Yellowstone Regional Airport — Local services in Cody

RUDE message from Board member Craig. After our son's 3rd canceled flight while trying to get to Duty Station with a report date of 01/03/15 (finally got flight out on the 5th) We were able to get him on a flight of Billings so he was able to get to where he was supposed to be. After sending a message to the board members ( the 1st cancelation (01/03/15) we were told was due to Denver not having enough employees to work the ramps. The supervisor working was very nice and tried to find a flight but couldn't get him on any flights, not even in Billings theirs had been canceled as well. 2nd cancelation ( was first flight we had been able to get him on 01/05/15) was due to Aircraft Maintenance ( not mechanical difficulty just planned maintenance, which means poor planning) 3rd (01/05/15) was actually a Delay that put his flight 5 hours late, 3 hours after his connection flight in Denver with no other flights out of Cody so we asked them to check Billings and got him in there and had to take the day off of work to get him there. I sent a message to the board members after the 2nd cancelation asking how this happens and how it was going to affect my son his first duty station. Received a message from the manager ( which included a question from another board member about a friend not being able to land in Cody the 2nd of Jan from Denver and having to fly in to Billings only to be told there were no car rentals available they had all been taken by the previous flights that went to Billings that were unable to land in Cody the night before) The actually message from the manager was very basic saying to write the airlines and ask them. I sent another Message after his 3rd delay and I was not very pleasant, asking how they were going compensate us for this mess, Board Member Craig sent a message meant for the board to me on accident, telling the manager , "We have done all we can do to facilitate this woman. I would let her go on her way….Craig" I sent him a message letting him know he accidently sent me that message and not the board, but did tell him I would not go away! I would also try to get him off of the board. I as well sent his message to the board for him letting them all know I had got it instead of them. ( I did include the entire board in my response to him) VERY DISAPOINTING! So Much for the small town...

I fly nearly every week and sometimes Cody is the cheapest, but its important to remember that, according to the FAA, 34% of flights are delayed or cancelled. I have spent a great deal of time in security, multiple times required to strip down to one layer, backpacks emptied (having only ground coffee in it), and even had TSA doing a hand search of every passengers bags. I am TSA precheck and the above still applied.

I typically fly out of Billings which has more airlines, very fast TSA, and an Instrument Landing System (ILS), which brings the aircraft to 200' rather than Cody's 600' RNAV approach (these are called instrument approaches if you want more info), so Cody's airport is less able to deal with poor weather and has smaller aircraft.

Free parking is a bonus.

Cody is a much better city IMHO than Billings, but it's airport seems to need improvements as noted above. Friendly people, easy in and out are also positive things.

Long story short, its in a great area, free parking, nice people. If you book, please remember to not book tight connections, use the United app and track the flight coming INTO Cody for a heads up...

Cody is beautiful and obviously a grand amount of money has been used for tourism and the management of the airport, with one exception: proper snow and ice removal. While listening to the gate agent, she added, "be aware crossing the ice at the exit",to go to the plane on the tarmac. I had watched a man feebily attempt to sprinkle rock salt by hand and with a tiny, malfunctioning crank spreader. A pilot had also observed the ice and had commented. I watched a ramp agent slip as she walked. I wonder: why no shovel or a mobile snow machine for removal? The parking lot, entry, curb, gates have thick ice plates, patches or black ice. This is a scary site for one who has had one hip replacement, two bad knees and scared of falling again. Plus, a United agent stated, "Welcome to Cody", as a reply, when my concern was issued to a concerned TSA Supervisor, Amy Hatfield. She then repeated what he had said in regard to this airport does minimal removal. No equipment. Also, letting nature warm up the temp to melt...