Gunnison United Airlines has been named a STAR Competition Champion in the second quarter of 2026 for their operations at the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC).
The Start the Airline Right (STAR) program at United Airlines is the first flight in the morning that sets the airline up for success throughout the day. Currently, the carrier has a 7:15 a.m. departure from Gunnison, scheduled to arrive in Denver at 8:39 a.m. United has two other departures later in the day.
In a statement to the Gunnison Country Times, United Airlines Media wrote, "Every day, United is focused on getting our customers to their destinations safely and on time.
"One of the ways we keep our employees engaged is through a friendly internal competition among our hubs and line stations that compares on-time performance for any departures that occur before 9 a.m. and have had a minimum ground time of four hours – we call these STAR Flights.
"During the second quarter, our team in Gunnison (GUC) had nearly 95% of their STAR flights depart safely and on time, earning them the rank of best regional line station.
"We’re proud of our team at GUC!"
According to Tami Maciejko, Customer Service Manager, "This achievement was made possible by our collective efforts and close collaboration with key operating groups—including Cargo, Contact Centers, Flight Operations, Inflight Services, the National Operations Center—and our business partners.
"The team at Gunnison Airport operations is managed by Menzies Aviation, which ground handles United Airlines, American Airlines, and JSX. Together, the team has successfully managed 7 flights and 796 passengers daily. Furthermore, passenger loads at Gunnison County Airport were up 38% in June, with strong load factors continuing throughout the summer.
"This award comes with a large traveling trophy and funding to host a celebration for the team. Thank you to Menzies Aviation, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Gunnison County Airport administration, and AVflight. Your teamwork and dedication have enabled us to provide quality service and reliable transportation for Gunnison County.”
Menzies Aviation began transporting and selling newspapers in England in the 1850s. By the 1980s the group was selling and transporting over 26 million newspapers a day. In the postwar period after World War II, the company began transporting the news and other freight by air and by 2000 was in the air passenger service business.
Today, Menzies provides air cargo, fuel and ground services at 350 airports in 65 countries, making it the world’s largest aviation services company by number of countries, airports and aircraft turns.
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