2021 Business of the Year: Glacier Park International Airport

Nearly two years ago, after COVID-19 tanked the travel industry, Glacier Park International Airport (GPIA) hit rock bottom when it saw the lowest aviation passenger count in history with fewer than two dozen single-day check-ins during its nadir in April 2020.

But fast forward to July of 2021 and GPIA recorded its highest passenger count in history with more than 3,100 check-ins during a single day that month, smoking records from 2019 and setting the stage for a new normal.

While tourism traffic grew significantly this summer, 2021’s holiday travel in November also broke 2019’s numbers with 22,328 enplanements this year compared to 18,117 two years ago. There were 11,886 enplanements in the same month at GPIA in 2020.

According to Airlines for America data, airline demand this November was “notably strong” in Montana and the TSA traveler throughput percent change was up 7.6% compared to 2019 (Wyoming recorded the highest increase in demand at 12.9%). States with the lowest demand included Rhode Island, which was down 24.8%, and California with a 22.5% decrease.

“We’ve had an exceptional year,” GPIA Director Rob Ratkowski said in a Montana West Economic Development (MWED) video in December. “Our passenger counts are up about 15% over 2019, which was our record year.”

After making a full recovery last spring, GPIA broke ground on its massive airport terminal expansion, which had been in the planning stages before the pandemic halted progress. But once numbers rebounded, airport officials resumed the expansion in 2021 and started initial construction and utility work in the spring.

The $100 million project will nearly triple the airport’s square footage from 75,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet, which is scheduled for completion in fall 2024.

“In 2017, we embarked on the planning process to really look at what the airport needed to be poised for the next 15 to 20 years of growth and what we came up with is a significant expansion of the terminal building,” Ratkowski said.

Increasing tourism, business travel and overall growth in the Flathead prompted the expansion almost five years ago and Ratkowski has watched passenger enplanements nearly double since he started at GPIA almost 20 years ago.

Ratkowski calls GPIA a “uniquely seasonal airport” and the growth plans are designed to meet the peak summer months. The airport saw more than 70,000 enplanements last July.

“We made the decision to go big and build the church for Easter Sunday,” he said.

Crews started phase one of the expansion in June at the west end of the building and phase two is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2023 with plans for completion by 2024.

Additions to the airport will include expanded passenger areas, back-of-house improvements, TSA screening checkpoints and baggage areas. Two gates will be added to the existing five with larger waiting areas and a bar and restaurant will be added to concessions, all of which is designed to reduce congestion. Flathead County will also gain its first escalators and the airport design will add “architectural flair” with glass, wood, steel and stone building materials.

“Rather than just adding another gate, we are actually expanding every part of the airport,” Ratkowski said. “We are trying to get ahead of the growth curve. It’s been hard to do in the last few years but we’re trying to get ahead of things and make this facility relevant for the next 15 to 20 years.”

The expansion will also allow the airport to add to its revenue, which Ratkowski says has been capped.

GPIA also added 100,000 more airline seats last summer and three new airlines for seasonal flights at GPIA, including Sun Country Airlines, JetBlue and Frontier Airlines and multiple existing airlines also added flights. All three airlines were added in a 90-day period, which Ratkowski described as “remarkable” earlier this year.

For more information, visit www.iflyglacier.com.