Glacier Park International resumes full flight schedule after runway work wraps up

A four-week project to repave the runway at Glacier Park International Airport wrapped up Friday morning, allowing commercial airlines to return to a full schedule.

Commercial flights were suspended during four closure periods throughout July to accommodate rehabilitation work that included replacing more than 30 acres of pavement. 

Runway grooving and striping will occur in September following a 30-day curing period. There will be no impact on airline operations during this work.

Contractor LHC Inc. led the paving effort, with more than 100 workers logging about 25,000 combined labor hours to complete the project on schedule.

"LHC ran a tight operation from start to finish," Airport Director Rob Ratkowski said. "Coordinating that many people and that much equipment without missing a beat is no small thing."

Despite initial pushback from some local business and tourism leaders about closing the airport during peak travel season, Glacier Park International officials said July's dry, hot weather helped keep the schedule on track. Data indicated that July offered the best paving conditions required to meet federal paving specifications, according to an airport press release. Of the project's 352 total hours of runway closure, only four hours were lost to rain.

"Part of the reason this project was delivered on schedule is that the trends we saw in the weather data held true, and that allowed our team to execute it exactly as designed," said Rob Ratkowski, GPIA director.

Airport officials said "flexibility and patience" helped make the project a success.

"This project was an investment in our community," Ratkowski said. "Every resident, business and visitor to the Flathead Valley benefits from this project. We're proud to have completed this work successfully and grateful to everyone who helped make it possible."