Wyoming has had success in creating airline hubs around the
state in Laramie, Cody, Jackson, Casper, Sheridan, Riverton, Gillette, and Rock
Springs. Without state subsidies, many of these places would not have the
quality of air service they are now experiencing.
When I first
heard about Cheyenne offering daily airline service to and from Dallas, I was
skeptical.
Plus with local,
state, and federal help, a brand new terminal had been built in Cheyenne for
what appeared to be non-existent airlines. It was seemingly a Wyoming version
of the famous Alaska bridge to nowhere.
It was the
airline terminal with no airline service.
Then some
hard-working folks came up with the idea of non-stop daily service to Dallas,
subsidized by local, state, and federal funds.
When I told my
Lander friends that we were going to fly that route the day after Christmas,
they thought we were crazy.
Our youngest daughter
Amber lives in north Dallas with her husband and three kids. In recent years we have started a holiday
tradition of celebrating an early Christmas Eve on Dec. 23 with our
Lander-based daughter Shelli Johnson and her family. Then we fly to Dallas right
after Christmas, trying to be in two places at once over the holidays.
To complicate
our holiday plans even more, I fiddled with our schedule so we could drive to
Denver on Christmas Eve day. Then we could visit our first great-grandchild,
little Hailey in Castle Pines south of Denver.
After that visit, we drove all the
way north through Denver to spend the actual Christmas Eve with my Sniffin
relatives in Broomfield. We spent Christmas day with my 94-year old mom at her
nursing home.
Thank God Interstate
25 was dry and traffic was manageable. On Dec. 26, we found ourselves sitting
in an empty Cheyenne airport terminal waiting for that one solitary regional
jet.
There were
terrible weather reports coming out of Dallas and I feared if this plane missed
its flight, we were screwed.
In fact, the
SkyWest crew was early and we were pleased to see that jet on the tarmac
unloading incoming passengers.
Because of
weight restrictions in Dallas, the 50-passenger plane could only take 36
people. That was the last we heard about
that problem and the plane loaded.
The flight to
Dallas was wonderful. Took 127 minutes. Plus there were 14 empty seats to spread
yourselves around in if you wanted.
Bad news hit when
we got to Dallas. They were getting hellish
thunderstorms. We circled awhile in turbulence and then made a dive into the
pattern and landed. Whew! Then we sat. And sat. And sat some more.
The airport
had suspended all takeoffs because of the lightning, which was a smart decision.
It was one of the most fantastic displays of lightning I have ever seen. Bright and loud. Nobody was complaining about
sitting there. We could not unload because other planes were in all the gates.
Finally we
unloaded and were met by our Dallas relatives.
We basked in 60-degree
weather for a week and enjoyed the holiday while Wyoming got blasted with
holiday storms. It was minus 18 with 10 inches of new snow in Lander. I was
feeling pretty smug about our decision to head south.
While in
Dallas, we enjoyed buying gasoline for $1.87 per gallon and saw the movies Vice and Bohemian Rhapsody. Both were very good. Vice
was hard on the Dick Cheney family and Wyoming but the acting was amazing. If you like the musical group Queen, you will
love the latter movie.
Our trip home
was uneventful although the Dallas airport was a busy mess. Jan. 2 is also one of the busiest travel days
of the year. In Cheyenne, the airport was quiet and calm and there was no
charge for parking our car in the airport parking lot.
We saved
probably $75 in parking fees. When comparison-shopping,
the prices from Denver to Dallas were about $700 for Nancy and me. The fee for
Cheyenne to Dallas was $470 for both of us.
Overall, I
would say this is a great deal.
It seems to me
that Colorado’s Front Range folks might drive to Cheyenne to save money and
avoid their big airport hassle. Folks
from all over Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado are potential travelers out of
this airport.
Next effort
should be daily flights from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City and even Denver.
The airline
future could be bright for Cheyenne with proper regional promotion.
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