The only Phoenix airport route to this city ends after just 9 months. Here's why

Nine months after Safford Regional Airport's first commercial flight since 1974 took off, the route is ending.

Sunday, Sept. 14 is the last day of Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines flights between Safford and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport via a private terminal at the Jackson Jet Center.

Travelers make their way down the escalator the day before Thanksgiving at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix on Nov. 27, 2024.

Safford airport manager Cameron Atkins is hopeful that the route could resume in the future if he can secure long-term funding to operate it.

"Ultimately, we couldn’t stretch the funding far enough," he said. "Hopefully, this won't be the end of airline service in Safford. We hope we’ll find a new funding source."

The route to the rural Arizona city in Graham County, located near the Gila River and Mount Graham, debuted in January. It received funding from a federal grant and the city of Safford.

Why are flights from Phoenix to Safford ending?

Funding for the route ran out, staff with Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines and Safford Regional Airport told The Arizona Republic.

The route was critical to connecting a rural Arizona community, important for its mining and agriculture, with the global network of routes at Sky Harbor. Safford went decades without a scheduled air service route because of airline deregulation in the 1970s, when airlines became free to set their routes, leading their networks to favor hubs in large cities over service to smaller, rural areas.

Still, Atkins acknowledged difficulty in developing a market for the flights, adjusting pricing and scheduling as time went on. The Republic found round-trip fares for the Safford-Phoenix route's last days were $98.

Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines was described as an "awesome" partner, in part for a reliability rate of 95% of flights completed, Atkins said.

"Especially in a rural community, having reliable service is a big thing that will make or break your service," he said.

What grant funded Safford flights to Sky Harbor?

The Phoenix-Safford route was made possible by an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program, which helps small communities address air service and airfare issues.

"The community currently has no scheduled air service, and its proposal would link the cities with small aircraft service sized to anticipated demand," a project description provided by the DOT stated. "It would provide Safford’s citizens and businesses access not only to Phoenix but also to the broader air transportation system via connections. The community has put in place a strong public-private partnership and is providing very substantial local funding."

When Sky Harbor announced the route, it mentioned the mining company Freeport McMoRan − Graham County's largest employer − offered its own grant funding as well.

But Safford Airport and Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines didn't realize until the route began that Freeport McMoRan's grant stipulated that the route should fly on aircraft with multiple engines, which conflicted with the nine-seat, single-engine aircraft used to fly between Safford and Phoenix, said Jake Tomlin, Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines' president and CEO.

The airport and the carrier chose to continue using the smaller plane instead of accepting the Freeport grant because they found they would run out of funding faster if they complied, Tomlin said.

The Arizona Republic reached out to Freeport McMoRan to confirm the terms of its grant. They did not respond at the time of writing.

What is Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines?

Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines primarily operates tours of the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas and tours of nearby landmarks like Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon that originate from Grand Canyon.

The carrier played a role in the early history of Sky Harbor. Founded as Scenic Airways in 1927, it connected Grand Canyon National Park with a Phoenix airfield on 278 acres of farmland. Aviation pioneer J. Parker Van Zandt, who fell in love with the Grand Canyon, conceived Scenic Airways as a way to promote both aviation and sightseeing of the Canyon.

Van Zandt is the one who named the Phoenix airfield Sky Harbor, a name that stuck as it evolved over the years to become the nation's No. 14 busiest airport.

Both the airport and carrier changed hands during the Great Depression; Phoenix officials bought Sky Harbor in 1935, while local pilots came together to purchase Scenic Airways and renamed it Grand Canyon Airlines. (Its current name includes "Scenic" as a nod to its early beginnings.)

Could the Phoenix-Safford route come back?

It's possible the route could resume, but it depends on whether the Safford airport can secure long-term funding, Atkins said.

The issue is not unique to Safford, as other small airports in Arizona are trying to figure out how to forge connections with larger hubs. Atkins said he's part of an informal consortium with other small airports in Arizona working together to find ways to offer more incentives to connect small Arizona airports with larger hubs.

These connections are important because the long driving distance between locations can be a deterrent and hinder economic development, he said. Safford is a three-hour drive from the Phoenix city center, but the flights take an hour.

"With the flight, I can fly to Phoenix for meetings during the day and get back at night and not have to spend seven hours on the road," Atkins said. "Air service is one of those unique opportunities that pays dividends for communities."

Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The only Phoenix airport route to this city ends after just 9 months. Here's why