Airport runway repair begins this week, commercial air service suspended until May 21

GILLETTE (WNE) — Campbell County residents may be hearing fewer airplanes flying overhead for the next several weeks, as the Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport has suspended commercial air service for the main runway to undergo major maintenance and repairs.

Construction began Monday and will continue through May 21. 

Airport Operations Director Jeff Mooney said that the runway hasn’t undergone any major repairs in its four decades of life. This project is meant to extend the runway’s lifespan and put off more costly and time-consuming repairs down the road.

“We had some money for runway maintenance from the federal government and it’s just becoming time that we need to start looking at some maintenance on our runway,” Mooney said. “It’s approximately 40 years old, and we’ve really never done any major renovation since it was originally installed.”

The Federal Aviation Administration will pay for 95% of the project costs, with another 2.5% picked up by the Aeronautics Division of the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The airport’s 2.5% match will come from its passenger facility charge.

Mooney said that although commercial flights are expected to return in late May, the project will be completed some time in June, but the last few weeks of work won’t affect the flights.

“I’d just like the community to know that there’s still going to be activity out there after the runway opens in May, but it’s not going to affect the commercial flights,” Mooney said. “We’re going to be working around that, they’ll be operating as normal.”

This story was published on April 6, 2026.