By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

City officials acknowledge that upcoming changes in the SkyWest flight schedule at the Hays Regional Airport are not very convenient. Still, Public Works Director I.D. Creech hopes people will continue to book flights to show parent company United that Hays has a viable flying public.

“There’s still two flights (week days.) The airline is still providing the same service that we had before,” Creech said.

Creech was quick to praise SkyWest’s service.

“The flight to Denver on the jet is great. We still land inside the area with the jetway to get inside the (Denver International Airport) terminal so you can make whatever connections you can.

“We understand this schedule is not the best for a lot of people but it is the schedule being offered. It’s on a competitive basis–a business determination made by United,” Creech said.

SkyWest is moving to an all-jet fleet and each city where a plane stays overnight now will have to double up with another airport. One city will get an overnight stay–the other city won’t.

The result is no morning flights in Hays during February. The earliest flight out will be about  2 p.m. In March and April, the schedule improves slightly with an 11 a.m. departure.

“It’s a mid-morning flight that will facilitate a lot more traffic for us to make connections in Denver.”

“We’re hoping that our flying public will give United a chance while we’re going through this change in schedule so we can keep our (enplanement) numbers up. It’s very important for us to show we do have flying public and that we are in need of good service from here to some hubs so we can make connections with the world,” Creech said.

“The schedule is always subject to change,” he added.

SkyWest service started August 1, 2014, in Hays with a 6:50 a.m. departure to Denver.

Creech said city officials continue to work towards changing the SkyWest flight schedule back to what it was when service began August 1.