For the first time in almost a decade, the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) will begin offering direct flights to Chicago in 2025.
The small boost in winter service on United Airlines is an attempt to serve a growing number of Vail Resorts Epic Pass holders in the greater Chicago area. The Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) is incentivizing United with a $118,000 minimum revenue guarantee (MRG), a cost the organization has to cover if airplane seats don’t fill. The flights will be available starting in February on President’s Day weekend and extend through the end of March — some of the busiest weeks of the ski season at Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
Under the existing schedule, United will offer inbound flights on Saturdays and outbound flights on Sundays, for a total of seven roundtrips. Transportation officials believe offering one flight per week out of GUC during the peak winter season is an optimal way to test the market. The RTA board of directors approved the new service and associated MRG unanimously during a regular meeting on Sept. 20.
GUC offered service to the Chicago O'Hare International Airport starting in the winter of 2008, and then again from 2013 to 2017. During this period, the RTA paid roughly $1 million in MRG agreements, and ultimately decided to suspend the flights due to the high cost.
This is the first time flights have been reintroduced since Crested Butte Mountain Resort was acquired by Vail and added to the list of resorts on the Epic Pass. The pass gives skiers and riders unlimited access to ski resorts around the country. According to Bill Tomcich, the RTA’s flight consultant, because of Chicago’s proximity to Wilmot Mountain Ski Resort, there are quite a few of Epic Pass holders in the greater metropolitan area.
The number of passengers traveling to the valley from Milwaukee and Chicago have also jumped over the past five years, likely because of those ski pass holders, Tomcich said.
“Hopefully that'll make a big difference … this is a real way to dip our toe in the water,” said RTA Executive Director Scott Truex.
Gunnison remains the only ski town airport that United serves during the winter that doesn’t offer non-stop service to Chicago. Because of this, Tomcich believed that Chicago was the next logical target market for the valley. The Chicago service accompanies a third daily flight coming in from Denver this winter. This marked a 25% capacity increase on United.
“It's actually going to complement the existing service we have from Houston and Denver very nicely,” Tomcich said. “It’s one of the more compelling pitches that we’ve made.”
Flights during the seven-week period would leave Chicago at 3:35 p.m. and arrive in Gunnison at 6:15 p.m. on Saturdays. The plane would depart from Gunnison at 9 a.m. and arrive back in Chicago around noon, on Sundays. These flights could connect passengers to Newark, Boston, Washington D.C. and dozens of airports that United doesn’t currently fly out of its Denver hub.
When the RTA guarantees an airline will make a certain amount of money (whether seats fill or not), the organization is then responsible for making up the difference, up to a set amount or “cap.” The addition of Chicago service will bring the RTA’s total MRG cap up to roughly half a million dollars for United winter service — within the same range as last year. The only other route the RTA is incentivising is Houston with a cap of $464,000. The board recently decided to cut Tuesday service from Houston to reduce the cost. United offers Denver service at its own risk.
“This is the only expansion of service on the weekends, so I think it makes sense,” Truex said. “But it's going to be a challenge to not pay the cap on this one [Chicago]. It's an expensive per-passenger cost.”
Board member Liz Smith said the RTA has already discussed its marketing plans with the Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP). Because the service will not begin until President’s Day weekend, the organization believed there was still plenty of time to make adjustments to its marketing strategy. The goal is to capture passengers before they book travel plans for spring break.
“Even if we end up paying the MRG, if there's success in getting people here often that translates into an economic benefit,” Smith said.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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