America West cuts flights to improve performance

Friday, July 28, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

An America West Airlines initiative to improve reliability and customer service will result in additional Las Vegas employees and more counter space at McCarran International Airport, where America West is the city's second-busiest airline.

While the crux of the initiative is to temporarily cut flights by shifting four planes from regular service to backup roles, the Phoenix-based airline said there would be no reduction in flights for Las Vegas.

"We're very happy with the way things are going with those flights and it's important for us, you're a hub there," said Janice Monahan, a spokeswoman for America West, the second-largest passenger carrier serving Las Vegas.

The airline said it would temporarily reduce its flight schedule to reduce cancellations and improve on-time performance.

The FAA said it did not order the company to reduce flights, according to a report in today's Arizona Republic.

In May, a U.S. Department of Transportation consumer report ranked America West second worst in the nation among 10 major carriers with low marks in on-time performance, canceled flights and lost baggage. It had the highest level of passenger complaints.

America West, which says it has 89 daily departures at McCarran including three America West Express flights operated by Mesa Airlines, is growing in Las Vegas. The airline added a nonstop flight to Hartford, Conn., in June and plans to initiate service to Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport as early as Sept. 6.

It will add a new flight to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in August, a third in October and a fourth in November. It will increase to four daily flights to San Diego in August and to two daily flights to Sacramento, Calif., in November.

An airline spokesman said today that it isn't known exactly how many new jobs would be added in Las Vegas. Currently, there are about 900 employees stationed here.

A statement from the airline said it would increase ramp personnel by 20 percent in Phoenix and Las Vegas, which the company said should reduce ground delays and improve baggage handling.

Meanwhile, the airline will remove four jets from its schedule and make them available to substitute when planes are unavailable due to maintenance, weather or air traffic control delays. The move will double the number of spare planes the company has.

"The removal of four aircraft from America West's schedule will reduce the number of daily flights operated by the airline from 880 to 863, a 3.5 percent decrease in daily capacity (measured in available seat miles), which should reduce customer inconvenience during irregular operations," the statement said.

Jim Sabourin, a spokesman for America West in Phoenix, said the airline would resume its current schedule "when we are completely satisfied and confident that we are providing the service reliability we are capable of providing."

Sabourin said the airline's "completion factor" -- the percentage of scheduled operations that are completed -- has been at 96 percent and the company has a goal of hitting 98.5 percent under the new initiative.

The airline is cutting only one route -- Columbus, Ohio to Los Angeles -- and is reducing frequency of flights on several other destinations, mostly from Phoenix.

Terry Trippler, an airline consumer advocate who operates 1Travel.com, said the move indicates how serious America West is to solve its operational problems.

"To pull a multimillion-dollar aircraft capable of generating thousands of dollars a day shows how serious they are about this," Trippler said. "They aren't the only airline with this problem, but they're one of the only airlines that have admitted it."

Wall Street analysts praised the move, saying that the company is sacrificing short-term profits for long-term results.