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IN BUSINESS US AIRWAYS CUTS 40 PERCENT OF VEGAS FLIGHTS AIRLINES, FROM PAGE 11 WestJet, which brought 873,801 passengers here in the 12-month period that ended July 31, uses three models of twin-engine Boeing 737 jets with capacities between 119 and 166 passengers. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air detailed plans for new nonstop service to Lexington, KY, home of the University of Kentucky, and Knoxville, TN, the location of the University of Tennessee. Both routes will operate twice a week beginning in November and use recently acquired 217-seat Boeing 757 twin-engine jets. The Lexington service begins November 16 with Wednesday and Saturday operations. Flights will leave McCarran on those days at 8 a.m., arriving at Blue Grass Airport at 2:30 p.m. The return flight leaves Lexington at 3:45 p.m., arriving in Vegas at 5:30 p.m. The Knoxville service begins Nov. 18 with Monday and Friday operations. Flights will leave McCarran on those days at 6:05 a.m., arriving at McGhee Tyson Airport at 12:40 p.m. The return flight leaves Knoxville at 1:55 p.m., arriving in Las Vegas at 3:15 p.m. Allegiant is flying its reconditioned 757 jets on domestic routes in advance of launching service between the West Coast and Hawaii next year. Last month, Allegiant announced flights between Las Vegas and Lafayette, LA, as well as routes to several cities from Mesa, AZ, Palm Springs, CA, and the airline's Florida destinations. But not all of last week's news was good for Las Vegas. US Airways, once the busiest air carrier at McCarran when it operated as America West Airlines, will cut 40 percent of its Las Vegas flights by early next year, reducing it to one of the smaller players in the market. The Tempe, AZ-based airline, the nation's sixth largest by traffic, announced it would cut its daily departures here from 35 to 21. It is eliminating point-to-point service from Las Vegas to Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles International, San Francisco and Fresno, CA, a service BUSINESS – CIVIL – REAL ESTATE – LITIGATION JOHN A. CURTAS Attorney-at-Law 3275 South Jones Boulevard Suite 105 Las Vegas, NV 89146 702.307.9500 John@CurtasLaw.com For all your civil litigation and restaurant needs. WE INVITE YOU TO Close Your E-mail AND OPEN A WINE LIST. subcontracted to Mesa Airlines operating as US Airways Express. Most of the cuts will be completed by late November, with the last changes occurring by January. All that will remain on US Airways' Las Vegas schedule will be five daily nonstop round trips each to Charlotte, NC, and Philadelphia, one daily nonstop round trip to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 72 flights a week to and from Phoenix, all hub and high-emphasis cities in the airline's network. The airline will cut three daily operations each to Dallas-Fort Worth International and Los Angeles International, one daily to and from Boston's Logan International Airport, 13 flights a week to and from San Francisco International and six operations a week to and from Fresno on US Airways Express. The cuts are part of US Airways' strategy to operate nearly all of its flights to and from hub airports in an effort to increase profitability. US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie said 72 full- and part-time customer service and fleet service jobs would be lost at the airline's McCarran station, but all employees would be offered positions at other US Airways stations. America West Airlines was the dominant carrier at McCarran in the late 1980s and early '90s and once operated a "night hub" at McCarran, connecting passengers on the airline's network through Las Vegas mostly after 10 p.m. When America West acquired US Airways in 2005 and adopted its name, it closed the night hub because of the rising cost of fuel, but operated a schedule of about 131 daily Las Vegas flights. As CEO Doug Parker considered strategies to stay profitable, the decision was reached to de-emphasize Las Vegas operations as it had done in Pittsburgh immediately after the acquisition. At the end of 2008 and early 2009, the airline cut nearly 100 flights in Las Vegas and hundreds of employees were transferred or lost their jobs. SPEND AN E L EGANT E-FREE EVENING WITH US. 250 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill . 617 928 1400 . thecapitalgrille.com 12 | 12 SEPTEMBER 2011 | © 2011, RHMI