Unless a solution is found, the Cody airport stands to lose its long-running summer connection to Salt Lake City.

“At this point in time, Delta [Airlines] has reached out and … basically told us that they will not be returning for the 2022 season,” Yellowstone Regional Airport Director Aaron Buck told the airport’s board Wednesday morning. “So we have our work cut out for ourselves to try to earn them back in 2022 or and beyond.”

Delta has long provided seasonal service from Cody to its Salt Lake hub, working through SkyWest Airlines. From May through the start of October, the airline offered a daily flight in-and-out — plus an additional flight on Saturdays. That operated alongside United Express’ three daily flights to and from Denver, plus a weekly connection to Chicago.

However, last week, Delta leaders informed YRA that they don’t plan to return with SkyWest next summer.

Board member Bucky Hall, who leads the nonprofit Cody-Yellowstone Air Improvement Resources, attributed Delta’s pending pullout to SkyWest being stretched thin, saying the company is bailing on smaller airports. He added that Delta’s decision to end its Cody service “took everybody by surprise.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Hall said. “It’s just the nature of the industry, which has always been kind of a whacky industry anyway, and nothing’s changed.”

In visiting with Delta last week, Buck said he made the case that the market for tourism has been recovering, and that many of the airports that offer leisure travel “are doing really well.” As perhaps one example, the number of people who boarded a commercial flight in Cody last month rose to 2,583 enplanements — a substantial 1,477-passenger increase from November 2020 that even beat the numbers from 2019.

However, “I was told that the margin on the flight for leisure is not what Delta is seeking and Delta depends on the business traveler,” Buck said, with the company relaying that “there’s not enough business travelers in and out of Cody.”

He added that, “at this point in time, they are set in their decision.”

However, since the Salt Lake flight had been serviced by SkyWest, Buck said YRA has begun conversations with Delta to see if a deal can be struck with the corporate airline itself. He said they’ve also begun discussions with Alaska Airlines about the potential of getting service to Seattle or another location. Additionally, he mentioned the possibility of reaching out to see if United is willing to send a bigger aircraft from Denver through the summer months.

“All those are just beginning discussions, but what we’re trying to figure out with this news,” Buck said.

Hall said he’s hoping to get some of the flights that are being diverted from the Jackson airport this spring, as that facility will be closed from April 11 through June 28 while the airport runway is completely reconstructed. Hall suggested that Cody would be a logical destination for tourists heading to Yellowstone National Park who planned to go through Jackson.

“If you’re a traveler and you’re going to the park, would you rather come here or Idaho Falls?” he asked rhetorically, suggesting Cody was the obvious answer.

That’s among the messages Hall will be seeking to spread in the coming weeks, as he looks to help secure more air service for next summer.

“We’re working it pretty hard,” he said, predicting that, “I think we’ll have the problem solved at least by the end of January.”

In the meantime, United continues to offer two daily flights to and from Denver during the traditionally slower late fall, winter and early spring months at YRA.