American’s Billings-Dallas Route Popular
The first two months of nonstop daily flights between Billings and Dallas have been so popular that it’s almost certain that a quarterly financial guarantee due to American Airlines won’t be necessary this fall. The Gazette reported Thursday that the city’s director of aviation and transit Kevin Ploehn, said flights were at 87 percent of capacity in June, and 81 percent in July. The break-even point for the airline is about 70 percent full.
Numbers for passenger loads between the two cities in August are down slightly. Pledges by more than 20 Billings companies and organizations, including The Billings Gazette, and a federal grant contributed $1.45 million to the airline toward the first-year cost of providing direct daily flights between the two cities. The nonstop service began June 2. The Billings Chamber of Commerce is pleased with the numbers.