Quote:
Originally Posted by N830MH
Yes, only limited international flight. Condor is still operate for Spring/Summer/Fall seasonal, but not for winter time. Only for every 5 or 6 months.
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Since we're speaking about flying, let me just say that I believe Phoenix continues to fly so much under the radar even still with all of the growth that has occurred. Even though our MSA is nearly at 5 million, we're still not good enough for an MSL expansion soccer team. Not good enough for more TATL/TPAC international service. Yet other smaller cities continue to receive both. I thought Sky Harbor used an incentives program to entice other carriers to launch new routes to and from Phoenix, but it appears other cities are capturing those routes more quickly.
Is the problem really due to our location and proximity to other cities, lack of F500 companies, or is it and outdated image that people still have of Phoenix - or all of the above? Does the city need to market itself differently?
After all, there are still quite a lot of people out there who still believe it's hot all year round in Phoenix, that we're still primarily just a snowbird haven, that we haven't mitigated our water issues, that we sprawl more than any other metro area, etc. And others seem to gloss over the fact that we continue to have very high numerical population growth, job growth, diversified economy, and despite our lackluster downtown (in comparison to other places) that we have made serious strides both there and in Tempe. When will the masses start to acknowledge all of the positive change in Phoenix? Will this take another generation or two to accomplish?