Monday, March 19, 2001 | 11:13 a.m.
Although Herb Kelleher has maintained an office in Dallas, hundreds of miles away from the Las Vegas Strip, the co-founder of Southwest Airlines may have had as big an influence on the growth of tourism in Las Vegas as any casino executive.
The acknowledged leader of discount air service in the country, Southwest can attribute its success in Las Vegas to the common bond the city has with the airline -- that leisure visitors are going to be drawn to a good deal.
Under Kelleher's watch, Southwest has grown to be the busiest carrier at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport and in 2000 the airline carried more than 10 million passengers to and from Las Vegas, a 9.4 percent increase from the previous year.
Although Las Vegas doesn't have the most flights in Southwest's system -- that distinction belongs to Phoenix -- the McCarran station handles more passengers and their bags than any other Southwest outpost.
Even with the emergence of Las Vegas-based National Airlines in 1999, Southwest has continued to grow at McCarran, adding 17 daily round trips in 2000 to 162, with the airline planning to hit 171 by summer. Southwest serves 43 nonstop markets from Las Vegas, up from 35 at the end of 2000, and it currently offers 22,030 seats in and out of McCarran every day.
That gives Southwest a 36.8 percent market share of flights and 33.7 percent share of seats in the market, nearly twice the amount of its nearest rival, America West Airlines, which has one of its three national hubs in Las Vegas.
Southwest began service in Las Vegas on Jan. 31, 1982, with nine flights to four cities -- Phoenix; San Diego; El Paso, Texas; and Albuquerque, N.M.
In February 1993, Southwest surpassed America West in number of flights and passengers served in Las Vegas and in June 1999, Las Vegas took over as the top Southwest station as measured by passengers served.
Today, Southwest occupies the entire C gate complex at McCarran, a total of 19 gates.
Southwest also is one of McCarran's leading cargo carriers, moving 21.6 million pounds of freight in 2000, about 9.3 percent of the airport's total. In that category, it ranks third in Las Vegas behind Federal Express and Delta Air Lines.
The relationship between Kelleher and Las Vegas hasn't always been a smooth ride.
When casino executives began strategizing how they would fill 10,500 new hotel rooms that were under construction in late 1998, they looked to some of the traditional long-haul air carriers for help. Kelleher was said to be irritated that Southwest was overlooked.
Kelleher met with 10 casino executives in Dallas and the result of the summit was an announcement that Southwest would commit several of its new Boeing 737-700 series planes to long-haul routes serving Las Vegas. The fuel-efficient 700 class aircraft is capable of longer flights without refueling and it became clear that the popular Las Vegas market was integral in Southwest's plans to use the new plane to bring passengers to the city from greater distances.
Kelleher's mood lightened in the November 1998 meeting when Steve Greathouse, now a member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors, unveiled a tattoo professing his love for Southwest. Kelleher sported a similar tattoo in a photo that appeared on the cover of "Nuts," a book about Southwest's management philosophy.
The Southwest-Las Vegas marriage has continued to flourish, with Kelleher on hand in June 1999 to unveil a Southwest jet painted in the Nevada state flag's colors. "Nevada 1" is one of 10 of Southwest's theme-painted jets among a fleet of 346.
And the airline continues to add flights at a steady clip, and will introduce new nonstop service to Orange County in June.
Kelleher made his last visit to Las Vegas Tuesday when he made his annual "message to the field" to airline employees from around the region. Kelleher has traveled to four airports in the Southwest system to address employees every March. His stop in Las Vegas last week came the day after his 70th birthday and Las Vegas employees served a huge cake to celebrate.
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