Montrose Regional Airport

Montrose Regional Airport (IATA: MTJ, ICAO: KMTJ, FAA LID: MTJ) is a non-towered public airport on the northwest side of Montrose, in zip code 81401 in southwestern Colorado. Its two runways are at elevation 5,759 feet (1,755 m). MTJ covers 966 acres (391 ha) of land.[1]

Montrose Regional Airport
The entrance sign with the terminal building in the background
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorMontrose County
LocationMontrose, Colorado
Elevation AMSL5,759 ft / 1,755 m
Coordinates38°30′35.26″N 107°53′39.27″W
Websitewww.flymontrose.com
Map
MTJ is located in Colorado
MTJ
MTJ
Location of airport in Colorado
MTJ is located in the United States
MTJ
MTJ
MTJ (the United States)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 10,000 3,048 Asphalt
13/31 7,510 2,289 Asphalt

Monarch Airlines started flying to Montrose in the 1940s. Successor Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) flew to the present airport since the 1950s; the first jets were Frontier Boeing 737-200s in 1982 (runway 12/30 was then 8500 ft). Earlier, Frontier flew Convair 580s between Montrose and Denver.

An enhanced and expanded Montrose Regional Airport was dedicated on June 25, 1988, with Chuck Yeager cutting the ribbon. The airport terminal was designed by local architect Patrik Davis "to greet visitors with small-town hospitality. A two-sided fireplace is the centerpiece of the passenger seating area, which has a tile floor patterned with the Ute pictogram for travel and a high, skylighted ceiling of knotty pine. The walls are earthy, ground-face cinderblock, and natural-finished glue-laminated beams extend over wide walkways. The gable roof has skylights and dormers decorated with the Hopi good luck symbol."[2]

Its runway 17/35 (10,000 feet in length) was built during the 1990s.

The airport is most busy during its winter season, serving many skiers headed to Telluride Ski Resort, an hour-and-a-half away by road;[3] it is also busy serving summer tourism in the area. In 2019, outside the winter and summer seasons, the only major airline flights were United Express flights to Denver and American Eagle flights to Dallas/Fort Worth. Direct flights to Phoenix, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities are offered in peak seasons, with the most flights on Saturdays.

American's service to its hub at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) only operates on Saturdays in the winter, due to perimeter restrictions at LGA which are only lifted on Saturdays.

Montrose Regional is the nearest airport with regularly scheduled mainline passenger jets to ski areas around Telluride. Some direct service to Telluride's small airport was offered by Boutique Air in 2018,[4] with Montrose serving as the alternative, backup destination when weather would close the high-elevation Telluride airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
American AirlinesDallas/Fort Worth[5]
American EagleDallas/Fort Worth[6]
Delta Air LinesSeasonal: Atlanta[7]
Southwest AirlinesDenver
Seasonal: Austin (resumes March 2, 2024),[8] Dallas–Love		[9]
United AirlinesSeasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Newark[10]
United ExpressDenver
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, San Francisco		[11]

Statistics

Passengers
Annual passenger traffic at MTJ airport. See Wikidata query.

Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from MTJ
(April 2022 - March 2023)[12]
Rank City Passengers Airlines
1 Denver, Colorado 118,000 United, Southwest
2 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 59,000 American
3 Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 16,000 American, United
4 Atlanta, Georgia 13,000 Delta
5 Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 11,000 United
6 Newark, New Jersey 6,000 United
7 Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 6,000 American
8 San Francisco, California 3,000 United
9 Dallas-Love Field, Texas 2,000 Southwest
10 Los Angeles, California 1,000 American, United

Airline market share
Airline Market Share (April 2022 - March 2023)[13]
Rank Carrier Passengers Market

Share

1 SkyWest 125,000 26.74%
2 Southwest 111,000 23.76%
3 American 98,270 20.95%
4 United 69,110 14.73%
5 Mesa 30,100 6.42%
Others 34,720 7.40%

2010-2011 terminal project

Montrose Regional Airport remodeled and expanded the passenger terminal, adding 10,935 sq. ft. by lengthening the terminal 80 feet to the south. The expansion added space for passenger check-in, larger departure lounge, and space at the security checkpoint.

Based aircraft and operations

In the year ending December 31, 2017, the airport had 36,550 aircraft operations, average 100 per day: 19% air carrier, <1% air taxi, 75% general aviation and 5% military. At the time, there were 81 aircraft based at MTJ, 59 single-engine, 13 multi-engine, two jets, three helicopters, three gliders and one ultra-light.[1]

Major accidents near MTJ
  • On April 13, 1973, a Continental Airlines North American Sabreliner on a positioning flight crashed shortly after takeoff when a thrust reverser deployed in flight, and both occupants on board were killed.[14]
  • On November 28, 2004, a Global Aviation Canadair CL-600 with six occupants on board crashed shortly after takeoff due to ice and snow contamination on the wings. Two crew members and one passenger died.[15]

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for MTJ PDF, effective December 30, 2021.
  2. Thomas J. Noel (16 July 2018). "Montrose Regional Airport". SAH Archipedia. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  3. Google maps reports 1 hour 31 minutes drive in good weather conditions.
  4. "Boutique Air Launches Flights to Telluride Airport". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  6. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  7. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  8. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule". Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  9. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  10. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  11. "2023 - 2024 Winter Flight Schedule".
  12. "RITA | BTS | Transtats". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. January 2022. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  13. "OST_R | BTS | Transtats". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  14. Accident description for N743R at the Aviation Safety Network
  15. Accident description for N873G at the Aviation Safety Network
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