By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Instead of having to fly west out of Hays to Denver to then fly east on another plane, airline passengers will have another option this spring.

“We received official notice today from SkyWest Airlines that the flight to Chicago is in the United booking system, available April 9th,” City Manager Toby Dougherty reported to city commissioners Monday night.

“To the flying public, the Denver flights, the early morning flight and the late night arrival, are still roughly the same. The mid-day turnaround will be a little more advantageous for the flyer. It will happen a little earlier in the day than it did before,” Dougherty said.

Then he gave details about the flight many business and pleasure travelers alike have been asking for.

“There’ll be a Chicago flight that leaves at 11:30, or maybe 10:30 in the morning, arriving in Hays around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. There’s another flight that comes from Denver, stops in Hays, and then goes on to Chicago, arriving in Chicago a little after 5 p.m.,” said Dougherty.

Chicago flights can be booked online at united.com beginning April 9, 2018.

Dougherty told commissioners Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Melissa Dixon, who was in the audience, will work with SkyWest on ways the city can help promote the new flight and get the word out.

The additional flight at the Hays Regional Airport is part of a new SkyWest contract at the Salina Regional Airport.

SkyWest’s proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Salina passenger air service contract included adding a flight that would benefit both Salina and Hays. The swing flight from Chicago to Denver will stop in Salina and Hays each way.

Dixon said Friday the number of passenger boardings at the Hays Regional Airport in 2017 “just missed” the 10,000 mark, which would have made the city eligible for $1 million in airport funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.) Otherwise, the city receives just $150,000 from the FAA annually.

The city is hoping the new flight to Chicago will help increase boardings enough in 2018 to surpass 10,000. The last year that happened was 2011, when 10,912 passengers flew out of the Hays Regional Airport.