A tepid sign of economic recovery arrived recently from the state's commercial airports. September passenger counts were up 2.1 percent across the state in September, just the second month in 2009 that had more air traffic than the same month in 2008.

Statewide, passenger boardings and deplanings were up 2.1 percent in September, to 245,363. Helena saw an even more pronounced increase, with 11.6 percent more passengers using the airport this year than last.

Through nine months of the year, air travel is down 5 percent across Montana, but up 2 percent locally. Helena had poor months in February (down 8.6 percent) and March (off 10 percent), but otherwise has eked out year-over-year gains every month this year.

"In talking to the people at the checkpoints, the flights have been fuller, everyone's been a little bit busier," said airport manager Ron Mercer. "Fares (from Helena) are pretty good right now, which is helpful."

A total of 16,534 passengers used Helena Regional Airport in September, up from 14,816 in the same month in 2008. Helena is the state's sixth-busiest airport, behind Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell and Great Falls and ahead of Butte.

Delta recently trimmed Helena's service to Salt Lake from four daily flights to three, which is typical at the end of summer. Mercer said he believes Delta, which recently merged with Northwest and now also handles Helena's once-daily flight to Minneapolis, remains happy with its business in the local market.

Horizon Airlines, with twice-daily service to Seattle, also seems satisfied with the Helena market, Mercer said.

Of the four hubs served locally, Mercer is most concerned about United Express service to Denver twice a day, which is "doing fairly well but is probably our weakest link at the moment," he said.

Delta remains the dominant carrier in the state, responsible for around a quarter of the state's passengers (with an additional 17 percent on Northwest). Low-fare specialist Allegiant has made inroads and currently carries around 10 percent of Montana air traffic.

Meanwhile, another travel-related sector of the Queen City's economy also showed life in September, but the head of the Helena Convention and Visitors Bureau cautioned not to read too much into some strong numbers.

Hotel occupancy in Helena reached 73.3 percent in September, the highest occupancy rate for that month since 2000's 76.5 percent - which came before the Wingate by Wyndham, Hampton Inn and Best Western Helena Great Northern Hotel were built.

CVB head Mike Mergenthaler said that while the numbers indicate the city may have finally absorbed all those hotel rooms that came online earlier this decade, it doesn't mean the recession is over.

"What will be really interesting will be to see how we fare the last quarter of this year," he said. "Some of the hotels were reporting that (advance bookings) don't look as good for the October-November-December timeframe. This next quarter will be pretty telltale for us."

Mergenthaler said that even in odd-numbered years with legislative sessions, May through September are the busiest months for Helena's hotels. Occupancies through the first four months of the year were flat with two years ago when the last session was held, he said.

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com