Westward ready to start boarding
Welcoming ceremony set for Monday

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — After several false starts at bring commercial air service back to Gallup, there's at least one good sign Westward Airways will make good on its latest, April 4 deadline: tickets are on sale.

The Nebraska-based airline has yet to open its terminal at the Gallup Municipal Airport, and The Travel Shoppe in Cedar Hills Plaza is still waiting for the final details and green light to begin reserving seats. But anyone with access to the Internet can now book the next flight out of Gallup online at Westward's Web site westwardairways.com.

Those who log on, however, may not be able to book the flight they were planning on between Gallup and Las Cruces.

That's because there won't be any.

When Gallup, Las Cruces and Taos approved a $2.6 million deal for commercial air service with Westward in September, the plan called for one plane up and running since January to link Las Cruces and Taos through Albuquerque. A second plane the one scheduled to arrive Monday was to link Gallup in a triangle of flights with Las Cruces and Phoenix.

Since Gallup's priority was to resume commercial flights to and from the Arizona capitol, City Attorney George Kozeliski said, losing direct flights with Las Cruces wasn't a concern. The contract with Westward only mandated 12 round-trip flights between Gallup and Phoenix a week, he said; anything else was extra.

Instead of flying into Gallup from Las Cruces every morning to begin the circuit and heading back to Las Cruces in the evening, the plane will be arriving and heading back to Albuquerque every day.

The reason for the change, explained Westward President Eldon Anthony, is the demand from Taos.

"The decision was made so we could add an early morning flight from Taos to Albuquerque," he said.

The Westward plane currently serving the Rio Grande corridor already provides Taos customers an early morning lift to Albuquerque. But demand was so high, Anthony said, that the company decided the rout could use some backup.

"Their Taos service seems to be really popular," Kozeliski said, "so the whole idea, really, is to give Taos an extra flight."

The morning flights out of Albuquerque, then, are just a way to get the plane to Gallup.

Kozeliski never expected the Gallup-Las Cruces flights to be especially popular, and he does not see a great demand for the Gallup-Albuquerque flights.

For the price of a tank of gas, the under two-hour drive to Albuquerque is manageable for one thing.

For another, Kozeliski pointed out, the flights are going in the wrong direction for Gallup customers, arriving from Albuquerque in the mornings and heading back in the evenings.

Gallup-Albuquerque flights weren't much of a success for Mesa Airlines. It actually helped drive the company out of business. After abandoning its Gallup-Phoenix flights for the Albuquerque connection, Mesa could not keep up demand, lost its government subsidy, and closed shop in 2002.

Since Westward will still have flights to and from Phoenix its main market for the second plane Kozeliski doesn't anticipate that to be a problem this time.

Travel Shoppe owner Robbie Menapace isn't worried either.

"They're not looking for it to be a money-maker for them," she said.

And for $28 plus tax, anyone from Gallup can be in Albuquerque in 35 minutes.

But the emphasis for Gallup will still be on Phoenix.

Menapace and Kozeliski expect most of the demand to come from the area's business community.

"A lot of meetings are held in Phoenix," said Menapace, "so instead of going to Albuquerque to catch a flight out of there, they can fly directly to Phoenix."

She said she's been getting calls about Westward's arrival from business people regularly.

"They're ready to go," she said.

The city will be hosting a welcoming ceremony for Westward at the Gallup Municipal Airport Monday at 1:30 p.m. Commercial flights will begin at 8:05 p.m. the next day.