New America West CEO sees steady growth in Las Vegas

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

The new chief executive of America West Airlines says he has no dramatic changes in store for the company's big Las Vegas operation -- just a course of steady growth.

W. Douglas Parker, an officer for Tempe, Ariz.-based America West since June 1995, was elected chairman, president and chief executive officer of the nation's eighth-largest airline Wednesday, succeeding retiring William A. Franke. The transition occurs Sept. 1.

Parker has had a leadership role in several of the airline's departments. He has served as America West's chief financial officer and as the head of scheduling, planning and revenue management, as well as marketing, sales, legal affairs, labor relations and information technology.

The architect of many of America West's initiatives, including its Las Vegas strategy, Parker was long expected to be Franke's successor.

Parker expects America West's growth in Las Vegas, where it has a hub and is the No. 2 air carrier behind Southwest Airlines, to be slow and deliberate.

"Las Vegas has always been important to us and we'll expand that operation as conditions warrant," Parker said in a telephone interview with the Las Vegas Sun. "We've been opportunistically adding day service in Las Vegas and have been happy with those results."

America West made its mark at McCarran International Airport as the first to take advantage of the city's 24-hour activity, building a hub that worked mostly with red-eye flights to keep expenses down while keeping aircraft busy.

But as competitors like Southwest and Las Vegas-based National Airlines increased their grip on day flights, America West responded with more operations in the daylight and earlier departures and arrivals for the late-night flights.

Parker said night flights enable the airline to operate to many different cities. The company currently has 81 flights a day at McCarran to 38 destinations. Counting flights with its America West Express partnership with Mesa Air Group, the airline has 84 flights a day to 41 cities from Las Vegas.

The company has an eclectic fleet of twin-engine Boeing 737s and Airbus A-319s for short-range flights and Boeing 757s for longer runs. Mesa Air Group flies regional jets and small commuter planes.

America West was one of the airlines that has gotten burned by the downturn in business travel, reporting second-quarter losses of $20.3 million, 60 cents a share, in July. Parker said although Las Vegas' convention business offers opportunities to serve business customers, he'll always consider the city to be a prime leisure market.

"In Las Vegas, the only difference between a leisure traveler and a business traveler is whether they buy a ticket inside of seven days or outside of seven days," Parker said. "Because of the large presence of America West Vacations in Las Vegas, the vast majority of travel there is leisure traffic, so we pay attention to that market."

Because the airline's vacation arm finds Las Vegas so lucrative, Parker said America West would continue to offer a wide variety of packages with several hotels. Earlier this month, the company announced a group travel packaging deal with the Mandalay Resort Group. Last month, the company unveiled "Vegas Values," an airfare-hotel package involving several resorts.

Parker said while the company plans to work as a partner with several companies, he does not foresee America West seeking investments from any casino company, a strategy pursued by bankrupt Las Vegas-based National Airlines.

Parker also doesn't foresee a major jump in the number of America West employees in Las Vegas in the future, with gradual growth planned as the airline increases its daytime flights. The company currently has 1,050 employees in Las Vegas.

Franke, who succeeded Mike Conway -- one of the co-founders of National Airlines -- was named chief executive officer of America West in December 1993.

He plans to leave America West and continue work with his manufacturing and real estate holdings. He is a managing partner of a private equity fund that owns companies throughout Latin America. Franke also is a director of Phelps Dodge Corp. and ON Semiconductor Inc.