Officials with the Bert-Mooney Airport are confident they will have a second flight out of Butte in the New Year.
"We’re hoping, again, for the target of being June 2020 for this extra flight during the peak season,” said Assistant Airport Manager Jim Kambich.
The Department of Transportation recently awarded SkyWest the contract to be the airport's essential carrier for two daily flights to Salt Lake City.
City officials are now pursuing an additional flight to Denver with United. The city just raised the $400,000 needed in guaranteed revenue to entice United to Butte.
“It will be very interesting moving forward, but getting that community support is vital,” said Kambich.
Officials say 2020 will present many challenging opportunities for the airport.
“We’ve got to continue to grow the SkyWest market, which the people of Butte are very, very solidly behind, and as well as looking at an additional flight,” said Kambich.
Getting an extra flight out of the Butte airport will not only make it more convenient for travelers, it will also make the Mining City more attractive to business and industry.
“You got to have good air service to attract different companies who want to do business, whether it be business through Montana Tech or something else here,” said Kambich.
Airport officials report more meetings with United are scheduled for next month to negotiate terms of the second flight.
