Yampa Valley Regional Airport - Hayden, Colorado

Drea Hawkins

This airport is a lifesaver in that it started flying in commercial flights. It’s been nice to travel southwest (almost) direct. The planes always park on the runway and you have to walk off, down a ramp, and into the airport which is different and kind of cool… definitely pack a coat or hat for the walk it can be a little brutal ?

The actual airport is small, there is one place to get food and drinks that is basically a snack bar and then one small restaurant outside of security. The food is what you’d expect.

The baggage claim is easy to navigate as it is small and relatively straightforward. The oversized pick up is outside the airport where everyone is getting picked up.

The people are generally kind and TSA is efficient. However they do NOT like when you accidentally try to bring hand warmers with you. Make sure you check your bag carefully lol

Joe Rottman

The operations staff at this airport stranded us for 2 hours on the tarmac without pursuing any simple alternatives for us, or helping us with a temporary gate.

Update to Owner, 16-Jan-2025: I definitely understand there is more to the story than just waiting. My concern is about the operational response to the situation, and the resultant customer experience.

I understand that their could be limitations getting into a designated "gate," per se, for reasons you noted (even if I disagree with them, but so be it). However, note that it wasn't like we were connecting to a gate with a jet bridge, only pulling into a designated space, from which a manual, wheel-up ramp was used to disembark. From there, we walked a short distance outside and then into the terminal. Even if there wasn't a gate for us to arrive to on that flight, it would have been an acceptable solution to maneuver the plane in a safe way near the terminal but not at a "gate", wheel/walk one of the same manual ramps to our aircraft, allow passengers to disembark, and walk and/or take a bus to the terminal. Finally, when ready, the aircraft could have been moved to gate for the subsequent flight. I've done this many times at other airports.

However, in this case, despite being a mere 1,000 feet or so from the nearest gate, all passengers were forced to sit on a plane for 2+ hours, only to move a very short distance and disembark in the same wheel-up ramp and again walk, outside, to the terminal.

All this being said, it was a combination of your and UA's decision to make, and it was decided that there was no other solution than to make us wait for 2+ hours. It is your decision to make, but looking forward, if the only operational solution in these cases is to make passengers wait for up to 3 hours for a gate to open, I would prefer to avoid the risk of this situation happening again. I understand it's a complex situation to run an airport, especially when there are weather delays, but I feel that there was a simple solution in this case that was not pursued (or not planned for, such as creating policies and procedures and approvals for overflow gates, whatever the terminology may be), creating a difficult and unpleasant situation for passengers.

Jimmy Allen

Very small airport. You must exit airplane on Ramp to Tarmac, so dress for cold weather since you can get cold outside. Strangest thing is existing airport have no way to go out unless you exit when your airplane arrives. So don't delay leaving or will get stuck begging security to let you out. Tried out both restaurants, and 3 Wire was not bad, but I did have to exit outside secure area to get there. Employees were kind and helpful. Also, the airport is a long way from Steamboat and closer to Craig, which is not the main destination but women sitting next to me was actually going going to Craig to visit her son but that was very abnormal. Views are nice of mountains during flight so for that and sking is a great destination.

Robert Bibb

Very convenient to Steamboat Ski area. Only one shared line for checked bag drop and customer service (Delta) so line can move very slow at times. Lots of seating though it is crowded at peak times.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was a Precheck line so didn't have to remove items from luggage or take shoes off.

Rick M

Fantastic regional airport with nice staff and awesome direct access from EWR via United. Followed the suggestion of local friends and arrived three hours early and had no issues whatsoever. TSA has new scanners and had all lanes open. Food could use some value improvement in terms of quality vs price-the $17 breakfast burrito and $5.50 coffee were mediocre at best but your only choice so come prepared.

Randy Hoff

Great Ski Town Airport. Friendly staff, very clean and helpful TSA Officers. Efficient for a small airport that processes thousands of people a day in the winter

Jozef Watson

Small airport but extremely easy to navigate and wasn't busy at all. Staff extremely friendly even in TSA. You board via a ramp outside that you have to walk to. Airport was clean and well maintained, overall great experience.

Jason Griffith

Very conveniently located, but from an operational perspective, it’s kind of a mess. Also, WiFi doesn’t work.

Update: appreciate the airport's helpful and specific response here. Can't wait to see the upgrades!