Thursday, October 15, 2015

Great Lakes’ replacement in Sheridan, Wyoming, details flight plans



SHERIDAN – The airline set to fill the service hole left when Cheyenne-based Great Lakes Aviation made its final departure from Sheridan in March opened up on the details of its plan Thursday.

Community leaders in Sheridan floundered to find a replacement for the struggling Great Lakes for months before they were able to negotiate a $2.8 million revenue guarantee contract with Key Lime Air to begin in November. In early September, leaders said the service would start Nov. 19, a date affirmed today by Key Lime Air, which will operate as Denver Air Connections in Sheridan.

“Sheridan represents an exciting opportunity for Denver Air Connection,” said Key Lime President Cliff Honeycutt. “I believe the community will value Key Lime’s operational reliability, customer service and low fares.”

Prior to Great Lakes’ failure at the airport, reliability had been filled with birdshot as the company failed to make ends meet with smaller planes that had been stripped to nine seats to skirt recent federal pilot training regulations.

Going into the start of 2015, Sheridan County Airport Manager John Stopka said the airport was running 80 percent fewer passengers than normal. “There’s no amount of money that can make those profitable for Great Lakes,” Stopka said, adding that the airline wouldn’t ask for the money even if it could.

The community leaders responsible for landing Key Lime Air flights said in Key Lime’s release they were excited to see the company flying into town.

“We anticipate Denver Air Connection’s service will provide tremendous economic value for Sheridan and the surrounding region,” said Bruce Garber, community representative of the Critical Air Service Team that negotiated the contract. The group was made up of “community-wide stakeholders.”

Denver Air Connection will connect Denver with Sheridan twice a day on a 30-seat Dornier 328jet. Below is the planned schedule beginning Nov. 19:

Monday-Saturday: Depart Sheridan for Denver at 8 a.m.
Daily: Depart Sheridan for Denver at 2:10 p.m.
Daily: Depart Denver for Sheridan at 10:50 a.m.
Sunday-Friday: Depart Denver for Sheridan at 7:30 p.m.

Source:  http://wyomingbusinessreport.com

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