Phoenix Sky Harbor Voted best in the USA! (living, professionals)

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by timothyaw

I'm not sure about Southwest growing internationally here, their focus internationally is out of Houston Hobby.

I don't think AA and Southwest will grow much here, I think it's pretty much leveled out.

The growth at PHX will be Southwest on the international side and Alaska, Frontier, and Spirit domestically with an outside chance JetBlue adds some additional destinations.

Of course, if AA closes its hub than everything is fair game.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

I saw your first post as negative and I think most other people did too:



To me, that sounded like complaining. But maybe it was praise and we all just took issue with the idea that you think it's a small airport with minimal airlines. My bad on that.

He's notoriously negative about everything Phoenix, he will add a little icing and then throw in some very short sighted jabs directly after.

[Rogarven]

Traveling to SMF from TX on Southwest, PHX is the preferred airport for transferring. Quick in and out. LAS is terrible having to dodge slot machines and the hoards of people. The spoke SWA terminal in SAN is awful , truly cattle car airlines and LAX, you worry about delays. I do worry that American will gradually pull out of PHX and there will not be the non stops to the East Coast that would be provided like the USAir had. I do wish there were more flights to Europe from PHX but , as mentioned, LAX probably gets that.

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

Traveling to SMF from TX on Southwest, PHX is the preferred airport for transferring. Quick in and out. LAS is terrible having to dodge slot machines and the hoards of people. The spoke SWA terminal in SAN is awful , truly cattle car airlines and LAX, you worry about delays. I do worry that American will gradually pull out of PHX and there will not be the non stops to the East Coast that would be provided like the USAir had. I do wish there were more flights to Europe from PHX but , as mentioned, LAX probably gets that.

Alaska and JetBlue would likely fill in if American pulls out.

PHX may even see Delta service to Boston in that scenario.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

Sky Harbor's biggest problem is that there's an airport 390 miles west of PHX that gets the vast majority of international flights. That airport also is the largest airport in the 2nd largest metropolitan area in the country. So, people in Phoenix are forced to connect in LAX oftentimes to travel to Asia, Australia, or South America.

Sky Harbor's other flaw is that up until recently Phoenix was considered to be a "low-yielding" city for airline traffic. Due to the higher percentage of tourism, VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel, and the general lack of a diverse economy in Phoenix the airport traditionally supported "low cost carriers" as opposed to full service airlines that rely more on premium travelers and business travelers. While PHX does have a hub for American Airlines that hub is a holdover from America West Airlines which was a "low cost carrier" and not a traditional mainline carrier. This is why there are constant rumors that the American Airlines hub will close, although I am not convinced it will.

Great post, the first paragraph I already knew, but the second paragraph, I hadn't really thought about much. But it makes sense and fits with the economic/demographic profile here.

I'm assuming the overall margin is higher on international routes too, or am I wrong on that one?

My favorite route out of KPHX is the nonstop to London. To me, it is unusual since we don't have that much nonstop traffic and I always notice when the British Airways jet is flying in and I happen to see it flying over me on the 202.

My favorite used to be the America West/US Airways nonstop from PHX to ANC and back because the departure times were so odd. It was awesome to have a nonstop option but the return out of Anchorage left at like 3:27 a.m. or something really odd. I believe it was a route more focused on cargo/mail and they also hauled tourists/oil workers/whatever to go along with it.

In general, I always loved redeye flights but the true redeyes became much more rare in the last 10 years since they were usually half-full or less so a lot of times you could stretch across three seats and sleep however you wanted to. I love getting on a plane, sleeping, and waking up in your destination ready to go to work, or whatever you're up to that day.

[43north87west]

I totally agree. It's not the best in anything, but it's an excellent airport overall. I hear that from a lot of visitors. It's not a mess like so many other airports. I just cringe when I have to fly to a place like Atlanta or O'Hare. The PHX airport is awesome because it's right in the middle of the metropolitan area instead of far out in the sticks like Denver (which is a good airport, but a long way from anything).

The weather doesn't hurt on time departures or arrivals either.

If this airport wasn't so good I probably wouldn't live here, actually. It's that integral to my lifestyle (I fly usually twice a week).

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

The SkyTrain has added alot to the airport and thank goodness someone knew what we needed there.

NIMBY's protested the SkyTrain on the City Data a years ago. Haven't heard too much complaining from them since its been built

[azriverfan.]

Part of the problem with the airport is not really the airport's fault. It has to do with Phoenix. If we want more carriers and international flights then we need to lure more white collar professional jobs. Business flyers account for most of those flights. We need more companies. And you are not going to attract companies by branding yourself as an intolerant redneck state. Sorry, I know you guys think people educated at Stanford, and Berkley are all about guns and bashing immigrants but if you want to lure more of them, we need to invest in our schools and create an environment of tolerance. Now before someone chimes in about Texas, how about that person first explain Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Kentucky and Louisianas' poor economies.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Part of the problem with the airport is not really the airport's fault. It has to do with Phoenix. If we want more carriers and international flights then we need to lure more white collar professional jobs. Business flyers account for most of those flights. We need more companies. And you are not going to attract companies by branding yourself as an intolerant redneck state. Sorry, I know you guys think people educated at Stanford, and Berkley are all about guns and bashing immigrants but if you want to lure more of them, we need to invest in our schools and create an environment of tolerance. Now before someone chimes in about Texas, how about that person first explain Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Kentucky and Louisianas' poor economies.

However, can AZ attract more white collared, professionals WITHOUT making the state become another California or a blue state which is only for the rich and poor?

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

However, can AZ attract more white collared, professionals WITHOUT making the state become another California or a blue state which is only for the rich and poor?

Of course it's possible, look how much success we've had without even trying much. Imagine if we just came in around national average for education funding...