A Helena Regional Airport official on Tuesday formally announced the formation of the Helena Air Service Alliance, a group aimed at increasing flights and other business at the airport.
Airport Director Jeff Wadekamper outlined the goals of the alliance at a lunch meeting at the airport attended by about 75 people and said it would be focused on maintaining and growing air service to the community through access to airline networks, job growth, economic development and local quality of life improvements.
āWe all know that air service plays a lot of roles in a vital, healthy community,ā he said, adding the airport has been working with the allianceās core groups for several years, but has never formalized it.
āWe decided it was time to take it to the next step and form this group, move forward and take it to the next level,ā Wadekamper said.
People are also reading…
The four core stakeholders are the airport, the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, the Helena Tourism Alliance and the Montana Business Assistance Connection.
āItās imperative we work as a group,ā he said, ābecause there are a lot of things the airport cannot do by itself.ā
Wadekamper said the airport cannot use airport funds for revenue guarantees, incentives and certain marketing. He said a lot of airports are working within their communities to raise cash that can be used for those local purposes.
He said later he hoped to raise a $500,000 community-funded āwar chestā in order to be proactive and get ahead of any unforeseen request.
Wadekamper said they were asking for the Helena communityās help to move forward.
He said one way people can help is by flying out of Helena. He said he understands people may find cheaper rates elsewhere, but he asked them to consider Helena and help keep the passenger numbers strong, which will go in Helenaās favor. He also encouraged people to donate money to the alliance.
He noted airports have no direct control over ticket prices.
Callie Aschim, president and chief executive officer of the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, said she appreciated the airport āthinking outside the boxā in order to provide the community with local and convenient air travel.
She said more information about the alliance would be forthcoming and encouraged people to consider making a donation. The airport said it would post information about the alliance at https://helenaairport.com/announcements/.
Brian Obert, executive director of the Montana Business Assistance Connection, said years ago groups were struggling to find businesses interested in Helena.
He said that is not the case today and businesses are expanding into Helena.
āWe are somewhere and we are growing right now,ā Obert said, adding it is now āour time in Helena to get our swagger back and be the capital city.ā
āWe are at the point where we need to be the capital city and we need to take advantage of things,ā he said. āWe see this airport as being kind of the heartbeat.ā
Obert said everyone is coming together and pulling at the same time, āso now the question is how do we close the deal and get some things moving along?ā
āWe think there is great opportunity right now,ā he said.
Helena Regional Airport underwent $45 million in improvements from 2018-2022. Wadekamper said 17% of Helenaās revenue is airline-related, which is unique, and he said most airports make all revenue on airlines and airport-related stuff. He said the airport is mostly self-sufficient financially.
āWe have to continue to find new revenues,ā he said.
The airport had 118,000 passengers in 2019, which was the sixth consecutive year of growth. COVID-19 led to that number dipping to 46,000 in 2020 and climbing to 71,000 in 2021 and 82,000 in 2022.
The airport now has three commercial carriers: Alaska, Delta and United. Delta has two daily flights and Alaska and United each have one, making for four arrivals and four departures each day.
Delta connects Helena to Salt Lake City, Alaska connects Helena to Seattle, and United flies to Denver.
Wadekamper said efforts are underway to bring American Airlines to Helena and he is hopeful that will happen this year, making for all four network carriers.
āThat would be pretty good for a community our size,ā he said. āThereās not many non-tourism gateway communities ā¦ and I am not saying we donāt have tourism ā¦ that can brag and say they have all four network airlines, so we would be unique in the respect.ā
He said American has made lots of cuts in 2020, but they see Montana as an area for growth.
āWe may see some benefit where they start service in Helena,ā Wadekamper said. He noted the competition among community airports is as fierce as it has ever been and will likely get worse.
He said the Delta flight to Minneapolis which was lost in March 2020 is still missed. Wadekamper said the Federal Aviation Administration will let Helena Regional Airport offer its two-year no airport fee incentive to Delta if it brings its Minneapolis flight back.
āWe have made sure they are aware of that,ā Wadekamper said. āAt some point we will see that flight back, itās just a matter of when.ā
He said they were also reaching out to other air carriers.
āRest assured, if there is another airline out there we are talking to them,ā Wadekamper said.
He said there have been some āgreat conversationsā with Southwest.
Airport trivia: How much does it cost to de-ice the runway at the Helena Regional Airport?
Airport Director Jeff Wadekamper put the cost at $10,000-$12,000 for one time. That is usually followed by an airline making a landing and paying a $68 landing fee, he said.