As construction fencing and job trailers appeared this week at Yampa Valley Regional Airport for the forthcoming extensive expansion project, officials assessed a winter flight season that recorded a 13% drop in passengers in March compared to March 2025.

“Typically, March is our biggest month,” said Tinneal Gerber, airport director. “January and February were actually pretty flat, if not up a little bit from the prior year. It was really March where we took the big dive.”

While March 2025 recorded 93,433 passengers through the airport in Hayden, this March showed 81,195 people through the facility, Gerber said. Flying passengers drop off in the month of April; for example, 16,978 passengers traveled through the airport in April 2025.

On a sunny April 3, an American Airlines flight coming in from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport directly to Yampa Valley Regional Airport illustrated the significant drop in April passengers, which was exacerbated during this low snowpack year. On the flight, row after row of seats were empty.

On that 172-seat airplane, approximately 25 people including the airline crew exited to the tarmac, two days before Steamboat Resort closed on April 5. The resort closed two weeks earlier than originally scheduled.

Gerber explained that annually after the high-flying month of March, February is the next busiest flight month with the bump of President’s Day weekend, followed in passenger volumes by January and then December.

Passengers in November 2025 were up by 4.2% compared to November 2024. The December passenger count was down 10% compared to the previous year, however, as the airport took a winter storm hit when most flights were cancelled on Dec. 27 that impacted 904 passengers, Gerber said.

Non-winter capacity at the airport has grown 300% from six years ago since Southwest Airlines became the second year-round carrier in addition to United Airlines.

Gerber and Janet Fischer, director of airline programs at Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., both excitedly pointed to a 12% higher seat capacity for the non-winter months this spring, summer and fall. Southwest Airlines will fly to Denver seven days a week through Oct. 31, which adds two daily flights to Denver on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Another touted advantage for this summer is Southwest Airlines scheduling flights earlier at 7:50 a.m. from Hayden to Denver that will strengthen connectivity options to more flights to other destinations, officials said.

This summer, United Express will fly direct from Hayden to Houston two times a day on three days a week from June 5 to Aug. 15, which is considered the airport’s peak time during the warmer season. Those direct flights to Houston will be Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and into Hayden Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Another change for the summer schedule is the discontinuation of direct flights to Los Angeles International Airport, which was tried in summer 2025 for 10 Saturdays. That option did not fulfill passenger volume expectations, Fischer said.

Despite the low snowpack year, Fischer considers the public-private partnership Steamboat Air Program this winter a success and good investment. The program is funded one-third by the ski area and two-thirds via the Local Marketing District lodging tax within a boundary roughly comparable to Steamboat city limits. The program funds minimum revenue guarantee contracts to secure flights to Hayden.

“Overall, the air program did well,” said Fischer, with final numbers still pending. “We’re forecasting that this winter the arriving passengers are the third largest.”

Fischer said the flight-boosting program was predicting a capacity of 234,000 passengers through Hayden this winter, compared to a capacity of 220,000 passengers the previous winter. That would mean the Steamboat Air Program could pay the airlines a maximum of $3.8 million this year.

In terms of people who flew via Hayden on flights supported by the air program, the preliminary passenger estimate is 154,000 people this winter, which is a 5% lower than the prior 2024/25 winter with 162,000 passengers, Fischer said.

While Front Range visitors and area residents are more dependent on falling snow, flying destination guests generally plan their vacations and still travel, Fischer said.

“Our destination visitor is our resilient guest,” Fischer said. “So even in a low-snow year, they followed through with their vacations and traveled into Hayden. …They participated in more diverse activities.”

Both Gerber and Fischer encouraged local residents to take advantage of the convenience of the 12% boost is seat capacity at Yampa Valley Regional Airport this non-winter season.

“It benefits our whole community for their own personal travel and the economy providing access to the guests who support tourism and our local industry,” Fischer said.

Gerber encouraged departing airport passengers to leave earlier than usual due to construction work stoppages on U.S. Highway 40 this year.

This spring and summer, officials at Steamboat Springs Chamber are expecting similar tourism numbers as summer 2025 but with an increased demand earlier in the summer.

“Overall bookings for this summer are flat to previous years, but we are seeing increased early-summer demand in May and June,” said Laura Soard, chamber senior director of marketing and communications. “Special events and the Memorial Day holiday continue to drive demand, but July 4 falls on a Saturday this year, which could result in lower occupancy than we’ve seen in the past few years.”

“Nationally, travelers continue to show a strong commitment to travel despite ongoing financial caution,” Soard noted. “But the rising cost of fuel could put a damper on road trips and flying to the mountains. Additionally, drought conditions pose a risk to our recreation industry, which is a large part of our appeal as a destination.”

To help business owners plan, the Steamboat Springs Chamber will host the “Preparing for Peak: Summer Lodging and Industry Outlook” event free for chamber members and their employees at 3-5 p.m. April 30 at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas.