The Magic Valley Regional Airport was notified that United Express flights, operated by SkyWest Airlines to and from Denver will be discontinued on November 30.
“It’s disheartening that the Denver flight was cancelled despite such robust travel on the new connection,” said Twin Falls City Mayor Suzanne Hawkins. “However, these are business decisions made by United and SkyWest and we will continue to work with them to provide air service to our growing community.”
The previously announced change to Delta service to and from Salt Lake City will remain as scheduled, and SkyWest has expressed interest in expanding service to include a second flight in March 2022. SkyWest and other airlines have experienced significant cost and labor challenges around the country, and many smaller airports have seen reductions in service.
“The airline industry across the country and around the world continues to experience impacts from the Covid Pandemic as well as disruptions to their labor market,” said Bill Carberry, Magic Valley Regional Airport Manager. “We have worked directly with the airline service providers to explore solutions to the current changes, but we have, unfortunately, not been able to find solutions to the challenges they face.”
“We’re very disappointed that despite the strong passenger counts and support from communities across Magic Valley, SkyWest still felt that the new Denver connection was not sustainable,” said Brent Reinke, Twin Falls County Commissioner. “Regardless, we are a growing and vibrant region and our airport will continue to seek out new air service opportunities for Magic Valley.”
The Magic Valley Regional Airport appreciates its nearly 40-year partnership with SkyWest and recognizes that — regardless of its brevity — the Denver connection brought hundreds of new visitors to Magic Valley who might not have visited otherwise. And the airport will continue to review and seek out new air service opportunities to serve travelers in the future.
“Both economic and personal growth comes with our ability to travel and for others to travel to us,” said Shawn Barigar, President & CEO of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. “Continued difficulties posed by the pandemic have limited business air travel. But we’re optimistic that both business and leisure travel will rebound in the coming months and that more robust air service connections will come to Twin Falls.”
Passengers with United whose travel plans may be impacted by this change in service should be notified by their booking agent, or they can contact customer service at United.com. And passengers with Delta who have upcoming travel plans that may be impacted by this change in service should be notified by their booking agent, or they can contact customer service at Delta.com. To connect with SkyWest Airlines, the provider for both of these airline services in Twin Falls, contact SkyWest at corporate.communications@skywest.com