The Best Airlines For Skiers This Winter

It may be steamy outside, but summer is prime ski-trip-planning time. And as if on cue, the airlines are sharing their new itineraries and increased service for winter 2024-’25. If you’re like us and need a little powder-day dreamin’ to help get you through the summer months, there’s no time like the present to plan a winter vacation.

To that end, Delta Air Lines recently debuted its upcoming winter schedule, with over 15 additional flights to bring skiers from major cities to ski towns. Here are some of the highlights.

Starting Dec. 21, the airline will begin flying its largest domestic ski schedule ever, and travelers coming from or transferring through Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Atlanta will have more options to get to the slopes.

Starting in the West at LAX, Delta is expanding its seat capacity by 25 percent and offering daily flights to Bozeman and Vail (Eagle County Regional Airport) in addition to the current daily service to Jackson Hole and Aspen. The airline will also fly once a week to Sun Valley on Saturdays.

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Salt Lake City is already a frequent connection for skiers coming from other parts of the country and will continue with daily flights to Bozeman, Sun Valley, and Jackson Hole. The airline is committed to its Salt Lake hub and will add 50 additional Delta gates by 2027.

Delta already offers year-round flights from Minneapolis to Bozeman and will increase service to operate daily flights during winter holiday periods from the Twin Cities to Steamboat Springs and Jackson Hole.

Delta’s largest hub and the world’s busiest airport (by passenger traffic) will continue to serve thousands of skiers for the 2024-’25 season as the airline adds more service from Atlanta. The routes include a second daily flight to Bozeman, daily flights to Aspen, and seasonal daily service to Vail, Steamboat Springs, Montrose/Telluride, and Jackson Hole.

“With our latest winter schedule, customers have more choices than ever, with up to 190 weekly flights to places our customers want to fly to most, paired with the premium services and amenities our customers always enjoy,” Joe Esposito, Delta’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning shared in a press release.

The Best Airlines For Skiers

Wondering which other airlines do the best job of serving ski destinations? United is still the most prominent ski-town airline with hundreds of flights into popular mountain airports (including the only nonstop from New York City to Jackson Hole). If you find yourself booking with American Airlines you can filter flights online by ski resorts, which is a perk if you’re unsure where to fly into.

If you’re looking to fly to a Pacific Northwest ski town, consider Alaska Airlines, which offers flights to airports near Alaska’s Alyeska (Anchorage), Idaho’s Bogus Basin (Boise), RED Mountain, B.C. (Kelowna), Marmot Basin, Alb. (Edmonton or Calgary), and Steamboat Springs, Colo. (Yampa). Best of all, you can take advantage of Alaska’a ski free program and exchange your boarding pass for a lift ticket on your day of arrival (blackout dates may apply).

While JetBlue may not have the most ski-town flights, they do boast a nonstop from New York to Vancouver—the closest major airport to Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.—and they’re the only U.S. airline to offer the trip.

Southwest has 15 ski cities on its schedule, including smaller East Coast options like Manchester, N.H. Southwest also offers the coveted two free checked bags.

As you’re booking flights, keep in mind that many ski resort airports are far smaller than hub cities, which means that you may have to fly with a stop in between. To help cut down on layovers, find an airline that has a hub closest to where you live. So if you’re based near Charlotte, N.C., consider flying American, or if Houston is home, look at United flights.