Pacific Wings wrestles away mainland contract from Mesa
The Maui carrier wins a round against Mesa Air Group, which is competing against it in Hawaii
Maui-based Pacific Wings has wrested the Essential Air Service contract for two New Mexico cities away from the parent of go! airlines, whose code-share partner go! Express competes with Pacific Wings in Hawaii.
The Lea County Commission and the Carlsbad City Council have voted unanimously to recommend Pacific Wings take over the federally subsidized routes that fly from both Hobbs and Carlsbad to and from Albuquerque.
Pacific Wings expects to begin service as early as June 1 with at least four nine-seat Grand Cessna Caravans.
Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group had been using 19-seat Beechcraft 1900s, but officials said they waived the 19-seat requirement and selected Pacific Wings because of the communities' dissatisfaction with the service and reliability of Mesa.
Pacific Wings endorsed for New Mexico contract
The Maui carrier wins a round against Mesa Air Group, which is competing against it in Hawaii
It may not carry the historical significance of David and Goliath, but tiny Maui-based carrier Pacific Wings has taken down giant Mesa Air Group as the Essential Air Service provider for southeast New Mexico.
In separate votes that local officials said showed community members' dissatisfaction with Mesa, the Lea County Commission and the Carlsbad City Council have voted unanimously to recommend Pacific Wings take over the federally subsidized routes that service Hobbs and Carlsbad to and from Albuquerque. Final approval, which is expected, is needed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH
PACIFIC WINGS
» Headquarters: Kahului, Maui
» Employees: 80
» Aircraft in fleet: 6
» Service: 75 daily flights to five islands and 10 cities in Hawaii
MESA AIR GROUP
» Headquarters: Phoenix
» Employees: 5,200
» Aircraft in fleet: 200
» Service: 1,300 daily flights to 173 cities, 43 states, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas.
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Mesa is the parent of new Hawaii carrier go!, which began interisland service last June. In September it began a code-sharing arrangement with
Mokulele Airlines to fly some of the same routes as Pacific Wings under the go! Express name, using the same type of aircraft.
Pacific Wings President Greg Kahlstorf, who has been in New Mexico meeting with local officials and community members for more than a month, impressed the constituencies with promised low fares of $50 to $75 one way, or nearly half of what was offered by Mesa before recent fare cuts; flexible and expanded routes; and a willingness to listen to community members' concerns, according to local officials.
"There was just a real frustration with the customer orientation and the relationships with Mesa," said Ned Elkins, one of the seven members of the Carlsbad City Council who voted yesterday for Pacific Wings.
"Mesa has been here over 20 years, and I think the bottom line was that Eddie County and Lea County said there had to be a change. At one level, it had nothing to do with Pacific Wings. It had to do with a long-building dissatisfaction with Mesa."
Carlsbad Mayor Bob Forrest said he wouldn't have given Pacific Wings a chance 30 days ago but "he sold all of us."
"I thought Mesa had it locked up," Forrest said.
Lea County Commissioner Randy McCormick, whose committee represents Hobbs and voted 5-0 on Tuesday for Pacific Wings, said members had received about 200 letters and signatures in support of the change.
"Mesa's been servicing (Hobbs) for 25 years and the cost of the flight to Albuquerque has been unreasonable for a long time," McCormick said. "Mesa has left some people stranded in areas for different reasons. If Pacific Wings can promise half of what they're promising us, then they'll be a better airline than Mesa."
Kahlstorf said Pacific Wings will begin service as early as June 1 with a minimum of four planes. Besides subsidized routes involving Carlsbad and Hobbs, he also is looking at offering service to the New Mexico cities of Santa Fe, Roswell and Ruidoso and the Texas cities of El Paso, Lubbock and Midland/Odessa.
Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive of Mesa, shrugged off the decision by local officials to make a switch.
"We win contracts, we lose contracts," he said. "These small towns have had these small carriers come and go. We will reallocate our assets elsewhere."
