Sheridan County Airport is in Sheridan County, Wyoming, two miles southwest of Sheridan, Wyoming. Sheridan once again has scheduled passenger service with nonstop flights to Denver on Key Lime Air 30 seat Fairchild Dornier 328JETs. Recent air service was 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 this carrier 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 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.
Facilities
Sheridan County Airport covers 1,550 acres at an elevation of 4,021 feet. It has two asphalt runways: 15/33 is 8,301 by 100 feet and 6/24 is 5,039 by 75 feet. In 2017 the airport had 30,008 aircraft operations, average 82 per day: 95% general aviation, 5% air taxi, and <1% military. 100 aircraft were then based at this airport: 77% single-engine, 18% multi-engine, 1% jet, 2% helicopter, and 2% glider. Bighorn Airways offers airplane and helicopter charter service and an aircraft repair and installation center.
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 flew BAe 146-100s Sheridan to United Airlines hub in Denver at times in the late 1980s. Commuter and regional airlines served Sheridan after Western, with flights primarily to Denver, many via Gillette, Wyoming.
Trans-America Airways in 1976 and 1977 Denver-Cheyenne-Douglas-Casper-Sheridan with Cessna 402s.
Big Sky Airlines in 1980 Billings-Sheridan-Casper with Cessna 402s and Swearingen Metroliners.
United Express, operated by Mesa Airlines, April, 1990 to May, 1998: Beechcraft 1900s, Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias, and de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s.
United Express, operated by Air Wisconsin June to October 1998: Dornier 328s.
United Express, operated by Great Lakes Airlines, October 1998 to April 2005: Beechcraft 1900s and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Great Lakes lost their designation as a United Express affiliate in February, 2002 but continued to operate an indirect code-share with United Airlines.
Big Sky Airlines returned to Sheridan late 2005 to January 2008: Beechcraft 1900D nonstops to Denver and a single flight to Billings.
Great Lakes Airlines resumed service in May 2007 operating as an independent air carrier flying Beechcraft 1900Ds and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Great Lakes dropped Sheridan in spring 2015 and the airport had no airline until Key Lime Air began flights to Denver in November 2015. Denver Air Connection began a code-share service with United Airlines in 2018.
