Third flight to return to Pocatello airport

Big changes are coming to the Pocatello Regional Airport in August with the return of a third SkyWest flight to Salt Lake City.

The third flight was canceled in January when SkyWest upgraded its 30-seat jets to 50-seat ones, leaving the airport with only two daily flights.

“We lost something like 43 percent of our city connection times. It was a huge loss,” said airport director David Allen.

Allen said SkyWest has agreed to bring back the third flight on a temporary basis from August 17 until September 27.

“They have the equipment available while another airport is closed for runway maintenance, so we have an opportunity to show them that it will work,” said Allen.

In order to convince SkyWest that they can profitably operate a third flight out of Pocatello on a long-term basis, Allen said the airport will need to fill 75 to 80 percent of seats on the new flight.

“We know we can fill them. We have the market, it’s just a matter of re-educating people, trying to get them to break habits that are sometimes decades old,” said Allen.

The airport has handed that task to a special committee comprised of several members of the local business community including John Regetz, executive director of the Bannock Development Corporation.

He said the committee will approach Pocatello’s largest businesses and sell them on the benefits of flying locally.

“It saves money. It’s a two-and-a-half hour drive to go down to Salt Lake city. Parking is free here. The check-in, of course, is way faster,” said Regetz.

The committee plans to meet Tuesday morning.

Should the airport succeed in keeping the third flight, Allen said it may approach SkyWest about a fourth.