May was the busiest month so far this year as far as people flying out of the Pierre Regional Airport. City Commissioner Jamie Huizenga says 1515 people chose to fly out of Pierre. https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2626/files/2026/06/060326-huizenga1.mp3 Huizenga says t here’s been steady numbers every month so far this year. https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2626/files/2026/06/060326-huizenga2.mp3 SkyWest, flying as United Express, is the airline company that currently has the federal essential air service contract for the Pierre Regional Airport. They currently provide 12 weekly round-trip flights between Pierre and the Denver International Airport. SkyWest also serves the Watertown Regional Airport. From there, they provide Delta flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul, and United Express flights to Denver. The federal essential air service program provides a subsidy to the company providing service in order to maintain flight options at small airports around the country. If the Pierre Regional Airport surpasses the 10,000 boardings number within a year, it becomes eligible to receive $1-million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help support airport operations. ...read more read less