East Valley Tribune, 2 Dec 2005

By Blake Herzog, Tribune

East Valley Tribune

Mesa's Williams Gateway Airport signed its first operating agreement for regular passenger service Wednesday. Vision Air plans to offer up to four flights a week to Las Vegas early next year. It is one of three companies that expressed interest this fall in providing commuter service out of Scottsdale Airport. The Scottsdale City Council recently rejected another airline's proposals over noise concerns.

Vision Air still wants to fly out of Scottsdale, a company spokesman said. But not as often as it originally planned, or as often as it will out of Williams.

"You're not going to see flights from Denver or Boise or Albuquerque at Scottsdale," said Warren Kaplan, Vision Air's business development manager. "Southern California and Las Vegas is about as far as I see it going."

"But the sky's the limit at Williams Gateway."

After service from Mesa to Las Vegas is established, Vision Air would expand next to Southern California, and potentially go far beyond that, Kaplan said.

Days, times and ticket prices to Las Vegas are still being finalized, he said. Ticket fares likely will top out at $180 and go as low as $100.

The operating agreement doesn't establish a start date for service, or incentives such as price breaks on fuel or landing fees, Williams Gateway marketing manager John Barry said.

Barry, who a year ago took over the job of convincing an unstable passenger airline industry to expand to Williams Gateway, was cautiously happy Wednesday.

The agreement "can be ended at any time," he said. "I don't want to be negative. It's still a great feeling to have it. They have gone that far and made the commitment."

The operating agreement still needs to go before the Williams Gateway Airport Authority board. But the board is eager to see passenger service grow and become profitable. The board includes the Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek mayors and the Gila River Indian Community governor.

Williams Gateway is on the former Williams Air Force Base property near Power and Ray roads, just east of Arizona State University Polytechnic. Since opening in 1994, it has aspired to be a reliever for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Williams Gateway officials estimate they board about 25,000 passengers a year on private charter planes, running the gamut from bigwigs on corporate jets to illegal immigrants being deported by the U.S. Marshal's Service.

Harrah's has chartered about one plane a month from Williams Gateway since February 2003, as part of vacation packages to its hotel-casinos in Laughlin and Reno, Nev.

"The difference here (with Vision Air) is that people can fly point-to-point and they can go one way. They don't have to stay in a hotel room or rent a car," Barry said.

Vision Air, based at the North Las Vegas, Nev., airport, is the second-biggest carrier into the Grand Canyon Airport, and has been in business for 11 years, Kaplan said.

Its certification with the Federal Aviation Administration allows up to four "public charter" flights a week per airport. Kaplan said the company should have additional certification early next year, after which it can offer an unlimited number of flights.

Utilizing 30-seat aircraft puts Vision Air just under the cutoff point that triggers Transportation Safety Administration requirements that passengers pass through security screening equipment.

Kaplan said Vision Air will still be required to check passengers against governmentissued IDs and any terrorist watch lists and has the right to search any passenger baggage.

Customers will be able to book seats on scheduled Vision Air flights through a reservation service.

Kaplan said the company has four 30-seat, twin-engine turbo-prop planes on order, which they intend to fly out of both Williams Gateway and Scottsdale.

"You'll find that you have more leg room and more hip room than on a 737," he said.

Comment:  Note that despite the rejection of another airline's proposal to provide scheduled airline service out of Scottsdale Airport in early November, Vision Air still believes they will be allowed to provide service from Scottsdale- showing just how hard it is to limit growth.  Once one airline gets approved, it will be very difficult if not impossible to prevent entry by additional airlines.