America West Airlines was informed by the
U.S. Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) that the Airline ranked number one
in baggage handling in the D.O.T.`s 1998 Air Travel Consumer Report.  This
marks the second consecutive year the Airline posted the best performance
among the ten major carriers in that important industry measure.  The Air
Travel Consumer Report is a monthly “report card” of the nation`s larger
airlines, designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of
services provided by the airlines.

The D.O.T.`s baggage performance statistics report the number of
mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.  America West finished first for the
year recording only 3.88 mishandled bags.  America West was also first among
the ten major airlines in 1997 for baggage handling performance—the first
time in seven years that a carrier operating a complex hub-and-spoke system
ranked number one in this category.

“This achievement is clearly attributed to the dedication and commitment
of our employees,” said William A. Franke, chairman.  “Being ranked number one
in this important customer service measure for the second consecutive year
demonstrates a continuous effort by our employees to focus on delivering high
performance.”

Systemwide employee celebrations will take place to commemorate this
achievement and senior executives will visit airport operations to
congratulate and thank employees for a job well done.  To reward all airport
customer service representatives and ground operations employees, each will
receive a $50 American Express gift certificate.
 
America West Airlines, the nation`s ninth largest carrier, serves more
than 90 destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.  For the second
consecutive year, America West ranked the number one carrier in customer
satisfaction for short flights in the Frequent Flyer magazine/J.D. Power and
Associates Airline Customer Satisfaction Study—U.S. Flights.
 
America West Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of America West
Holdings Corporation (NYSE: AWA), an aviation and travel services company with
1998 sales of $2.0 billion.
 
This press release, as well as releases issued in the past year by America
West Holdings and its affiliates, can be accessed on the America West Internet
site at http://www.americawest.com.

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