Airport adds, loses flights

| August 30, 2005 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

It was a good-news, bad-news scene Monday at Glacier Park International Airport.

First the bad news: Sept. 30 will be the last day of America West's daily scheduled flight between Phoenix and the Flathead Valley.

The cancellation is the result of the recently reported merger between America West and US Airways.

According to airport director Mike Daigle, "There are indications that once the merger is completed, they [America West] may return to serve northwestern Montana, but until the consolidation and restructuring is complete, no commitments or assurances are forthcoming.

"The America West service we had this summer had great load factors. The number of people using that flight was quite extraordinary."

Now the good news: The airport has acquired another route.

Starting on Oct. 5, Big Sky Airlines will offer a once-daily roundtrip to Boise. This is in addition to its new twice-daily flight to Calgary, which will come on line at the same time.

This has been a record year for passenger traffic at Glacier Park International, with double-digit increases over 2004, Daigle said. Additionally, the airport board and management continue to solicit new flights and airlines.