=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/03/12/s= tate1104EST0039.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, March 12, 2002 (AP) America West to begin direct flights between Vegas, Mexico City (03-12) 08:04 PST LAS VEGAS (AP) -- America West Airlines has announced it intends to begin nonstop flights May 31 between Las Vegas and Mexico City. The Phoenix-based airline said Monday it will also resume flights to 10 U.S. cities as it restores service to pre-Sept. 11 levels by June. "We continue to see growth in customer demand and we're happy to be resuming service to meet those needs," Scott Kirby, the airline's executive sales and marketing vice president, told the Las Vegas Sun. America West is the second-largest carrier at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The new flight to Mexico City will run four times a week. Passengers previously made a connecting flight in Phoenix. America West also plans to begin new flights May 23 from Las Vegas to Dallas-Fort Worth and Minneapolis. It plans to resume flights June 1 between Las Vegas and Atlanta, Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Indianapolis and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, as well as to Hartford, Conn., and Orange County, Calif. America West eliminated 2,000 jobs and trimmed its flight schedule by 20 percent following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In January, the airline obtained a $429 million loan secured by the U.S. government, ending the threat of a possible bankruptcy filing. The airline went through Chapter 11 financial reorganization in 1994. In recent weeks, it restored flights from Las Vegas to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and announced plans to add service to Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs, Colo. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP