Inside The New High-Tech $43 Million Airport Terminal In Rock Springs

ROCK SPRINGS — Sweetwater County’s Industry Relations Manager Allison Volcic was on her way to Wisconsin to visit her daughters last week.

What she saw when she arrived at Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport had her doing a little bit of a double-take.

That’s because she had coincidentally booked herself a seat on the first flight out of the brand-new airport terminal, which had a soft opening that day. 

“I work in travel and tourism, but it was just pure coincidence that I happened to be going out on that flight,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “So, it was neat to be able to be there and share it with people as well.”

Volcic couldn’t help but feel a bit like a secret princess, showing up for such a momentous flight in the southwest Wyoming region. There were sugar cookies for the occasion, as well as a water salute by the fire department to send her flight off.

The captain even came out and addressed the passengers, on the significance of the moment. 

Best of all to Volcic, though, was just the huge, floor-to-ceiling digital screen, now showcasing the great tourism opportunities in the Sweetwater County region in larger-than-life 3D color.

“We’ve had a television out there for years, but it was just a small screen,” she said. “These new screens are huge, and they go across several walls. There’s like three different panels.”

The Killpecker Sand Dunes was up, looking for all the world like a scene people could walk right into. It was an enticing 10 seconds or so of pure adventure, bound to grab a tourist’s attention.

Then it was replaced with another gem, the Flaming Gorge — part of one of 37 drives designated by the Federal Highway Administration as an All-American Road. Every mile of it is absolutely stunning.

“The screens have all the things that we enjoy doing the most,” Volcic said. “Those are going to be right there, live and in color for everyone to see.”

The size of the screens makes them impossible to miss, and that’s kind of the point, according to Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism President & CEO Jenissa Meredith.

“We’re the best-kept secret in the state,” Meredith said. “From our quality-of-life perspective, public land, outdoor recreation, ability to obtain really high-paying jobs and raise families here, with so much access to hunting and fishing and camping — everything that really offers families the opportunity to make quality memories. We have nothing to apologize about in southwest Wyoming.”

The project comes in with a price tag of about $43.3 million, most covered through federal grants.

Sagebrush Country Is Spectacular

Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce CEO Rick Lee told Cowboy State Daily the brand-new Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport is all about showcasing what the area has to offer.

“There’s a lot of intrinsic value here that is just spectacular,” Lee said. “You have to kind of look for it, though, and the example I always use is sagebrush.”

At first, sagebrush might not look like much. But the undergrowth supports a unique habitat, and the sagebrush itself is quite a survivor.

“It can survive all types of weather extremes,” Lee said. “Extreme heat, extreme cold, a lot of wind to no rain at all, and then just drenching downpours. It always seems to come out and thrive.”

When sage brush is in bloom, meanwhile, it is breath-taking and beautiful. 

“There’s nothing else like it,” he said. “It smells wonderful, and it looks spectacular.”

The people of Rock Springs are also like that, Lee said. 

“Once you give it a chance to appreciate and grow on you, it’s just a unique area,” he said. “It’s beautiful in its own right and that’s the message I want to share with people is that we don’t need to apologize for where we’re from. It’s spectacular, it’s wonderful, it’s unique. We should be proud of what we’ve got here.”

First-Class First Impressions

The new airport has been designed with that whole idea in mind, Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Director Devon Brubaker told Cowboy State Daily.

“The aim was to shake up everything for Southwest Wyoming,” he said. “We want to make sure that when we welcome visitors into our home, into our region, that the first and last impression they have is top notch, whether it’s the service, the facilities or the amenities. We want people who land in Rock Springs to have a first-class experience.”

The airport’s $44 million expansion and renovation puts it on par with some of the best airports in the state, Brubaker said.

“This is a really exciting facility and, if it’s not the best terminal in terms of just all the amenities and appearance in the region, it’s rivaling the top,” Brubaker said. “Jackson is fantastic, Sheridan has done some amazing work, and Cheyenne has a beautiful terminal. I’m not trying to take anything away from anybody else, but you don’t expect to land in Rock Springs and experience what we have going on now. It’s a fundamental difference from what we had before.”

Thoughtful finishes tie into Southwest Wyoming as a place, Brubaker said, bringing the community into the airport. 

“It also has all the modern amenities that customers would want, whether it be a passenger boarding bridge, so you don’t have to go outside to board the aircraft in bad weather, or (the) charging ports at every seat and upgraded WIFI, or updated advertising opportunities for the community.”

The bathrooms have been expanded, and there are micro markets scattered throughout the building. 

“There’s quite a bit of difference there for the customer,” Brubaker said. “I’ve been over there for every one of our first three arrivals and departures, and it’s been really awesome to see just the facial expressions, the reaction from the public when they walk in, because they are just not expecting this when they land in Rock Springs.”

Demand For Seats Continuing To Rise

A big part of what’s driven the airport expansion is the rising demand for seats, Brubaker said.

“The passenger numbers going through 2019 skyrocketed,” Brubaker said. “The numbers did plummet in 2020, due to the (COVID-19) pandemic and then again in 2022 due to the pilot shortage, but our 2025 numbers are hitting 2012 numbers.”

The year 2012 was the best ever for the airport and was a time when the airport had two different airlines with five daily fights and 50% more seats than now.

“We’re coming really close to hitting those numbers from 2012,” Brubaker said. “And we’re looking very favorable for 2026 to blow past 2012.”

Staying on that track required building a new terminal, Brubaker said.

“Our existing terminal couldn’t support the aircraft we had,” he said. “It was built pre-9/11 and it never contemplated that you’d have TSA in the airport.”

It was also built when aircraft were 19 seats, not 50.

“The industry is changing, and there’s an up-gauging of aircraft happening in the industry,” he said. “So larger aircraft are going to be coming to our smaller communities, and you have to have the facilities to support that. You have to have the airfield capacity and the terminal capacity. You have to have the parking and the roadway capacity to support that.”

The new terminal has been built with future growth in mind.

“We have built the building to support as many as three airlines, and we are having active conversations with multiple air carriers, with the hope that at some point in the future we’re able to attract additional air service here,” Brubaker said. “We’re having very positive conversations with airlines. It’s a lot like economic development, though. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We have to align our market potential with their business plan and their resource availability.”

More Calls Than Ever

Both Lee and Meredith say they’re fielding a lot more calls of late from the outside world looking in on Rock Springs.

“We’re getting more calls at the Chamber than we’ve ever gotten in the history of Rock Springs as a destination place,” Lee said. “We’ve always been a drive-through, a pass-by, for Jackson Hole or Yellowstone or Salt Lake or Colorado. But now we’ve been getting inquiries — and (Sweetwater County) Travel and Tourism has a lot do with this — but we’re getting phone calls asking us, ‘What is there to do in southwest Wyoming? What does Rock Springs have to offer as a destination?’”

Meredith, on the other hand, said she’s taking lots of calls at the Rock Springs & Green River Visitor Center asking about relocation.

“The conditions we’re seeing culturally across the country are really giving people the opportunity to decide where they live and decide the quality of life that they want to provide for their family,” she said. “And, as we know, Wyoming provides such exceptional quality of life, from our access to public lands, opportunities for exceptional employment with high-paying jobs. People really, really want that lifestyle, and Wyoming is perfectly positioned to provide that.”

The airport is a chance to not only give visitors a great first impression of Wyoming but also showcase Southwest Wyoming opportunities to a nation that is already hungry for them.

“We’re taking calls about relocation almost daily,” Meredith said. “And from a tourism perspective, our visitor numbers at our visitor center on Elk Street in Rock Springs are up about 11% from last year.”

Lodging taxes for visitors are also up 6% year over year, Meredith added.

“So, folks are definitely still traveling and spending money, and Southwest Wyoming is benefiting from that,” she said. 

Economic Impact Set To Grow

With an airport that now matches the expectations of visitors, providing a great first impression to both tourists and prospective workers alike, Meredith believes the economic impact of the airport — already at $37 million — is only going to get bigger. 

“The Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport is legitimately a lifeline to this area of the state,” she said. “Not only is it a lifeline from a tourism perspective that we’re able to welcome people from all over the world to this high desert landscape, but it’s also a lifeline as it pertains to economic development and our ability to recruit new businesses.

“And it’s lifeline as a resident living here and being able to have access to specialty health care that we don’t have in this area,” she continued. “So, it’s lifeline in a number of ways.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.