Vision Airlines expanding

Less than three months after launching Mesa-to-Las Vegas air service, Vision Airlines is planning to expand the business.

The Las Vegas-based airline, which started flying four round-trip flights a week from Williams Gateway Airport to the gambling capital April 6, said at the time it expected to expand to everyday service by fall.

That schedule has been accelerated, said Warren Kaplan, Vision’s general manager. The company now hopes to launch twice daily round trips beginning June 29, he said. Vision is waiting government approvals for that license, and Kaplan expects to get the word next week.

On the same day, Vision is slated to start regular roundtrip service between Mesa and Bullhead City, the gateway to Laughlin, Nev. Also tentatively pegged to go airborne on June 29, are regular round trips between Scottsdale Airport and Las Vegas, and a Scottsdale-Grand Canyon route. Those options are still pending Scottsdale City Council OKs, Kaplan said.

And Vision’s busy June 29 tentative agenda also includes the launch of Carlsbad, Calif.-Las Vegas operations, Kaplan said.

The new routes, like the current Mesa-Las Vegas service, likely will start with just four weekly round trips apiece, “so we can get our feet wet,” Kaplan said.

All the new planned services will be on 30-passenger turboprops the company has been flying on the Mesa-Las Vegas route, he said. Vision has some jets on order, but those are not pegged for Mesa operations. Yet. If the company starts flying longer distances — say, from Mesa to Denver — the jets likely would be pressed into service at Williams Gateway, Kaplan said.

The expanded Mesa-Las Vegas service will allow the company to fly morning and afternoon trips, Kaplan said.

It’s not that the flights are so packed that the company needs more of them, although some are, he said.

“Some flights do well, and some are half-empty,” Kaplan said. “But the best way to get all the flights full all the time is to give people choices.”

Also aimed at drumming up Las Vegas-to-Mesa traffic are packages the company has negotiated with local hotels.

Kaplan said Vision has deals with nine East Valley inns, including the San Marcos Resort in Chandler, the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort in the Gila River Indian Community and the downtown Mesa Marriott.

The company is working on similar packages with 13 Scottsdale area hotels and resorts in preparation for the start-up of Scottsdale Airport service, he said.

For now, potential passengers have to phone Vision for reservations — (800) 256-8767 -- but the airline hopes to get its online reservation system functional within the next few weeks.

Already, Vision has a distinct advantage over the bigger airlines by slicing off twohour-or-more wait times for check-in, security, baggage retrieval and rental car services when people fly between the Valley and Las Vegas using the big metro airports, Kaplan said.