Saturday, December 22, 2012

Inside the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA), Phoenix, Arizona; home of air service from St. Cloud

 

MESA, ARIZ. — When more than 150 people boarded an Allegiant Air flight from St. Cloud to Arizona a week ago today, they became part of the revival of not just one airfield, but two.

Flight 109 marked St. Cloud’s return to scheduled commercial air service three years after being grounded by the pullout of Delta Air Lines. It also was the airport’s first foray into regularly scheduled jet service flight.

While Dec. 15 was a very big day for St. Cloud Regional Airport, it was no small one for Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport. While Gateway has three commercial air carriers serving almost 40 U.S. cities from Honolulu to as far east as Grand Rapids, Mich., its history as a small hub powerhouse is short — just five years.

Even more remarkable is that its success grew from a local economic disaster: the 1993 closure of Williams Air Force Base and the resulting loss of 3,800 jobs and $300 million in annual economic activity.

A phoenix


The airport that now serves about 1.25 million passengers a year started life in 1941 as Higley Field, a pilot training facility in southwest Mesa.

It was renamed Williams Field in 1942, then became Williams Air Force Base. More than 26,000 pilots were trained there during 52 years.

But by the 1990s, it was targeted for closure by the Department of Defense in a landmark wave of base realignments. The base was decommissioned in 1993.

While the airfield reopened for civilian flight just a few months later, Williams Gateway Airport had no large-scale passenger service. It was a tiny shadow of its former self, and of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport — one of the world’s 15 busiest — just 20 miles away.

It would be 12 years before Vision Airlines would begin scheduled commercial service with only one destination, Las Vegas. Vision would last at Gateway just over two years.

But by the time Vision left, Allegiant had arrived. The low-cost carrier was able to provide regular service to 13 cities.

That pushed the airport to begin what has been a steady drumbeat of expansion. More than 66,500 feet of space have been added since 2008, bringing the airport to eight gates with service by three airlines; Frontier and Spirit joined Allegiant at Gateway this year.

And the growth isn’t over. Two more gates are scheduled for construction in 2013, Airport Director Casey Denny said.

Passenger-friendly


What fliers love about Gateway — its easily negotiable size — is top of mind as the airport grows, Denny said.

He points out passenger-friendly details in an arrivals lobby so new it’s served only a few weeks worth of passengers; baggage carousels share a huge area with rental car desks just across the room.

Passengers who didn’t check a bag can walk straight through the airy space to the parking lot or taxi stand.

Leather seating groups with outlets for charging electronics are steps from the doors, ready for people waiting for a ride or to pick up arriving passengers.

Parking just outside the airport doors is free for 30 minutes, double that with a receipt from an airport cafe. ATMs stand prominently in the check-in and baggage claim areas. Volunteers who push wheelchairs, answer questions or give directions are seemingly everywhere. And announcements on the PA system are loud and clear.

In short, the airport is trying to be everything huge airports struggle to achieve: easy to navigate, efficient for travelers and those who are dropping off or meeting them, and comfortable.

It does throw some curves, however.

“With all the construction and expansion,” Denny said, “even we sometimes need some time to adjust to where things are this week.”

A four-lane security screening area is now open in space that was, as recently as this fall, the baggage claim. The check-in and ticketing counters will move soon to space cleared when the TSA moved one building over. Until then, a large part of the space is cordoned off with yellow tape and a vending/lounge area is clearly makeshift.

But airside, the work seems to be done. The Copper Plate, a restaurant with indoor and patio seating, offers the airport’s only bar. Paradise Bakery has specialty coffees, pastries, sandwiches and soups (there’s a smaller version in baggage claim) and several shops sell books and magazines, souvenirs and sundries.

But the airport’s best-kept secret is just outside the doors, where a courtyard lined with palms and cacti offers a place for ticketed passengers to soak up fresh air before or after a long flight.

The centerpiece happened by accident as the airport grew, Denny said, created as one building was built next to another.

“But people love it,” he said, so much that they’re intentionally making another courtyard as they do this year’s expansion.

More to come


There are bigger plans in the works though, that will eventually mean walking away from what’s been done to serve the commercial passengers.

Standing on the tarmac as an Allegiant plane disgorges arriving passengers for their walk to the terminal, Denny sweeps his arm across the runway into the distance.

That’s where the big airport will be built in the years to come, ready to handle far more traffic than the one whose growth he’s overseen.

Eventually, Denny said, all of the work on Gateway’s new facilities will be turned into a base for private flights.

But until then, “we’re concentrating on serving the customers and the airlines we have. We want (the) St. Cloud (route) to succeed. We want all of our new routes to succeed.”

Story, photos and video:   http://www.sctimes.com


http://www.phxmesagateway.org

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KIWA

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