What we know about new proposed flights between Phoenix Sky Harbor and 2 Midwestern cities

Michael Salerno, Arizona Republic
·3 min read

Phoenix might get a couple of new flights to the Midwest thanks to a federal program designed to encourage airline service in smaller airports.

Sun Country Airlines, a Minnesota-based ultra-low-cost-carrier, proposed to operate flights to and from two small Midwest cities via four airports, including Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Sun Country filed proposals with the U.S. Department of Transportation on Sept. 25 to provide these routes as part of the department's Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes airlines to fly to small communities with underserved airports. These flights connect people to hubs that offer more routes.

If approved, the seasonal flights would take off in September 2024.

New flight paths: Southwest Airlines adds new nonstop flight from Phoenix

Where does Sun Country Airlines want to fly from the Phoenix airport?

Sun Country Airlines wants to establish new seasonal routes to Brainerd, Minnesota and Rhinelander, Wisconsin out of Phoenix Sky Harbor.

The airline would also fly to and from the two Midwest cities via its hub of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Orlando, Florida; and Fort Myers, Florida. The Minneapolis flights would be year-round; the Florida flights, like the Phoenix flights, would be seasonal.

Sun Country currently offers seasonal nonstop service between Phoenix and Minneapolis and the Wisconsin cities of Milwaukee and Madison. Seasonal nonstops to and from Minneapolis are also offered at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

When will the new routes fly?

If approved, the Phoenix-Brainerd route would operate from September to January, documents showed. The Phoenix-Rhinelander route would run just three months, from September to November.

Sun Country stated in its proposal it expects to offer 32 annual departures on each of the proposed routes. It anticipates 4,643 passengers and $417,830 in total revenues from the Phoenix-Brainerd route, and 4,583 passengers and $412,474 in total revenues from the Phoenix-Rhinelander route.

What is the Essential Air Service program?

The Essential Air Service program subsidizes air carriers for flying to small communities not served by major airports. It was created in 1978 in response to airline deregulation, which gave carriers freedom to determine which markets to serve and what fares to charge, according to the Department of Transportation.

The department selects carriers for Essential Air Service routes based on factors that include their service reliability, affiliation with a larger carrier, preferences of actual and potential passengers and whether they have a plan to market new routes to the community.

Sky Harbor currently has six routes to Essential Air Service airports, including two of the three Arizona airports in the program:

  • Page, Arizona via Contour Airlines, the regional airline brand of Smyrna, Tennessee-based private jet charter Contour Aviation.

  • Show Low, Arizona via Southern Airways.

  • Cortez, Colorado via Denver Air Connection. Like Southern Airways’ Show Low Route, the Cortez route was among those that launched service out of Sky Harbor in 2022.

  • El Centro, California via Southern Airways.

  • Carlsbad, New Mexico via Advanced Airlines.

  • Silver City, New Mexico via Advanced Airlines. The carrier made news in 2022 for offering the first flights between Phoenix and Gallup, New Mexico in more than a decade.

Besides Page and Show Low, Arizona’s other Essential Air Service airport is Prescott. It currently offers nonstop service to Los Angeles and Denver via SkyWest Airlines.

A complete guide: Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has added all these new flights so far in 2023

Reach the reporter at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Phoenix Sky Harbor flights to 2 Midwestern cities are in the works