Transportation and access are critical for both residents of and visitors to mountain communities. More frequent flights add to the quality of life for residents and connect the mountain economy to a larger potential visitor base. RRC Associates has worked with numerous mountain airports to document demographic patterns of airport users, to help evaluate the effectiveness of the airline programs.

At the Montrose, Colorado airport (MTJ), Colorado Flights has contracted with RRC Associates for the past 10 years to administer and analyze an airport user survey. The results of this ongoing survey program provide important information about airport passengers, such as their residents (local resident, second homeowner, visitor), importance of direct flights in the decision to visit, direct expenditures in the community, and feedback about the experience in the region.

The airport user survey provided valuable information for a major regional economic tourism study that verified the direct, indirect, and induced expenditures and economic impact across a three-county region in Southwest Colorado. The outcome of the study showed the critical contribution of the airport and the airline flight program to both the tourism economy specifically and the regional economy overall. Without the airport and flight program, the regional economy would be significantly less robust than it is today.