Pacific Wings, a 30-year-old Hawaiian carrier, plans to enter the New Mexico market shortly, tapping into the dissatisfaction of community leaders with the service provided by Mesa Airlines (MESA). Related Story Now, Pacific Wings has taken its nine-seat Cessna Caravan in New Mexico Airlines livery to the Four Corners Regional Airport to introduce its planned non-stop service to Albuquerque for which it will charge $79 roundtrip. Mesa has filed to leave all of its EAS communities, citing losses incurred by its subsidiary Air Midwest. Related Story
CFO Peter Murnane told investors at the Merrill Lynch Global Airline Conference that the airline is seeking better profitability from its 19-seat operation either by filing to leave and gaining a better rate that could achieve the goal or by selling off its Beech 1900Ds to any successor airline. Mesa indicated it will leave its EAS routes on August 19. In the meantime, New Mexico plans to launch flights to ABQ, Santa Fe, Hobbs and Carlsbad beginning July 1. It also has plans to expand to Midland, Lubbock and El Paso, Tex. in the fall.
The airline may also take up the slack left by Mesa at Farmington, the city in which it was founded. Related Story  While city officials continue talks with Great Lakes (GLUX) which needs additional aircraft to fill the Mesa void, New Mexico Airlines is considering serving the market where it expected to introduce the aircraft on Monday.
In other news, Santa Fe received FAA’s Class One certification, affording it the ability to add service beyond its current 30-seat limitation. Physical restraints at the airport, however, will likely limit commercial service to 60-passenger aircraft. The terminal size and security program also limit capacity. The airport has been trying to attract direct service to the airport, away from its rival Albuquerque.
Great Lakes currently serves the airport to Denver and Airport Manager Jim Montman said United (UAUA) expressed interest in serving the community once it gained Class One status. The airport is currently working on getting a $12 million radar system after making $6.5 million worth of improvements earlier this year, including $4.5 million in runway reconstruction. It also purchased an additional 15 acres for runway overruns.