America West solidifies commitment to LV

In a bid to bolster its local presence and commitment to Las Vegas, America West Airlines on Tuesday opened a members-only VIP lounge at McCarran International Airport.

Richard Goodmanson, president and chief executive officer of the Phoenix-based carrier, said the opening of the center coincided with the renaming of the airline's three airport lounges to the America West Club. Previously, they were known as the Phoenix Club.

Goodmanson was in Las Vegas on Tuesday for a reception to open the club, located on the mezzanine level of McCarran's Terminal 1 near the security check point to the A and B gates from which America West flights depart.

The lounge, to be open daily from 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., offers a copier, fax services, credit-card telephones with data ports, Internet access, a television viewing area, copies of newspapers and periodicals and nonalcoholic beverages and snacks. A special bar will serve cocktails as part of the club, which will be staffed by customer service representatives.

Membership fees range from $200 a year to $1,925 as a lifetime rate for a member and a spouse. Members have access to the club in Las Vegas, two more in Phoenix, a TWA Ambassadors Club lounge at Port Columbus Airport, America West's Ohio hub; and in Continental Airlines' Presidents Club lounges in the United States and Europe.

The America West club takes over a VIP lounge operated at that site by Delta Air Lines. It's now the only VIP lounge at McCarran, although airport officials are attempting to lease a new one at the airport's recently opened D gates.

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