Phoenix Sky Harbor drops to eleventh busiest airport. (taxes, nicest)

[43north87west]

Loss of connections from US/AA merger.

[ajonesaz]

Ducey just cut taxes for airlines in an effort to lure them back.

Arizona Gov. Ducey Signs Tax Cut For Airlines, At Expense Of Phoenix | KJZZ

A lot of people were angry about signing this. Not sure how much the state benefits from layover traffic though.

The US Airways merger should have never been allowed to happen.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

Ducey just cut taxes for airlines in an effort to lure them back.

Arizona Gov. Ducey Signs Tax Cut For Airlines, At Expense Of Phoenix | KJZZ

A lot of people were angry about signing this. Not sure how much the state benefits from layover traffic though.

The US Airways merger should have never been allowed to happen.

Simple, less revenue from jet fuel taxes and more pollution, what more do you people want?!

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

Ducey just cut taxes for airlines in an effort to lure them back.

Arizona Gov. Ducey Signs Tax Cut For Airlines, At Expense Of Phoenix | KJZZ

A lot of people were angry about signing this. Not sure how much the state benefits from layover traffic though.

The US Airways merger should have never been allowed to happen.

Why?

The merger didn't effect only Sky Harbor. Are you saying the the state of AZ should have not allowed it somehow?

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Why?

The merger didn't effect only Sky Harbor. Are you saying the the state of AZ should have not allowed it somehow?

Just in the abstract, it consolidated a small oligopoly of expensive carriers.

It's a shame, that was our home grown airline, a point of pride at one time.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Simple, less revenue from jet fuel taxes and more pollution, what more do you people want?!

LOL, great post.

I think this is such a marginal giveaway ... a repeal of .007 cents a gallon, and only after the first 10 million gallons -- that it can't possibly make or break any airline's decisions on anything, so it's just kind of a Christmas envelope to the big airlines with a few extra million dollars in it.

The real question to me is, why is the state coming in and partially repealing a minor tax levied by a city? That's the real story here.

I think this is really about is the continuing push by the statehouse and the legislature to take more control away from the cities and give it to the state. That has been a common theme in our state, e.g. the law overturning several cities' plastic-bag ban and the law to stop individual cities from imposing city-wide minimum wage law and so forth.

So I read this all through that lens.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Why?

The merger didn't effect only Sky Harbor. Are you saying the the state of AZ should have not allowed it somehow?

Because the airline industry is federally regulated. They had to convince the government that the merger wouldn't increase airfare, but it has.

The US Department of Justice is the one that started the anti-trust lawsuit and it went all the way to the US Supreme Court. Less competition is the airline industry is bad.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

LOL, great post.

I think this is such a marginal giveaway ... a repeal of .007 cents a gallon, and only after the first 10 million gallons -- that it can't possibly make or break any airline's decisions on anything, so it's just kind of a Christmas envelope to the big airlines with a few extra million dollars in it.

The real question to me is, why is the state coming in and partially repealing a minor tax levied by a city? That's the real story here.
.

I think it is probably in some way linked to this. Southwest Airlines is expanding its presence at Phoenix's Sky Harbor | Tucson Business News | tucson.com

Money talks. Sky Harbor is actually a pretty expensive airport to do business compared to others. However, back room deals with the government probably isn't the best way to reduce cost.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

I think it is probably in some way linked to this. Southwest Airlines is expanding its presence at Phoenix's Sky Harbor | Tucson Business News | tucson.com

Money talks. Sky Harbor is actually a pretty expensive airport to do business compared to others. However, back room deals with the government probably isn't the best way to reduce cost.

hi A Jones, I did read that article link earlier and I wondered if there was any connection. Maybe you are right..."We'll sign up for the eight new gates if you knock off this stupid city fuel tax."

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by AZLiam

I agree with this. Furthermore, it isn't the first time Sky Harbor posted declines. More recently, there was a decline in total passengers between 2012 and 2013 from numbers reached in 2011. Prior to that, it took Sky Harbor 8 years to return to/exceed the total passenger count achieved in 2007 (4,2184,515). That did not happen until 2015 (a Super Bowl hosting year) when the total passenger count reached 44,006, 206.

This is all the more reason why Phoenix should strive to be not only a national hub, but an international hub. We can't just rely on a few major events every so often to boost Sky Harbor's passenger count, only to decrease or remain stagnant during "regular" times. The American Airlines merger caused Sky Harbor to take too much of a hit ... and if it were a true international airport, the decrease in American flights wouldn't have had that much of an impact on the overall rankings.

There was a time when Sky Harbor was not only one of the top 10 busiest airports, but top FIVE. We've allowed other smaller cities like Las Vegas and Charlotte to overtake us, and this isn't a good sign. It all goes back to what I said before about Phoenix needing to be more of a business destination than what it currently is. This would definitely help put Sky Harbor back in the top 10 where it belongs.