AmWest era seeing its final days
By John Yantis, Tribune
September 10, 2005
The days of America West Airlines are dwindling to a precious few.
If all goes well, the merger of the hometown airline with U.S. Airways will close in less than three weeks.
America West’s name will be gone. The new company will be still be based in Tempe, but called US Airways.
The carrier that began 22 years ago with three aircraft and 280 employees will move from a regional to a national player, a development that may cause a few nostalgic pangs in the East Valley.
"We had a 20-year employee dinner last week," said Phil Gee, America West spokesman. "It was a really good time. It was the last one as America West."
The countdown to changing the company begins Tuesday when America West shareholders are expected to vote in favor of the deal. To avoid the ruckus caused at the last shareholders meeting by union heads and one angry stock owner who wanted to know merger details before they were announced in May, Tuesday’s vote will not be shown on the Web, and there will no questions taken from the audience.
A vote will be followed by hearing Thursday in a Virginia bankruptcy court. If the judge decides US Airways should exit from bankruptcy, the merger will close in 10 business days, or on Sept. 29, Gee said.
It appears America West is confident things will go its way.
A "Goodbye America West" celebration or employees and the public will be 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at its headquarters in downtown Tempe. Annex rooms will be filled with memorabilia.
The new US Airways will remember America West and other airlines that have gone into making the company through a logo that will be painted on every one it’s aircraft.
"There will always be an America West presence that will represented on every aircraft and we’ll even have a special aircraft painted just in the America West livery," Gee said. "You’re really giving kind of a homage to the past, where we all came from and where we’re going. There’s nothing wrong being proud of where you came from."
For passengers, the two companies will combine operations first at America West’s hub in Las Vegas. Banners will go up Sept. 21 and the two will begin sharing tickets counters and gates.
Signs at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will begin changing Sept. 20, but no date is set on when the two carriers will combine operations there.
"As far as airport confusion, we only have 38 markets that are dually served," Gee said. "That’s not too bad at all and it will be phased in over several weeks. The problem is, like for example in Phoenix, we’re in Terminal 4 and they’re in Terminal 2 , so you’ll have people that will leave from Terminal 2 and maybe come back and they’ll land in Terminal 4. Of course the airports will help with that and we’ll just shuttle people. A lot of the airports we serve are in the same area. We’ve got to merge those ticket counters."
An airline consultant says the companies have done a good job in heading off any confusion by using in-flight announcements on both airlines and sending e-mails to frequent fliers.
"They’re way out in front of the actual public face being combined," said Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Co., an airline industry analysis and consulting firm in New York. "It was both necessary and good to see in the sense they’re banking on a lot of revenue synergy in the business plan that’s going forward. On the other hand, I imagine for some of the America West originals, it will be kind of a wistful moment, but, that being said, I think there’s a lot of look forward to."
Early next week, the company will release information concerning what passengers should expect when it comes to ticketing and luggage under the merged company.
It will take four days to take down the America West sign at its Rio Salado Parkway headquarters and put up the new name. The unveiling is expected to happen the week of Sept. 26, and it will coincide with the closing of the merger. The new company’s frequent flier program will be announced within a day of the merger’s closing, Gee said. Gee said the company will announce soon whether America West Arena will get a name change.
Now PIT has a perfectly designed terminal 
