With Mono County now paying a share, it appears that the Mammoth Yosemite Airport will now have true year-round air service.

The return of commercial air service to the Mammoth Yosemite Airport started over two years ago, with service during the winter months. This year, Horizon Air provided air service to Mammoth during the summer, but there was a planned gap during the fall shoulder season before the winter ramps up.

With the recent approval of the Supervisors, Mono County is set to join the Town of Mammoth and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in a plan to fill that gap in air service between October 1 and November 17th.

With the Horizon flights, both winter and summer, the Town of Mammoth Lakes and the Ski Area set aside money that can be used to subsidize the flights if they are not full enough. How much the County, Town of Mammoth, and the Ski area have to pay depends on how many people take the flights.

The current estimate is that the summer air service could cost $592,000. Mono Countys share of the potential expense is capped at $45,000, with the Ski Area and Town splitting the rest at $273,500 a piece. The money put up by Mono County allows the addition of six weeks of flights, which means no service gap.

When asked for his thoughts on the year round air service, Supervisor Byng Hunt took a regional view saying, It is important to have year-round service for south county residents, not just the people in Mammoth.