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Gunnison-Crested Butte Airport to offer direct flights to Chicago for first time since 2017

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Gunnison-Crested Butte Airport to offer direct flights to Chicago for first time since 2017
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Scott Truex, Rural Transportation Authority Executive Director | Scott Truex (LinkedIn)

In 2025, Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) will reintroduce direct flights to Chicago for the first time in almost ten years. The new service on United Airlines is aimed at serving the growing base of Vail Resorts Epic Pass holders in the Chicago area.

According to the Gunnison Country Times, to support the route, the Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) is providing a minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) of $118,000, covering any revenue shortfall if seats don’t fill. The flights will begin on President’s Day weekend and run through March, spanning some of the busiest ski weeks at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays, the route will offer a total of seven roundtrips, which transportation officials believe is an optimal way to test demand.

This reintroduction marks the first Chicago route since GUC’s seasonal service to Chicago O’Hare from 2013 to 2017, a period when the RTA invested around $1 million in MRGs but ultimately suspended the route due to cost. The RTA views this as a viable market due to Crested Butte’s inclusion on the Epic Pass after Vail Resorts’ acquisition. The Epic Pass provides skiers unlimited access to various resorts, and an increasing number of pass holders from the Chicago and Milwaukee areas have visited the valley over the past five years, according to RTA flight consultant Bill Tomcich.

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“Hopefully that’ll make a big difference … this is a real way to dip our toe in the water,” said RTA Executive Director Scott Truex, according to Gunnison Country Times.

Flights will depart from Chicago at 3:35 p.m. on Saturdays, arriving in Gunnison at 6:15 p.m., and return from Gunnison on Sundays at 9 a.m. with a noon arrival in Chicago. With these additional flights, the RTA’s MRG cap for United winter service will increase to approximately $500,000, which includes support for routes to Houston and Denver.

“This is the only expansion of service on the weekends, so I think it makes sense,” said Truex. “But it’s going to be a challenge to not pay the cap on this one [Chicago]. It’s an expensive per-passenger cost.”

RTA board member Liz Smith noted that marketing strategies are already being discussed with the Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP), with plans to attract passengers before the peak of spring break bookings.

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