Big Sky Airlines has ceased it operation as an airline after an active span of almost 30 years

The foundation of Big Sky Airlines was laid in the year 1978. The airline stopped functioning in 2008 due to some un-avoidable financial crisis. The main hub of the airlines was Billings Logan International Airport while there were numerous international airports which the airline used as its secondary hubs. The most prominent among them was Boston Logan International Airport and Boise Airport was the focus city of Big Sky Airlines. The major introduction of the airline was as a commercial airline, engaged in transportation of passengers. It was owned by Big Sky Transportation Company and operated as a subsidiary of MAIR Group. The operational scale of the airline was quite small. It got only 29 destinations with the strength of 13 planes. Such a small number of planes in the fleet of the airline did not allow the airline to operate extensively. The organizational set up of the airline was located in Billings, Montana – the United States of America. It was thought to be the only airline, which covered the state of Montana and showed its presence on all the airports within the state. Most of the flights of Big Sky Airline were direct flights without any pause on the route. Big Sky Airlines also ran frequent flyer programs for the benefit of its worthy customers. The program was called ‘MVP Club’ and had numerous advantages for the clients of the airline.

Big Sky Airlines remained popular as the only link between the State of Montana and rest of the international airports in the United States of America. Most of the flights of the airline were scheduled for domestic destinations in USA. Outside America, Big Sky Airline operated in the North American regions. The airline also operated as a contract carrier for various destinations under the laws enacted by Essential Air Service (EAS) program. At the inception of its career, Big Sky Airlines, in line with its predecessor airline company Frontier Airlines, restricted its flights to small airports located in eastern and central parts of the state of Montana. The airline kept its routes and destinations intact through out its professional career history. Though for a specific period of time, the airline also endeavoured to add other regional and domestic destinations in its network yet such ventures were soon abandoned. Thus, the main revenue generating routes of the airline were the same as at the time of its inauguration.

The bankruptcy of Aspen Mountain Air gave enormous opportunity to Big Sky Airline to expand its business on different vacant routes. But such an opportunity was not taken with serious consideration and the airline could not flourish as per expectations. In its career span, the airline did many experiments such as getting leased planes from Mesa Air Group but the airline kept on closing many of the destinations gradually from its network till its final closure. It is operating no more as an airline in the world. The airline counted three main factors for its closure namely unexpected weather condition on its regular flying routes, rising oil prices and its disconnection with alliances like Delta Connection.