Inside East Valley Business

Fifteen is today’s magic number for air travellers using Allegiant Air at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
The Las Vegas-based airline is offering one-way fares for $15 from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway to any of its 15 destination cities in the following states:
Washington, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Oregon, Illinois and Missouri.
The $15 fare began at 12:01 a.m. and ends today at 3 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time .
The low-priced flights are only for planes departing the Mesa airport, not returns. The reason for today’s, one-day price break, according to a press release:
Allegiant Air is celebrating its one-year anniversary of service from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway.  Since it started on Oct. 25, 2007, the airline has carried more than 310,000 passengers to and from the East Valley airport.  It has also expanded its terminal and parking space.
Besides regular return flight prices passengers will be charged a check-in baggage fee of $15 per bag per person for the first two bags - if they buy tickets at the time of booking their flights either on the Internet or by telephone.
If they buy tickets at the airport, however, the price for checked baggage is $25 per bag, per person for the first two bags. Higher fees will be charged for three or more checked bags.
Reservations can be made through the company’s website at www.allegiantair.com or by calling their reservations center in Las Vegas at 1-702-505-8888.

Long-time Mesa tourism industry leader David Muth died Sunday of a heart attack.

Muth was general manager of the Hilton Phoenix-East Mesa for 15 years until 2005 and served as a Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau director from 1992 to 2005. He spent four of those years as board chairman.

Muth played a key role in winning passage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in Mesa, and he was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Spirit of Unity Award by the city for his efforts.

He  also was involved in numerous community groups and charitable endeavors during his tenure in the Valley.

“David was a great manager, mentor and friend,” said Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Robert Brinton.

Muth is survived by his wife Carolyn and four sons. His son Aaron is Sports Sales manager for the Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home in Colleyville, Texas.

The service will be immediately followed by a celebration of Muth’s life at the Hilton Dallas-Fort Worth Lakes Executive Conference Center.

Tempe-based US Airways is scheduled to turn off the music and movies Nov. 1 in coach cabins on domestic flights, airline president Scott Kirby said Thursday.

The in-flight entertainment systems weigh a hefty 500 pounds, which add to fuel costs, so the carrier plans to yank them out of the 200 or so planes it uses to shuttle passengers around the mainland.
  
Passengers traveling to Hawaii or Europe get to keep listening or watching, the company said in July when it first announced plans to shed the systems.

US Airways is planning to pilot test new seat-back systems in a plane or two, but they wouldn’t be available for regular use until first quarter 2009, Kirby said.

The on-demand entertainment system US Airways is piloting is lighter, high-tech and will allow passengers to pick and pay for whatever flick they choose.

The company said few passengers are likely to mourn the loss of the bulky systems. Most passengers bring personal DVD players, iPods or similar devices on board rather than use the old systems anyway, according to the hometown airline.

And those who do watch a movie or listen to the audio channels supplied by the airline usually bring their own headphones, so the company can’t even sell enough $5 earpieces to help defray the soaring cost of jet fuel.

Arizona State University’s business school will induct three Valley businessmen into the W.P. Carey School of Business Homecoming Hall of Fame.

The school will recognize Eric Crown, Geoff Edmunds and Robert Hobbs Sr. during a ceremony at The Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix on Nov. 14.

Crown is co-founder and chairman emeritus at Insight Enterprises, a direct-marketer of computers and other products. Edmunds – a longtime player in the local building industry – co-founded the development firm, Murphree-Edmunds, as well as Geoffrey H. Edmund & Associates, which was later purchased by Toll Brothers. Among other ventures, Hobbs chairs Naumann/Hobbs Holdings – a storage services firm.

The school’s hall of fame was started in 1977 and honors alumni who have made contributions in their field, community and the school.

The ceremony starts at 6 p.m. and lasts until 10 p.m. For more information, call (480) 965-3978.

Gas prices in Arizona dropped again this week thanks to the ongoing uncertainty in the financial markets and less demand, AAA Arizona said.

Statewide, drivers are paying about $3.43 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on average, according to the organization’s most recent price survey. That’s a drop of 6.5 cents from last week.

Scottsdale saw the biggest decline. Drivers there paid about $3.46 a gallon — 11.3 cents less than last week.

Prices dropped 7.5 cents to about $3.34 a gallon in the rest of the East Valley including Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe Ahwatukee, Apache Junction and Queen Creek.