Page 35 - Flathead Beacon // 6.24.15

AIR SERVICE FROM PAGE 33
AERO, formed in 2012, is responsible for the $235,000 minimum revenue guar- antee that wooed United Airlines in 2014 into providing a weekly direct flight to and from Chicago-O’Hare on Saturdays.
With that money, the airline can be reimbursed for any losses they might have if flights aren’t full enough. Dan Graves, CEO at Whitefish Mountain Resort and member of the AERO board, said the airline estimated each round trip would cost $27,000; the flights from December through April were 67 percent full, and AERO only ended up spending $16,000 of the $235,000 rev- enue guarantee.
“It was pretty darn successful,” Graves said.
The Chicago flights catered to 750 passengers, and the airport’s direct flight to Denver was not aversely affected, Graves noted.
United decided to renew the Chicago flight for 2015-2016, Graves said, and is considering adding a midweek flight in addition to the Saturday trips. The renewal is also an opportunity to nego- tiate a new revenue guarantee with the airline, he said, and it will likely end up at 30 percent less than the original agreement.
With the Chicago flight considered a success, AERO hopes to bring in more flights to GPIA, Graves said, including to somewhere in the southern part of the country – likely Texas, he said – and the Bay area in California.
Martin said the airport’s direct flight to Portland, which started last year and only occurs during the summer season, has also been successful, and the air- port is in discussions with Alaska Air- lines about expanding the service into the fall and winter.
And while much of the external focus on increasing air service to the Flathead is placed on tourism, visitors on vacation only account for 34 percent of all travel to the valley, including travel by highway and train.
Most of the travel is for business, and Graves said more air travel has made a difference at Whitefish Mountain Resort, where he estimated the new Chi- cago flight brought in at least 250 skiers.
“It was very much a success in my mind,” Graves said.
Martin acknowledged the high price of flying into the Flathead, and said the airport has nothing to do with setting prices; rather, it’s a matter of supply and demand.
“We have very full aircraft in the summer, and if someone doesn’t want to pay for the $600 seat, someone else will,” she said.
With the future of the Flathead economy resting partially in the clouds, Martin said the airlines must be con- vinced to expand here, and AERO has already experienced success in this regard.
“In order to bring more people here, we’re going to need more seats in the market,” Martin said.
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TRANSACTIONS
WEEKLY BUSINESS BRIEFING
JUNE 24, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
35
TRAILS WEST AND WEST VENTURE MERGE INTO PUREWEST REAL ESTATE
Trails West Real Estate announced its merger with West Venture Real Estate and PureWest Christie’s Real Estate.
West Venture Real Estate’s owner Dale Crosby-Newman and Sean Averill, who owns Trails West Real Estate and PureWest Real Estate in Bozeman, announced the merger last week and said that all three companies will be rebranded and renamed PureWest Real Estate.
Sean Averill and Dale Crosby-Newman.
This creates the largest locally owned and independent brokerages in the state of Montana. It includes 18 office locations throughout the state with further expansion plans into new markets.
In another move, the group has added long-time real estate team Deaton & Company to PureWest Real Estate as the managing brokers in Bigfork.
The group has assigned a top-producing broker, Scott Strellnauer, to the team as president and appointed Laura O’Connor as chief operation and financial officer.
Opening, moving or expanding a business in Northwest Montana? If you would like to be featured in “Transactions,” please email information to [email protected]
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