SWEETWATER COUNTY — Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Director Devon Brubaker said the Commercial Terminal Modernization Project is going “phenomenally well” during an update at the Sweetwater County commissioners meeting Tuesday.

“I’m pleased to report it’s going phenomenally well. It is on schedule and on budget,” Brubaker said.

He said in terms of construction progress, they have installed a lot of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in, framing, the glulams, and more.

The project cost has not increased, Brubaker said, and remains at $41,469,110. “Don’t set this in stone,” he said, but the current planned move-in date is July 15, 2025. The contractual substantial completion date is Aug. 26, 2025, and the contractual final completion date is Oct. 2, 2025. As of now, there are no schedule delays, Brubaker said.

Since May, Brubaker said he has secured over $22 million of funding for this project, with funding coming from the Wyoming Business Council, Federal Aviation Administration, and WYDOT Aeronautics.

“I stood before you all in May and basically asked you to take a leap of faith with me and the airport board, and commit to backing the financials of this project to the tune as of much as $20 million. Since I stood before you and asked for that, and you graciously said yes, I have since gone out and secured $22.2 million of funding for this project, with more funding potentially on the way.”

The funding breakdown is as follows:

• Wyoming Business Council
  • $5 million loan (30 years at 1% interest)
  • $2 million grant (only available after loan fully drawn)

• Federal Aviation Administration
  • $2,545,465 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) Apportionment
  • $2,657,946 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Apportionment
  • $750,000 AIP Supplemental Discretionary
  • $7,500,000 IIJA (BIL) Airport Terminal Program Discretionary

• WYDOT Aeronautics
  • $1,353,256 Capital Improvement Program Discretionary
  • $425,242 Federal Match Funds

Remaining requested funds include $2,539,486 from the Wyoming Governor’s Office’s IIJA matching funds, and another $5.2 million from the FAA if needed. Additionally, there could be additional funds from WYDOT Aeronautics if needed. Brubaker said that if the airports gets more funding than needed for the project, they will try to find ways to give back to the funding partners.

“I will tell you, I heard from two different entities, the Wyoming Business Council and the FAA, that by you all passing that MOU, you guys and the City of Rock Springs, and the airport board, that gave them the confidence that this project was going to get done, that if they put some skin in the game, that there was a commitment from the local community to get this project done,” Brubaker told the commissioners. “Nobody wants to put in $7.5 million and then the rest of it not be funded, so that MOU and your willingness to go out on a limb with us on that allowed us to put it right over the top to secure some funding.”

Chairman Keaton West said that the commissioners were nervous at first, but commended Brubaker for acquiring all the funding he has for this project. He said Brubaker said the worst case scenario for a local match on funds was going to be $13.5 million, and the best case would be around $3.5 million.

“I tell you, we were nervous, and I think that’s pretty remarkable that you were able to go out and secure the full amount where it doesn’t require any obligations locally to see this project through,” West said.

Passenger Numbers Increasing

Brubaker said that advanced bookings have continued to grow each month, and are getting back to pre-pandemic levels. He said September was the third best September in terms of passengers in the airport’s history, and October was the fifth best October. Current status, advanced bookings continue to grow. The advanced booking curve was from Friday, Nov. 1, from SkyWest.

“We’re anticipating 2025 passenger numbers to exceed 2019 passenger numbers, which were the third best in airport history, only behind 2012 and 2008 when there was large economic growth in the community,” Brubaker said.

He said the contract amount with Skywest, labor costs, and fuel are all increasing, and that salaries have more than quadrupled since 2019. When he started at the airport in 2015, the cost to operate an aircraft was less than $2,000 per block hour, and now it’s close to $5,000 per block hour for air service. Brubaker said that this is happening in every community across the United States.

Additionally, he said since they added the second flight to Denver, the air fares have dropped as a result. While the lower air fares encourages people to fly out of the airport, he said they were lower this summer than the amount the airport would like to see them. Brubaker said they will slowly increase the fares to where they should be for market conditions, and this will happen naturally during November and December for the holidays, and again in March for spring break, and by next summer they should return to where they should be.

Due to the higher costs of providing air service, Brubaker made a request for the county to amend its airport budget to the full contract amount. The Skywest Minimum Revenue Guarantee for the county maxes out at $793,587, which means the county has agreed to provide up to that amount in funding to guarantee a minimum level of revenue for Skywest’s flights out of the airport. However, for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the county budgeted $202,287.

“What my recommendation to you all would be to process a budget amendment that takes your budget authority all the way up to the full contract amount, that you’re under contract with the state of Wyoming for,” Brubaker said.

Chairman West said that when the commissioners were putting the budget together, they looked back at historic data over the past four years, and the MRG amount that the county expended was under $250,000, so they adjusted the budget accordingly. Brubaker then caught this after the budget was processed and approved, so the commissioners decided to wait for the first quarter of the fiscal year to adjust it to see what the quarter brought forth, with the commissioners planning to adjust accordingly.