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Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/28760
IN BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES HELPS MEXICAN CARRIER high demand from Mexican leisure VOLARIS, FROM PAGE 11 travelers to Las Vegas, an unusually high volume of “family and friends” travel between Mexico and Southern Nevada’s Hispanic community and above-average bookings from Las Vegas to Guadalajara. Beltranena could have added a fourth reason, the company’s blossoming LEGISLATURE MAY DESERVE PARTIAL CREDIT JOBS, FROM PAGE 11 from December to February. Mandi Lindsay, the government affairs director for the Las Vegas chapter of AGC , said some of the job gains could have resulted from the state Legislature’s decision a year ago to remove the sunset on a quarter-cent sales tax for transportation projects. That increased bonding capacity and helped increase Regional Transportation Commission projects, she said. Jobs were created by construction of medical facilities and a senior housing project in Henderson, she said. “I’m not convinced it’s a new trend but if we get a couple of more months like this, it will be a boost for our confi dence,” Lindsay said. John Restrepo, the principal at Restrepo Consulting who tracks the economy and job growth, said Clark County added 800 construction jobs between January and February to 40,000, a 2 percent gain. That’s after the number of construction jobs fell from 41,500 in December to 39,200 in January, he said. Restrepo said the increase could be from public works projects, some build- to-suit buildings for companies and even tenant improvements for tenants relocating between space. “The massive decline appears to have ended, but we aren’t going to see a spike in construction activity for a long time,” Restrepo said. “It looks like we have reached a fl oor, but the question is whether there is trap door in the fl oor.” Since February 2010, the number of construction jobs in Clark County has fallen 12 percent from 45,500 to 40,000, Restrepo said. The peak was 112,000 jobs in June 2006, which means 64 percent of those have been shed, he said. The percentage of Clark County jobs in the construction industry has fallen from a peak of 12.1 percent in the summer of 2006 to 5.4 percent in February. | 4 APRIL 2011 | partnership with Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at McCarran. Volaris has taken advantage of the fi nancial troubles experienced by Mexicana Airlines, which fell into bankruptcy and ceased operations last year. Also, routes offered by Aeromexico have dwindled and US Airways pulled its Las Vegas-Mexico City service when the airline abandoned several of its Las Vegas routes over the past two years. Beltranena said domestically, Volaris is operating with 82 percent loads, but Las Vegas fl ights operating in the near future show them as more than 90 percent full. Volaris fl ights can be purchased on southwest.com, although not every Southwest Airlines policy is observed by its Mexican partner. Like Southwest Airlines, Volaris has three tiers of pricing and the different tiers offer different premiums for the passenger. The least-expensive advanced-purchase round-trip fl ight between Las Vegas and Guadalajara cost $543 as of March 30, which includes a 262-peso tax ($21.91). The least expensive fare enables international travelers up to 55 pounds in suitcases. 17