Gary Foss, chief executive officer of the ArcStar Group, told the Hays City Commission on July 10 that Hays Regional Airport’s new overnight schedule has produced a sharp increase in passengers and improved operational metrics.

Foss said the airport’s market area includes roughly 62,000 people who live closer to Hays than to any other commercial airport and that those residents previously drove an average of two hours and 49 minutes to fly. With the adjusted schedule, he said, that drive would be about 32 minutes. “This really underscores that old habits die hard,” Foss said, noting that many travelers still drove to Wichita, Kansas City or Denver even after the improved local schedule launched in April.

Foss told commissioners the new schedule — published Feb. 8 and launched April 2 — created immediate gains: year‑over‑year traffic rose about 99 percent in the spring after the change, the percent of seats filled climbed from about 49 percent to about 63 percent, and the airport is on track for a near‑record 34,000 round‑trip enplanements in 2025, an 88 percent increase since 2023.

Why it matters: Hays sits inside the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) network and competes with larger regional airports. Foss said more passengers flying locally can bring economic benefits and make future service or aircraft upgrades more attractive to carriers.

The presentation covered market share, fares, destinations and marketing. Foss said Hays captured about 15 percent of the local catchment’s passengers in 2024, up from roughly 7 percent in an earlier study; Wichita still captures about 34 percent, Kansas City 26 percent and Denver 20 percent. He also reported roughly 4 million marketing impressions and more than 60,000 clicks that linked consumers to united.com as part of a targeted advertising campaign led by the city’s marketing effort.

Commissioners and the mayor praised airport staff and the marketing campaign. Sandy Jacobs, mayor of Hays, called the presentation “outstanding” and thanked staff for their work. Foss said SkyWest — which operates United flights at Hays — has no immediate plans to change the current schedule and that carriers had committed to giving the city advance notice if they considered larger aircraft in the future.

Foss also summarized operational context that drives connections, including hub “bank” timing and minimum connection times at Denver: small changes in published departure times can alter the number and direction of legal connections in the global distribution systems used by airlines and travel agents.

Commissioners asked about the federal EAS program’s stability; Foss said the program routinely faces scrutiny in Washington but remains important to rural communities.

Foss concluded: “The investments we have made in the airport are reaping benefits,” and he recommended continuing the marketing and infrastructure work that helped produce recent gains.

The commission did not take formal action on airport service during the meeting; the presentation was informational.