Sheridan County Airport is located in Sheridan County, Wyoming, approxiametly two miles southwest of the city of Sheridan, Wyoming. It serves both commercial and general aviation, as well as military aircraft. Sheridan once again has scheduled passenger airline service with nonstop flights to Denver (DEN). Air service had been subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service program until February 2007, when Big Sky Airlines began providing subsidy free service The Big Sky service was suspended in January 2008 when this air carrier went out of business. Great Lakes Airlines was the only other carrier at Sheridan, but it abruptly ceased all flights on March 31, 2015. Many Sheridan residents were confused regarding the lack of replacement service, believing that service to Sheridan was still subsidized under Essential Air Service. Federal law had been changed in 2012 so that once Sheridan County had left the EAS program, it could not re-enter it and commercial air service to Sheridan is not funded by EAS anymore. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 17,710 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 14,181 in 2009 and 14,146 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

Facilities

Sheridan County Airport covers 1,550 acres (627 ha) at an elevation of 4,021 feet (1,226 m). It has two asphalt runways: 15/33 is 8,301 by 100 feet (2,530 x 30 m) and 6/24 is 5,039 by 75 feet (1,536 x 23 m). In 2018 the airport had 28,656 aircraft operations, average 79 per day: 95% general aviation, 5% air taxi, and <1% military. 97 aircraft were then based at this airport: 78% single-engine, 19% multi-engine, 1% jet, and 2% helicopter. Bighorn Airways offers airplane and helicopter charter service and an aircraft repair and installation center.

Airline and destination

SkyWest Airlines, operating as United Express, replaced Key Lime Air service to Denver on January 12, 2020 when the company took over the subsidized air service contract for both Riverton and Sheridan.

Statistics

Historical airline service

Sheridan first received airline service in 1931 when Wyoming Air Service began a route from Denver to Billings, Montana via Cheyenne, Casper, and Sheridan. The carrier changed its name to Inland Airlines in 1938 and was bought by Western Airlines in 1944. Aircraft operated by Western to the airport included Douglas DC-3s and DC-6Bs followed by Lockheed L-188 Electras and Boeing 737-200s, an example being Denver-Cheyenne-Casper-Sheridan-Billings-Great Falls with some Electras continuing to Calgary. In 1966 Western Electras flew Los Angeles-San Diego-Phoenix-Denver-Cheyenne-Casper-Sheridan-Billings. Western was the only airline to operate mainline jets to Sheridan; it dropped Sheridan in 1980. Aspen Airways (United Express) flew BAe 146-100s Sheridan to United Airlines hub in Denver at times in the late 1980s. One of Western's Boeing 737s that was bound for Sheridan landed at Buffalo instead by mistake on July 31, 1979, while flying Western Airlines flight 44. Commuter and regional airlines served Sheridan after Western, with flights primarily to Denver, many via Gillette, Wyoming.

Other sources