As the airline industry continues to recover, Telluride’s winter air schedule includes both long sought-after additions and route hiatuses for the coming season, the Colorado Flights Alliance (CFA) recently announced.
Two long-term objectives will be realized at the Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ) this winter, including the addition of nonstop service from Austin and the return of daily flights from Atlanta. Southwest will fly from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturdays from January through March, and Delta will return to daily flights from Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson International Airport from December through early April.
“Austin has long been considered a sister city to Telluride, and locals and Austinites alike are excited about the nonstop service on Southwest this winter,” CFA CEO Matt Skinner said. “And in the southeast, Delta returns to daily flying from one of Telluride’s key markets and the largest airport in the country, upgrading their longstanding service from ATL to MTJ.”
Along with the welcome additions, MTJ will also see a stoppage of service on two of its winter routes with American Airlines, including daily Chicago and Saturday Los Angeles service. As the travel industry recovers, the intention is to re-establish these routes in the future, Skinner explained. United Airlines will be continuing service from both Telluride and Montrose airports this winter.
Telluride Regional Airport (TEX) is featuring daily jet service to two major hubs again this winter in offering Denver and Phoenix flights. Denver Air now has interline relationships with both United and American, allowing travelers to book connecting flights straight into TEX through both global airline networks.
Other carriers and routes will operate similarly to last year, CFA explained, with the Telluride destination offering 14 nonstop flights from 12 major U.S. hubs into the two airports this winter. Other flights include daily service to Denver, Chicago, Houston and New York/Newark, as well as multi-day service for San Francisco and Los Angeles via United. American is offering daily Dallas (DFW) and Phoenix service, as well as Saturday New York/La Guardia service. Other than the new Austin service, Southwest will also offer daily Denver routes and Saturday Dallas (DAL) service.
For full schedule information, visit the CFA website at coloradoflights.org/schedule. To book flights, visit the respective airline websites.
Skinner explained CFA monitors the winter routes and makes adjustments when necessary, per protocol, but as air travel continues to stabilize post-pandemic the idea is there will most likely be fewer schedule tweaks once the season starts.
“Over the last couple of winters, we have had monthly adjustments to the schedule. And I think one of the things that we're also seeing return a little bit to normal is more consistency once the schedules are set. So what we hope to see then is fewer changes in season, as we're coming into the winter,” he added.
While summer bookings fluctuated from month to month, early winter bookings are already looking steady, which is a positive trend, Skinner said.
“We're very early in winter bookings and they usually start to pick up right about this time. But having just looked at the trends, our early numbers are right on par with our historical averages. Like it's like to the line. And so there's a little bit of normalcy and looks like heading into the winter bookings, neither a big spike or a huge dip. So it's nice to see that return in customer behavior,” he added. “Generally, what we see from here is kind of a steady increase through September and October, even into November, when people begin to book their winter vacations, and hopefully for us, we just keep on that consistent historic average, which would be great.”
For more information about TEX, visit tellurideairport.com.
