Steamboat Springs, CO Real Estate and Community Blog

Last July, Frontier made an announcement that they would be adding flight service to mountain towns. It took much longer for the Denver-based airline to name the towns that will benefit, and Steamboat Springs did not make the list.

Lynx Airlines, the new subsidiary, will fly into Aspen, Jackson Hole, Durango, and two towns in Montana–Missoula and Bozeman.

Towns that did not make the cut were Ketchum/Sun Valley, Steamboat Springs, and Vail/Eagle Valley. They have to wait at least until this summer, when Frontier plans to announce additional destinations.

Steamboat Springs was probably passed over because United and Delta airlines agreed to expand their service into Hayden for the summer, spring, and fall on jets. Yampa Valley Airport used to have a couple flights a day on little prop planes, and now we’ll get five flights a day on small jets. In fact, the new arrangement gives Steamboat Springs the best flight availability ever!

Here is why Aspen, Jackson Hole, Durango and the Montana towns are happy to get Frontier flights: lower prices.

The Aspen Times reports that the Lynx flights (Aspen is getting five a day) could reduce fares as much as 50%. United had no competition in the Aspen market until the Lynx flights were announced.

Jackson Hole has had problems with a new regional jet, the CRJ-700. They welcome Lynx’s new 70-seat Q400 turboprop because it is expected to be better at higher altitudes and shorter runways.

While Steamboat Springs residents and visitors are thrilled to have more capacity on jets year round, it sure would be nice to see Lynx airlines adding a few flights a day.