Metro Phoenix Transit/Transportation Developments

[azliam]

Condor Airlines looks to expand in Phoenix after surprising first season

Just a month after beginning its nonstop flights from Phoenix to Frankfurt, Germany, Condor Airlines announced it would return in 2019 with expanded seasonal service from May to October.

Last October, after its first season of service had concluded, the German carrier said its 2019 flights from Phoenix would take off three times weekly, up from twice weekly in 2018.

Now, Condor's second season of Phoenix flights is about to take off and the airline is looking for ways to proactively expand its service instead of react to the market.

“We were actually very, very, very surprised by the strong demand,” said Jens Boyd, head of revenue management for Thomas Cook Group Airlines. (Thomas Cook Airlines U.K. is the parent company of Condor Airlines.)

Boyd readily admits Condor underestimated the Phoenix market. Phoenix had been on a list for possible expansion for some time, but the airline didn’t anticipate the strong bookings from Germany into Phoenix nor the interest from Arizonans with connections to Germany.

“All the people from the city and airport who told us, though — they were right. We are grateful that they had told us to come and try,” Boyd said. "And we’re happy to be there."

According to Boyd, Phoenix now has Condor's attention and the airline is looking for opportunities to expand.

Who flies Condor to Europe?
The low-cost airline targets leisure travelers, so it’s not surprising that its more than 18,000 passengers from Phoenix in 2018 were mostly retirees and students from local universities looking to take extended trips through Europe.

But the airline has also seen strong bookings from business travelers as well as people with ties to Germany.

And Condor isn't the only airline that was surprised by strong bookings and is now looking to grow in Phoenix as a transatlantic gateway into the United States.

Before it even launched its first flight to London's Heathrow Airport, American Airlines said it would make the route year-round. It has been planned as seasonal. American credited strong bookings in Europe for the decision.

Will Condor offer Phoenix year-round service?
Condor has a long way to go to catch up to American's year-round flights. Condor’s business model works kind of like the cruise ship industry: The airline moves planes seasonally to accommodate interest on mostly vacation routes.

For instance, Boyd said, Germans typically want to travel to the Indian Ocean or Caribbean in the winter and to the U.S. in the summer. Likewise, the demand from the U.S. into Europe typically peaks during the summer months.

Combined with its parent company, Thomas Cook Airlines U.K., Condor serves 18 destinations in the U.S. but it has just two year-round routes: Seattle and Las Vegas.

Boyd said airline officials see similarities between Phoenix and Las Vegas in how Condor could expand its service here. They see Europeans being interested in Phoenix as a place to begin a trip around the Southwestern U.S., and they think Phoenix residents may be interested in winter trips to Germany’s Christmas markets.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/trav...ts/3268504002/

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by azliam

Condor Airlines looks to expand in Phoenix after surprising first season


https://www.azcentral.com/story/trav...ts/3268504002/

Hell I would travel more internationally if I didnt have to pay an additional couple hundred bucks for a connection to LAX or NYC

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by mdpx

That is the very reason our country is screwed up now. Nevermind the hypocrisy people use to get elected, it doesn't matter. It sure the F matters. Jesus.

Our Country really isn't screwed up, besides dramatic hysterical nonsense.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Old Hippies swapping war stories.

I know; well Boulder wasn't Berkeley but it was interesting enough.

Where have all the flowers gone?

Originally Posted by Obadno

Our Country really isn't screwed up, besides dramatic hysterical nonsense.

As they say "First, do no harm." If the bond and stock markets are good then all that other 'noise' is just a distraction... especially if urban life is alive and well.

[Mr.RE]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Hell I would travel more internationally if I didnt have to pay an additional couple hundred bucks for a connection to LAX or NYC

I flew roundtrip on Condor from Phoenix to Frankfurt. It was a great flight! Surprisingly comfortable, good leg room and great staff. I will definitely fly again when traveling to central Europe especially at that price point.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DesertRay

LOL. I WISH I was a hippie. I wasn't even in utero during the summer of love. I listen to a lot of songs from that era. Good times.

I haven't met a hippie that thinks that every problem has been solved, even if we've moved the ball a bit. It takes time to change institutionalized discrimination (and not everything is caused by discrimination, as you noted, even if not everything is just correlative). Hell...even Trump's signature on prison reform moves the ball a bit on changing the institutional problems that we still have. Like I said, it's complicated. The times, they are a changing--people (better) get ready, (because) we shall overcome.

Tell you a 'war' story from my perspective.

Denver doesn't have as much or as deep of wonderful diversity as Phoenix but whether it's SW Denver neighborhoods or Maryvale it's much the same. I've sold real estate in such neighborhoods. If Hispanics (for example) choose to live in Maryvale (or similar neighborhood) because it's more affordable may just be a matter of preference, comfort and economic reality. They may not look like 'castles' to us but to them it's their 'hood where they know the neighbors, are among culturally similar friends so to them where they live is their home and they love it. What I've learned from personal experience is that what Hispanics (or name your diversity) are more concerned with is raising their kids to be happy and healthy and hopefully have a better life than what they have. It's no different from the Irish or Italians way back when.

Long story short; I see elitist white's needing to write a thesis to graduate imposing white middle-class standards on others instead of recognizing these people have a right to choose where they are most comfortable. We claim discrimination happens 'here'; yet gentrification becomes scary if it threatens what they call Home; then it's displacement. As one of my fellow bloggers has in his signature line: "When white people move out of a neighborhood, it's called white flight and it's racist. When white people move back to a neighborhood, it's called gentrification and it's racist. So, white people should just never move." - internet comment

Over the decades laws against certain types of discrimination (now) cover the landscape well; otherwise all of us discriminate every day on the choices we make which has nothing to do with 'illegal' discrimination. And for the record most immigrant populations love America and make better neighbors and citizens than so many of our cranky white friends who have too much time on their hands and create/obsess over trumped up theories around this and that.

Critical thinking is a skill I finally excelled at from listening to Rush Limbaugh many, many years ago. Whether right or left if you're not asking 'ten questions' and being skeptical that 'X' data necessarily leads to 'Y' assumptions then you're being played.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by Mr.RE

I flew roundtrip on Condor from Phoenix to Frankfurt. It was a great flight! Surprisingly comfortable, good leg room and great staff. I will definitely fly again when traveling to central Europe especially at that price point.

Me, too. I was on the inaugural flight from PHX-FRA by last year. it was so successful flight. I couldn't see a sunrise and they asked to shade down.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

The hearing on the injunction to stop the measure from getting on the ballot is set for next week--April 10 and 11. So we can expect a ruling on the 11th or shortly thereafter.

Well hopefully we get great news tomorrow!

[azliam]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

In the latest challenge to light rail expansion, former city council member and current lobbyist Peggy Neely has petitioned the city council to abandon all plans for the west Camelback extension:

https://youtu.be/aUy72UJ5pa0?t=260

On the specific issue, I sort of see her point. Building light rail that goes only to 43rd Avenue without Glendale agreeing to extend the line within its borders doesn't make a lot of sense. Nevertheless, she uses irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric like "train to nowhere."

She is followed by her fellow former council member and current lobbying partner Michael Johnson, whose comments make it clear that some of their principal clients are the auto dealerships located along Camelback near I-17. He also makes reference to Grand Canyon University not wanting light rail running to its campus, but I've yet to hear anyone at GCU say that. Johnson is trying to return to the city council via the special election for District 8.

I wanted to go back to this post because I never believed for a second that GCU din't want light rail running to its campus. I've heard that even Brian Mueller was upset to hear that the light rail west extension would be halted.

[combusean]

Except it is a train to nowhere because 43rd Ave and Camelback is a nasty six pointed intersection in an industrial district.

Phoenix's hand was forced. Glendale killed this line and Phoenix is burying the body. GCU obviously has transit needs but we don't know that LRT is the best mode and this can't be handled by eg, streetcar or hell an elevated people mover. The line as proposed isn't appropriately planned and running it another mile and a half past GCU isn't worth the $150 million cost. I'd rather that go to a train to somewhere or shore up bus and rail services through the inevitable recession.

Finally, GCU is a private publicly-traded corporation at the end of the day. If they want transit, they could begin to pay for it.

[azliam]

Originally Posted by combusean

Except it is a train to nowhere because 43rd Ave and Camelback is a nasty six pointed intersection in an industrial district.

Phoenix's hand was forced. Glendale killed this line and Phoenix is burying the body. GCU obviously has transit needs but we don't know that LRT is the best mode and this can't be handled by eg, streetcar or hell an elevated people mover. The line as proposed isn't appropriately planned and running it another mile and a half past GCU isn't worth the $150 million cost. I'd rather that go to a train to somewhere or shore up bus and rail services through the inevitable recession.

Finally, GCU is a private publicly-traded corporation at the end of the day. If they want transit, they could begin to pay for it.

GCU is no longer a publicly-traded corporation and hasn't been since last summer when it was sold and returned to its former non-profit status. Furthermore, it has paid a shit-load of taxes to the city of Phoenix over the years and has already invested so much in that part of town. Why should it bear the burden of funding for light rail itself? Do you believe ASU should fund its own transit? The point of my previous post was, why lie about GCU not wanting light rail in the first place?

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by combusean

Except it is a train to nowhere because 43rd Ave and Camelback is a nasty six pointed intersection in an industrial district.

Phoenix's hand was forced. Glendale killed this line and Phoenix is burying the body. GCU obviously has transit needs but we don't know that LRT is the best mode and this can't be handled by eg, streetcar or hell an elevated people mover. The line as proposed isn't appropriately planned and running it another mile and a half past GCU isn't worth the $150 million cost. I'd rather that go to a train to somewhere or shore up bus and rail services through the inevitable recession.

Finally, GCU is a private publicly-traded corporation at the end of the day. If they want transit, they could begin to pay for it.

GCU isn't publicly traded anymore, it transitioned to non-profit status last year (although its relationship with its "services contractor" Grand Canyon Education, Inc. blurs that distinction more than other institutions). But yeah, Glendale backing out made the line unlikely. Although I will say that cities with more robust transit don't seem to have as much of a problem with smaller spur lines--I'm thinking something like Chicago's Brown Line that mostly overlaps with other lines and then has a little spur at the end. And for a longer line without Glendale, I wonder if 19th Ave --> GCU --> North on 43rd Ave to ASU West was ever studied.

[biggus diggus]

I have a house at 47th and Camelback and several townhomes at 41st and Camelback. A station at 43/Grand/Camelback would get a lot of usage. It's a very densely populated area and there are a lot of low income households. While I think stopping it at 43rd on the surface sounds like a "train to nowhere" you have to remember that once you cross Grand the makeup of the neighborhood quickly turns to single-family and I would guess that ridership west of Grand would be far lower than ridership east of Grand.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by azliam

I wanted to go back to this post because I never believed for a second that GCU din't want light rail running to its campus. I've heard that even Brian Mueller was upset to hear that the light rail west extension would be halted.

I've never heard anything anti-rail from GCU, only from Neely & Johnson claiming to speak on GCU's behalf, even though their client is an auto dealer.

Originally Posted by muertecaza

GCU isn't publicly traded anymore, it transitioned to non-profit status last year (although its relationship with its "services contractor" Grand Canyon Education, Inc. blurs that distinction more than other institutions). But yeah, Glendale backing out made the line unlikely. Although I will say that cities with more robust transit don't seem to have as much of a problem with smaller spur lines--I'm thinking something like Chicago's Brown Line that mostly overlaps with other lines and then has a little spur at the end. And for a longer line without Glendale, I wonder if 19th Ave --> GCU --> North on 43rd Ave to ASU West was ever studied.

One of the original reasons for heading up 43rd Ave between Camelback and Glendale Avenue was that 43rd Avenue is the boundary between the two cities for all points south of the Arizona Canal. With the rail line straddling the border, it was easy to argue for a 50/50 split of costs between the two cities. Now that Glendale has withdrawn, that becomes a negative because it would require Phoenix to provide 100% of funds for something that is serving both places.

[combusean]

Originally Posted by azliam

GCU is no longer a publicly-traded corporation and hasn't been since last summer when it was sold and returned to its former non-profit status.

https://www.google.com/search?q=NASDAQ:LOPE

http://secfilings.nasdaq.com/edgar_c...l#FIS_BUSINESS

note their address: 2600 W Camelback Rd.

What's at 2600 W Camelback Rd?

https://news.gcu.edu/2016/10/office-...venue-complex/

Calling GCU a non-profit is a technicality at best.

Furthermore, it has paid a shit-load of taxes to the city of Phoenix over the years and has already invested so much in that part of town. Why should it bear the burden of funding for light rail itself? Do you believe ASU should fund its own transit? The point of my previous post was, why lie about GCU not wanting light rail in the first place?

Conflating a public institution like ASU with GCU is irrelevant and that ship has sailed in Tempe anyways.

I never said GCU didn't want transit service, I am just absolutely not convinced a light rail spur is not the way to do it. If the purpose of the line is touted as a way to serve what is a private enterprise--for profit, non profit or otherwise--how they fund it (or not) should be part of the planning process which has to start over now that Glendale killed it. I don't really think a company that earns nearly $1 billion a year (much of which is subsidized through student loans) should get an additional $200 million subsidy for transit, especially given how many students live on campus.

How many GCU employees are going to be taking LRT to work every day if built? 400 at most? This is why more study is needed.

BTW, Santa Clara VTA built an LRT line to largely serve Northrup Grumman at the expense of other well-used transit corridors in the South Bay and is part of why VTA is garbage. I'm sure Northrop Grumman invested plenty over there before they evaporated. Not saying GCU is going anywhere but it exposes the folly of nearly exclusively serving private institutions.

[TakeFive]

FTA continues to slow-walk transit projects

https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/ne...w-and-existing

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a total of $1.36 billion in federal funding allocations to 16 new and existing transit projects in the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program.

Other than for already existing projects previously approved there were only 5 new projects accepted. All five were BRT projects in Jacksonville, FL (12.9-miles), Reno, NV (1.8-mile extension), Albany, NY (16-miles), Portland, OR (15-miles) and Spokane, WA (5.8-miles).

I could like nice center-running BRT along West Camelback as a placeholder for potential light rail in the future.

[DesertRay]

Is there any news on the Light Rail petition case?

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by DesertRay

Is there any news on the Light Rail petition case?

No orders showing yet online, and I haven't seen any news reporting. I had wanted to see if I could go sit in the courtroom during the hearing, but I didn't end up having a chance.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

No orders showing yet online, and I haven't seen any news reporting. I had wanted to see if I could go sit in the courtroom during the hearing, but I didn't end up having a chance.

It looks like this will be going to the voters. If I read this right, the court has found no wrong-doing by Building a Better Phoenix:

The Court finds the 98 word summary contains the principal provisions of the proposed
initiative and complies with the law. As written, the summary does not create a significant
danger of confusion or unfairness and communicates to potential signers the thrust of the
measure. The omission of information regarding: (1) the sources of funding for light rail; (2) the
possible negative impact of the initiative on jobs, the environment, utility companies, and the
Phoenix regional area; (3) the limitation on future passenger rail projects; and (4) the potential
loss of federal and regional funding are not matters that must be covered in the 100 word
summary. See Tilson v. Mofford, 153 Ariz. 468, 737 P.2d 1367 (1987) (the proper place to argue
about the potential impact of an initiative is in the political arena, in speeches, newspaper
articles, advertisements and other forums). The summary is not intended to fully advise potential
petition signers of all of the impacts of the proposed initiative. Here, the summary does not
create a significant danger of confusion or unfairness, especially since potential signers are
directed to review the text of the actual initiative measure attached to the petition. Potential
signers are advised in that disclaimer that the summary description may not be complete. The
summary’s use of the word revenue is not misleading. Tax revenue from Proposition 104 would
be available to be redirected for infrastructure improvements. Grant and regional funding is
contingent. The initiative summary does not state or imply that federal grant funds or regional
funds would be available to the City of Phoenix for redirection to other infrastructure
improvements nor does it imply there would be new funds generated for that purpose if light rail
was terminated. It is unreasonable to expect a summary that cannot exceed 100 words to fully
describe the complex funding process for light rail projects and all variables related to that
funding process. As written, the 98 word summary here fairly describes the matters of primary
importance in the initiative.

This section pertains to the paid signature gatherers which apparently is only illegal on statewide ballots and does not include city ballots. So basically, it was OK to pay the petition gatherers:

Since this is not a statewide initiative measure, A.R.S. § 19-118.01(A) does not apply.
See Baumgartner v. Timmins, 245 Ariz. 334 (App. 2018) (language in a statute is to be given the
meaning in which it would be understood by the ordinarily intelligent person unless it is clearly
used in a technical sense), BSI Holdings v. Arizona Department of Transportation, 244 Ariz. 17
SUPERIOR COURT OF ARIZONA
MARICOPA COUNTY
CV 2019-000604 04/10/2019
Docket Code 005 Form V000A Page 10
(2018) and Grubaugh v. Blomo ex rel. Cnty. Of Maricopa, 238 Ariz. 264 (App. 2015) (when
interpreting a statute, courts look to the plain meaning of the language if the text is clear and
unambiguous), Canon Sch. Dis. No. 50 v. W.E.S. Const. Co., Inc., 177 Ariz. 526 (1994) (where
language is plain and unambiguous, courts must follow the text as written), and Bilke v. State,
2016 Ariz. 462 (2003) (a court must give effect to each word in a statute).
For the reasons stated:


IT IS ORDERED denying Petitioner’s request for declaratory and injunctive relief.
No further matters remain pending and final judgment is entered pursuant to Rule 54(c),
Ariz.R.Civ.P.

[exit2lef]

The outcome is disappointing but not entirely surprising. Building a Better Phoenix hired Kory Langhofer, a skilled and experienced attorney in elections law, even if I consider him to be on the wrong side of almost every issue he touches. I do wonder who is paying his fees, though. I would presume he costs more than a true grassroots organization could afford. It will be interesting to see if the Association of General Contractors appeals or concentrates its efforts on winning at the ballot box.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news...ue/3446767002/