market, where the carrier believes they’ll be profitable but will just need a bit of time to get there as a new player in the market. Then, when they become profitable, the MRG agreement would end.”

Januska said that was initially intended to be the case with Natrona County’s MRG with SkyWest and Delta, though the situation changed following the COVID-19 pandemic. It continued for a few more years before commissioners determined it had become untenable and voted not to renew it in June.

In the future, Januska said, the county and airport would ensure a potential MRG would not turn out similarly, should officials choose to go that route again.