After posting record passenger numbers in 2019, things were looking even better for Yellowstone Regional Airport in 2020. In February, boardings were up a little bit and this summer, the Cody airport was set to host four flights a day to Denver, another to Salt Lake City (plus a second connection on the weekends) and a weekly flight to Chicago.

“We were on track to have probably our largest year ever, to do 45,000 enplanements,” YRA Manager Bob Hooper said Tuesday. “And, man, I have no idea where we’re going to end up.”

The airport boarded only 19 people last week, he said.

Air travel has collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic — and airlines have reacted accordingly. Skywest Airlines notified YRA leaders last month that they were pulling out of Cody and intended to offer no connections to Salt Lake this year; United — which had been providing at least two daily flights to Denver throughout the year — has cut back to one flight a day until things improve and the planned Chicago flight was scrapped.

“To have it all vanish is kind of depressing, actually,” said YRA Board Chairman Bucky Hall.

The decisions generally reflect the reality on the ground — that few people are flying right now. Two of the seven Cody-Denver flights that were scheduled for last week were canceled for lack of passengers, Hooper said. The five United flights that did depart YRA carried an average of less than four people; one plane left the gate in Cody with no passengers on board.

“It’s sad,” Hooper said, “but it’s not only us — it’s all airports.”

Major airlines have canceled roughly 80% of their flights and the Transportation Security Administration is screening roughly 96% fewer passengers than it was at this time a year ago. On Monday, only about 102,000 travelers passed through TSA checkpoints across the country, down from 2.48 million last year.

To bolster the industry, the federal government is providing billions of dollars in relief to airports and airlines (see related story). That’s benefitted Cody in more ways than one: As a result of accepting federal funding, Skywest is being required to reinstate its service to YRA this year.

Starting on May 22 and continuing through mid-October, the airline will provide a connecting flight to Salt Lake three days a week — on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

“Given what’s going on right now, that’s the best we can hope for,” Hall said.

As for United, “they’re like, ‘The second you know when the park’s opening up, let us know and we’ll start [a second daily flight],’” Hall said, referring to the reopening of Yellowstone National Park. He said it’s possible that a third Denver flight could be added by the peak of the summer season.

“But we’re not going to break our enplanement record like we did last year, let’s put it that way,” Hall said.

Hooper is predicting that it will take awhile before air travel really recovers.

“It’s going to be a tough time,” he said. “Hopefully, when they get rid of this national emergency and they open things back up, … air travel immediately picks up — and that’s what we’re all hoping for.”