America West tries building LV locals business

America West Airlines' plan to add four flights to its Las Vegas schedule represents more of a commitment to residents of Southern Nevada than to tourists, a company executive says.

The flights, all daytime runs, are favorably scheduled to attract business customers.

The Phoenix-based airline will add the flights to McCarran International Airport, its secondary hub in the American Southwest, to Philadelphia, Boston, San Diego and Ontario, Calif.

Flights to Philadelphia and San Diego begin Oct. 10 while the Boston route starts Dec. 17 and the Ontario flight, Dec. 20.

The announcement came on the same day McCarran reported another monthly decrease in the number of passengers served and America West's numbers led the decline.

In June, 2.47 million people passed through McCarran's gates, a 1.8 percent decrease from the same month a year ago, bringing the year-to-date total to 15.03 million, 1.9 percent less than in 1997.

Of the five largest airlines serving Las Vegas, America West's numbers were down 15 percent from the previous year to 419,555. Delta Air Lines also was down for the month, off 4 percent to 208,769. Passenger increases were reported by Reno Air (up 17.8 percent to 134,562), Southwest Airlines (up 5.5 percent to 687,205) and United (up 4.9 percent to 267,620).

Several months ago when America West announced plans to change its night-flight scheduling, the airline expected its weak passenger counts to improve by May.

America West's new flights are being added as a result of the company taking delivery of new aircraft. The new Las Vegas flights will utilize twin-engine Airbus A-320 jets with 12 first-class seats and 138 in coach.

C.A. Howlett, America West's vice president of public affairs, said the airline is living up to its promise to beef up its Las Vegas routes after revamping its high-priority Phoenix schedule.

"Las Vegas is important to our success as a company," Howlett said. "This is continuing evidence that we're doing what we said we'd do here."

Harry Kassap, McCarran's manager of air service development, said the new flights add two critical long-haul routes -- something McCarran and professionals that market Las Vegas believe to be important to the success of a parade of new resorts that will open in the next three years.

"We're certainly delighted by this announcement by America West," Kassap said. "The flight times are convenient for business travelers as well. Daytime flights are certainly something we want to see more of."

America West had come under some criticism locally for removing some of its flights between Las Vegas and Albuquerque, N.M.; Vancouver, British Columbia; San Antonio and Austin, Texas; and Colorado Springs, Colo., last year. Company officials explained at the time the airline was allocating planes to more lucrative business-dominated routes, away from the Las Vegas leisure market filled with tourists seeking bargain fares.

In May, America West increased frequencies between Las Vegas and Seattle, New York's John F. Kennedy airport, Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In addition to adding new flights, the Airline rescheduled its night service to improve Las Vegas arrival and departure times.

The Philadelphia run to Las Vegas will leave at 8:40 a.m. and arrive at 10:45 and leave Las Vegas at 3:40 p.m., arriving in Philadelphia at 11:15 p.m. The Boston flight will leave there at 8:10 a.m. and arrive at McCarran at 10:50 a.m. and leave Las Vegas at 3:45 p.m., arriving in Boston at 11:41 p.m.

The one-hour San Diego flight leaves there at 1:40 p.m. and departs from Las Vegas at 11:40 a.m. The one-hour Ontario flight leaves there at 1:40 p.m. and departs from Las Vegas at 11:20 a.m.

The four new flights are the second to each of the markets.

Some of the round-trip fares for the new flights: $78 for a ticket purchased more than seven days in advance for San Diego; $514 for a 21-day advance purchase to Philadelphia or Boston; and $110 for a 14-day advance fare to Ontario.

Howlett said America West, which reported record quarterly earnings earlier this week, said the company has further plans to add service to the Las Vegas market, but he could not disclose specific destinations or timetables.

America West also announced today an extended code sharing agreement with Mesa Airlines, which operates as America West Express.

The agreement focuses on feeding commuter traffic to America West's Phoenix hub, but the company said regional operations could be extended to Las Vegas in the future.

America West Express currently flies to 19 cities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa and New Mexico. An expansion of service could eventually offer service to three Colorado ski resorts and to the Mexican communities of Hermosillo and Guymas.

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