Slow takeoff for air service from Santa Fe to Phoenix
The new nonstop American Airlines flight from the Santa Fe Municipal Airport to Phoenix is off to a slow start, with flight loads running below 60 percent in its first three months.
But Randy Randall, director of Tourism Santa Fe, said the early part of the year is traditionally the sleepiest time for travel to and from Santa Fe, and the public-private partnership backing the flight is just beginning to boost its marketing efforts. Randall said there are new promotional efforts starting in Los Angeles, Orange County, Burbank, Calif., and Santa Barbara, Calif. — all airports with connections into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the once-a-day American flight direct to Santa Fe, which arrives late morning.
The city and county have so far have contributed $50,000 each to the effort, using lodgers’ tax revenue, to the Northern New Mexico Air Alliance. The Village of Taos Ski Valley also has contributed $50,000. The city also received grant money from both the federal government and the state for financial guarantees and to market the flight.
The Air Alliance is a nonprofit group under the umbrella of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce with more than 60 supporters, including financial institutions, real estate brokers, hotels, restaurants, law firms, accountants, contractors, even Santa Fe Prep.
Randall said the association entered into a contract with American Airlines to guarantee a percentage of traffic on the 70-seat flight, which makes one trip a day in each direction. To the extent that the revenue to American falls short of the contract — and that will happen for the first three-month period, the Air Alliance will have to write a check to American Airlines for the difference.
The bill has not yet arrived for the flights from Dec. 15 to March 15, but “we expect it to be fairly substantial,” perhaps $250,000 to $300,000, Randall said.
But the good news is that the payments from the alliance are capped at $400,000 for the first 12 months and $600,000 for the length of the two-year contract.
Randall said the alliance and its backers can only do so much, and the flight will have to be able to sustain itself within two years. “Clearly, if we’re still putting money into it by then, it’s questionable,” he said.
The Northern New Mexico Alliance has launched a website for those who want more information about direct flights into and out of the Santa Fe airport, flysantafe.com. In addition to the Phoenix flight, American also serves Dallas with nonstop service, while United has direct service between Denver and Santa Fe.
Bruce Krasnow Business Matters
Temple Beth Shalom, Banking on New Mexico and the Interfaith Leadership Alliance are sponsoring a forum on economic justice that features a discussion on public banking.
The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at Temple Beth Shalom, 205 E. Barcelona Road in Santa Fe. The panel, including Rabbi Neil Amswych and Sensei Joshin Byrnes of the Upaya Zen Center, will look at Jewish and Buddhist perspectives on economic justice and what that means for public banking.
Mayor Javier Gonzales, Councilor Renee Villarreal and Elaine Sullivan of Banking on New Mexico also will talk about efforts to start a public bank in Santa Fe.
Estately, a real estate search site that compares communities, has published a list showing what each state looks for on Google Shopping more frequently than other states.
In Arizona, it was “marijuana seeds for sale;” in Texas, a “motorized kayak;” and for, Oklahoma — “zombie survival kit.”
Some of the results for New Mexico: “bluetooth headphones,” “Chia Pet,” “brass knuckles,” “prayer flag” and “snow cone machine.”
See the map at http://blog.estately.com/2017/03/theproducts-each-state-googles-more-frequently-than-otherstates-when-shopping-online/.