Starting next week, Glacier Park International Airport will significantly limit operations for four weeks — during peak tourism season — to overhaul its aging runway.  

The Flathead Valley transit hub will be closed for runway repairs on Mondays starting at 6 p.m. through Fridays at 10 a.m. from July 6 to July 31. The runway will reopen for flights every weekend to align with peak travel demand, according to airport officials.  

Airport Director Rob Ratkowski urged travelers to arrive two hours early, warning the airport will be near capacity on the days it is open. He said the airport will be about as busy as a typical summer Saturday when it is open for travel.  

The airport anticipates seeing 40% less flights in July. Carriers did not increase trips during open hours as Ratkowski had hoped for.  

The asphalt was last resurfaced 16 years ago and has started showing visible signs of stress and age, precipitating the project. 

The weather was ultimately the reason for the undertaking’s less-than-ideal timing. While repaving the runway, the temperature cannot drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and there must be little to no rain during the repairs, per Federal Aviation Administration requirements.  

After looking through five years of weather data, July had the best chance of yielding the right conditions, according to Ratkowski.  

After the pavement cures for 30 days over August, the runway will be closed nightly in September for grooving. Thousands of grooves will be etched into the runway to shed water and snow.   

The project must be finished before temperatures drop below freezing. The grooving machine uses a semi-truck load of water every night to cool its blades, and if that water froze on the runway, it’d create a hazard, Ratkowski said.  

"We have all this work that goes end to end to end. That’s what drove the schedule on the project,” Ratkowski said. 

Ratkowski said he expects crews to hit the ground running once the project starts because they have spent the past two months reconstructing a taxiway on the west side of the runway.  

The taxiway needed thicker pavement to accommodate heavier airplanes, according to Ratkowski.  

“They kind of used it as a test run,” Ratkowski said. 

The project price tag comes in at $21 million and is being funded through the Airport Improvement Program, a supplemental grant program funded through the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

Ratkowski said that he plans to release a weekly status update as construction gets underway.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 406-758-4407 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.