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Consultant: Farmington’s restored Denver service shows promising early performance
Summary
A consultant told the Farmington City Council the first year of restored commercial service to Denver has generated about 18,000 passengers and encouraging reliability and load-factor metrics, while noting the route still relies on state and federal subsidies as it matures.
Gary Foss, CEO of ArcStar Group, told the Farmington City Council the restored Farmington–Denver flights have posted strong early results and “show a lot of pent up demand,” citing roughly 18,000 passengers since the May 8 launch and a 64% load factor out of the gate. Foss made the presentation to the council and described metrics for passengers, fares, reliability and marketing that he said support the route’s long‑term prospects.
The presentation, delivered remotely, laid out several measures of performance: 15,000 passengers flew both directions in 2025 between Farmington and Denver; combined with January and February 2026 results, Foss said the program totals just over 18,000 passengers. He reported a starting load factor of about 64%, industry averages of roughly 80% for comparable regional markets, and a completion rate of near 100% with no cancellations after the first month. "You are in the top 50% of SkyWest’s airports," Foss said, noting the carrier and United view Farmington’s performance favorably.
Foss also summarized fare and market data, saying Farmington’s one‑way fares averaged about $249 in the most recent DOT data and that the city’s local market sends a large share of passengers to Denver, Texas markets and Las Vegas. He described a marketing campaign that generated millions of impressions and tens of thousands of clicks to united.com, producing a roughly 1.6% click‑through rate on recent campaigns.
On funding, Foss said the route has been subsidized by a combination of state and federal programs while it ramps up: he cited total subsidies to date of about $2,170,000, New Mexico’s Regional Air Service Enhancement (RACE) program (which he said provides about $2,250,000 annually), and a Small Community Air Service Development federal grant of approximately $1,100,000.
When councilors asked about expansion and long‑term stability, Foss said the airline evaluates new opportunities against many alternatives and that achieving closer to industry‑standard load factors and higher shares of business travelers (he suggested 35–40% business travel) would improve the route’s chance of additional frequency. "Once we get to 35 to 40% of travelers being business related, SkyWest will be profitable," he said.
Mayor pro tem and council members thanked Foss and praised airport staff and local marketing efforts; no formal council action was required. The presentation closed with council discussion of outreach to local businesses and continued monitoring of performance.
