PRNewswire-FirstCall PHOENIX Oct. 20 :

America West Airlines , the second largest low-fare carrier in the U.S.,
begins daily nonstop, roundtrip service today between its Phoenix hub and
the third largest city in Mexico—Monterrey. Customers in 31 cities in
the western U.S. can now take advantage of convenient connecting service
along with America West`s affordable fares, exceptional operational
performance and award-winning frequent flyer program.

“Monterrey will be a significant and important business destination for
us,” said C.A. Howlett, senior vice president, public affairs. “We are
proud to provide the only nonstop flight between the states of Arizona and
Nuevo Leon as well as the cities of Phoenix and Monterrey. More than 1
million Arizonans have family roots in Mexico, and we are pleased to bring
these families together.”
America West will be participating in a business-to-business trade mission
to strengthen the relations with business and government officials from
the State of Nuevo Leon and the City of Monterrey along with the Attorney
General, representatives from Governor Janet Napolitano`s Office,
officials from the City of Phoenix, the Department of Commerce, the
Arizona-Mexico Commission, Arizona State University and the University of
Arizona.

“The relationship between Arizona and Mexico is critical to our economic
structures, and making it more convenient for business people and others
to travel between here and there is clearly an advantage,” said Governor
Janet Napolitano. “This is another step in the direction of ensuring that
we continue to promote tourism, binational trade and commerce.”

America West carries 600,000 passengers to and from Mexico each year and
offers nearly 100 weekly departures from its hub at Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport.

“We are absolutely committed to supporting the economic growth of our
community,” said Phoenix District 5 City Councilman Claude Mattox. “Our
relationship with America West and our growing relationship with
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, will be key to our continued success.”

America West Express, which is operated by Mesa Airlines, will utilize the
modern 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ-200) for this service.
Monterrey is the second destination in Mexico that America West has added
this year. Service to Cancun, Mexico, began in June. America West
initiated service to Memphis, Tenn., in April and will start service to
San Jose, Costa Rica, in December. New service to Edmonton, Canada, also
begins today.
The airline will begin nonstop transcontinental service between New
York/JFK and Boston on the East Coast and Los Angeles and San Francisco on
the West Coast. The new flights between Los Angeles and Boston and JFK
will begin Oct. 26, flights between JFK and San Francisco will begin Dec.
19 and flights between Boston and San Francisco will begin March 1, 2004.

America West currently provides extensive service to cities along Mexico`s
coasts including Guaymas, Mazatlan, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta,
Manzanillo, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Cancun, as well as major
business destinations including Hermosillo, Guadalajara and Mexico City.

For more information or to make a reservation, call America West at
1-800-2-FLY-AWA (1-800-235-9292), log onto http://www.americawest.com/ or
contact a professional travel agent. Customers can sign up for FlightFund
at http://www.flightfund.com/ , the frequent flyer section of
http://www.americawest.com/ or by calling the FlightFund Service Center at
1-800-247-5691. America West`s frequent flyer program is the winner of
Inside Flyer magazine`s prestigious Freddie Award for Best Elite-Level
Program in the Americas.
Founded in 1983 and proudly celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2003,
America West Airlines is the nation`s second largest low-fare airline and
the only carrier formed since deregulation to achieve major airline
status. America West`s 13,000 employees serve nearly 55,000 customers a
day in 92 destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

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