America West Ready For Takeoff With Daily Service To Phoenix

After a three-month delay, America West Express today launches Spokane’s only non-stop airline passenger service to Phoenix.

Inaugural ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m. on Concourse B of the Spokane International Airport. A drawing for airline tickets also will be held.

America West will fly Fokker 70 jets, which seat 78 passengers and a crew of four. Flights will depart twice a day from Spokane to Phoenix, traveling the 1,056-mile journey in about one hour and 45 minutes.

The airline said its round-trip rate through July 31 is $198. A 21-day advance purchase is $158 round trip.

America West originally announced that service would begin April 10, with four flights a day and a 21-day advance fare of $144. But the starting date was pushed back to meet federal regulations on the Fokker jets, officials said.

The change also came three weeks after Mesa Air Group, the company that has contracted to operate the America West service to Phoenix, reported a 65 percent drop in earnings.

America West has hired a Mesa Air subsidiary, Desert Sun Airlines, to operate the Spokane-to-Phoenix service. George Lippemeier, president of Desert Sun, will speak at the inaugural flight ceremonies.

In other events this week:

Today

The Bonneville Power Administration will announce plans to restructure electricity rates for its Northwest customers.

Tuesday

Eastern Whitman County farm research tour begins at 7:30 a.m. in Palouse, Wash. Call John Burns at 509-397-6290.

Spokane County crop variety field tour begins at 1:30 p.m. near Waverly. Call Paul Peterson at 533-2048.

Lincoln County crop variety plot tour begins at 6 p.m. near Davenport. Call Bill Schillinger, 509-659-0090.

Wednesday

Save Our Summers, a citizen’s group opposed to agricultural grass field burning, will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the West Central Community Center to discuss steps the organization might take to eliminate the practice. Call 448-8312.

Stack Heat Treaters, a Portland-based company, breaks ground at 1:30 p.m. on its Spokane operations, Inland Northwest Metallurgical Services Inc., at the Spokane Industrial Park. Call 455-9716.

New member reception for the Spokane Area Economic Development Council begins at 4 p.m. at EDC offices. Call 624-9285.

Friday

Reps. Jean Silver, R-Spokane, and Todd Mielke, R-Spokane, will provide a legislative recap at 7:30 a.m. at the Good Morning Spokane Area event in the Crescent Court Ballroom. Cost: $7 for breakfast. Call 459-4111.

Saturday

Jamie Cox, with The Empowerment Group in Spokane, speaks about the effects of anger in the work place during an all-day workshop in the Gonzaga University Schoenberg Center. Course begins at 9 a.m. Cost: $59 per person. Call 324-9330.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: On the shelf Business Week, July 10: No one’s ever attemped a product launch quite like Windows 95. But Business Week says that shouldn’t be a problem for Microsoft, which is used to going where no company has ever gone before. Forbes, July 17: Bill Gates is the world’s richest person, according to Forbes’ annual rankings. Foreign cash Foreign companies with the largest investments in the United States, as ranked by Forbes based on annual revenue of U.S. operations. Royal Dutch/Shell Group, $21.63 billion Grand Metropolitan, $15.63 billion British Petroleum, $14.55 billion British Telecommunications, $13.34 billion Sony Corp., $12.13 billion