America West Airlines starts OKC service

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jan 19, 2005 by Brian Brus

America West Airlines announced its move into Oklahoma City on Tuesday with multiple nonstop flights each day to its hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

This is actually a pretty big start-up, America West spokeswoman Janice Monahan said at Will Rogers World Airport.

The company typically enters a market with a single flight to one of its hubs and later expands its schedule depending on response.

We feel pretty strongly about this market, she said.

The airline is already taking reservations through the airport for flights beginning May 6. It offers a 9:15 a.m. and 5:55 p.m. departure from Phoenix to Oklahoma City, a 10:47 p.m. flight out of Las Vegas to Oklahoma City, and matching return flights. From those hubs, the airline directly connects to 46 other destinations.

Fares will be $89 each way for a Phoenix flight and $99 each way for a Las Vegas flight. Seats are assigned to passengers. The company also offers a frequent-flyer program.

The new service will use a 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet 200, Monahan said.

They're state of the art, very quiet, she said. They fly just as fast as the big jets.

The whole idea is to have the right aircraft for the right demand in the market, Monahan said.

That market in Oklahoma City is primarily the business traveler. The combination of elements being introduced to Oklahoma City creates what she called a business-friendly fare.

With the exception of one month, Will Rogers World Airport has seen 20 consecutive months of increased passenger departures from Oklahoma City, airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said.

The Southwest and the Pacific regions of the United States in particular represent the largest market area for Oklahoma City, she said. In fact, over 40 percent of our travelers fly to and from cities in these regions.

Roy Williams, president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said the new connections would be a big boost for businesses in the metro area.

Because now we have flights and access to the West Coast, which is something our leadership and our business community have been wanting for some time, he said. Having them now as a part of our community, having them recognize it as being a viable market for them to enter into, and having them as a partner in this business community is a real asset that I think we should all cherish.

Monahan said America West will contract with another carrier to handle its Oklahoma City operations, so employment figures were not immediately available.