Spirit Airlines hangs up toll-free reservations line

Penny-pinching Spirit Airlines no longer has a toll-free reservations number. The Florida-based carrier, which serves PhoenixMesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, eliminated it in late February, but it wasn’t publicized until last week.

Airline spokeswoman Misty Pinson said Spirit switched to a series of new phone numbers to handle various traveler requests, including reservations. All the numbers require a long-distance call. The new number to book tickets is 801-401-2200. The airline already had a disincentive for buying tickets over the phone: a $10-perticket fee.

Fellow Mesa discounter Allegiant Air canceled its toll-free reservations line in 2006.

Southwest Airlines extends schedule

Like to lock in your holidaytravel plans early?

Southwest Airlines last week began accepting reservations for travel between Nov. 3 and Jan. 5, the busy period that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

The Dallas carrier, which has about 170 daily flights from Phoenix and carries more local passengers than any airline including Tempe-based US Air- ways, opens its schedule in increments rather than nearly a year in advance as most major carriers do.

Southwest will add three destinations in early November thanks to its continuing integration of AirTran Airways, which it bought in 2011. The new cities: Memphis, Tenn.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Richmond, Va. Southwest will offer connecting service, not non-stop flights, to those cities from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Experts generally don’t recommend buying airline tickets this far in advance unless you find an irresistible fare or must travel at specific times. I didn’t find anything irresistible in Southwest’s initial holiday fares to the East Coast. A round-trip ticket from Phoenix to Providence, R.I., over Christmas was more than $700 last week.

Passenger traffic up at Sky Harbor airport

Sky Harbor passenger traffic rose 2 percent in March from a year ago as major tenants US Airways and Southwest Airlines carried more travelers.

One factor contributing to the increase: Easter fell in March this year. It was in April last year.

The airport last week said 3.9 million passengers used Sky Harbor in March, traditionally one of the busiest months. That’s up from 3.83 million in March 2012. The figures include arriving and departing passengers, including those connecting to other flights.

US Airways carried 1.85 million passengers, up nearly 5 percent from a year ago. Southwest’s passenger traffic rose 2.3 percent, to 1.18 million. Together the airlines accounted for three out of four Sky Harbor passengers in March.

Among smaller carriers, WestJet, a Canadian carrier, and Hawaiian Airlines each reported double-digit gains in passenger counts.

The airline with the biggest traffic decline in March was JetBlue Airways, whose count fell 30 percent, to 16,594. In November, the airline eliminated one of its two daily non-stop flights to New York. It also has a daily red-eye flight to Boston.

Year to date, Sky Harbor traffic is up a meager 0.3 percent. Passenger counts fell 2.7 percent in February, a performance airport officials attributed to the extra day (Feb. 29) in February 2012.