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28-473: The airport does not presently have any commercial air service. New Mexico Airlines discontinued service to the airport on April 1, 2012 after the airport lost eligibility for subsidies through the Essential Air Service program. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 414 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 505 enplanements in 2009, and 369 in 2010. It

56-523: A $ 100,000 grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The system is estimated to save the airport $ 100 to $ 300 per month, and after 2012, when the new buyback rate goes into effect, that amount may rise to $ 300 to $ 500 per month in electric costs savings. Continental Airlines provided the first commercial airline service to Alamogordo, beginning on August 31, 1954, with their flights between El Paso and Albuquerque making

84-596: A lot of work to do." After the contract with Rocky Mountain expired, Trans-Colorado then moved its operations and maintenance facilities to Houston, TX , in anticipation of a contract to operate as a feeder to Continental Airlines though another wholly owned Continental subsidiary, Britt Airways . For several months, Trans-Colorado operated flights for Britt; however, no long-term contract materialized. In April 1988, Trans-Colorado filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors. In July 1988, it ceased operations and voluntarily surrendered its operating certificate to

112-540: A new commuter airline operating Handley Page Jetstream propjets, also served the Alamogordo to Albuquerque market for a few months in 1985. In the spring of 1987, Trans-Colorado Airlines , operating as Continental Express on behalf of Continental Airlines via a code sharing agreement, briefly provided flights for several months to El Paso using Swearingen Metroliners. Another short-lived commuter airline, Air Ruidoso, briefly provided flights to Albuquerque and El Paso in

140-603: A result of the arrangement, from 36.6% during the first 6 months of 1986, to 55.6% in August of the same year. Continental Airlines later purchased Rocky Mountain Airways , a regional operator considerably larger than Trans-Colorado, and was also based at Denver Stapleton. On May 13, 1987, Trans-Colorado entered into an agreement with Rocky Mountain Airways to provide it with flights under the Continental Express designation. Under

168-456: A roundtrip routing of Denver , Colorado Springs . Pueblo , Santa Fe , Albuquerque , Alamogordo, and El Paso . As Continental was continuing its growth as a major air carrier, its Alamogordo service was transferred to Frontier Airlines in 1963. Frontier began flights to Albuquerque and El Paso with the 50-seat Convair 580 turboprop aircraft however the El Paso flights were later dropped. In

196-610: A stop at the city. Douglas DC-3 aircraft were first used, later upgrading to the Convair 340 followed by the four-engine Vickers Viscount turboprop in 1959. Air service was first operated at Holloman Air Force Base and then moved to the Alamogordo Municipal Airport (now the White Sands Regional Airport) when it opened in late-1959. By 1960, Continental was operating daily Vickers Viscount propjet service on

224-531: Is 3,257 by 190 feet (1,993 x 58 m) with a dirt surface. For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2023, the airport had 34,100 aircraft operations, an average of 93 per day: 94% general aviation , 6% military , and <1% air taxi . At that time there were 85 aircraft based at this airport: 70 single- engine , 7 multi-engine, 1 jet , 2 helicopter , 4 glider , and 1 ultralight . The airport installed an 8-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array in November 2008, using

252-505: Is essential to fulfilling the requirements of the Continental contracts." On December 3, 1987, Trans-Colorado's chief executive, William Mueller, wrote employees that "We have begun working on our long term restructure plan, which deals with both creditors and revenue sources. Please hang in with us, as great strides have been taken the last few weeks to stabilize the Company, but we still have

280-521: Is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation airport (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year). Alamogordo–White Sands Regional Airport covers an area of 1,465 acres (593 ha ) at an elevation of 4,200 feet (1,280 m) above mean sea level . It has two runways : 4/22 is 9,207 by 150 feet (2,135 x 46 m) with an asphalt surface; 16/34

308-561: The Continental Express banner beginning in 1986. Trans-Colorado Airlines was incorporated on August 25, 1980, as Commuter Airlines of Colorado. Operations began on December 23, 1980, with one Swearingen Metro II . It served and was based in Gunnison, CO , with scheduled flights to and from Stapleton International Airport in Denver . The name was changed to Trans-Colorado Airlines Inc. by

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336-557: The Federal Aviation Administration . According to Trans-Colorado, the ending of operations happened "as a direct result of economic hardship imposed by Continental Airlines (Britt Airways, Continental Express) when they prematurely terminated our contract with them." According to its timetables between June 1, 1981, and April 1, 1987, Trans-Colorado served the following destinations: The airline also served other destinations during its existence with its feeder service as

364-529: The EAS subsidies to be cancelled in 2012. New Mexico Airlines ended their flights and the city has not seen airline service since. The city is reportedly working with a major air carrier in order to hopefully reinstate passenger air service with regional jets. New Mexico Airlines New Mexico Airlines was an American commuter airline brand founded by Pacific Air Holdings to operate flights in New Mexico after

392-675: The FAA in December 2014 and was able to get some aircraft back in the air in early 2015 but completely shut down by May, 2015. As of December 2014, the New Mexico Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft: Trans-Colorado Airlines Trans-Colorado Airlines was a United States airline based in Colorado Springs , Colorado . It operated from August 1980 until July 1988. The airline operated flights for Continental Airlines under

420-455: The airline was awarded an Essential Air Service contract to serve Hobbs and Carlsbad, New Mexico . The airline started flights on July 1, 2007, and uses the airline identifiers and call signs of its parent company Pacific Wings. Despite having "New Mexico" in the name, the brand was actually headquartered in Mesa, Arizona , in metropolitan Phoenix . The carrier had all of its aircraft grounded by

448-596: The company initiated Continental Express service at Denver. On July 15, 1986, Trans-Colorado became a Continental Express carrier, serving Continental Airlines flights at Denver. Under the terms of the agreement, Trans-Colorado flights were listed under the CO designation in airlines' computer reservation systems. In addition, Continental provided Trans-Colorado with ticketing, baggage handling and passenger boarding at Denver and Colorado Springs and with all passenger reservations through its own reservation system. Trans-Colorado

476-636: The company operated one Metro II and five Metro III airplanes. Service to Riverton, WY and Rock Springs, WY from Denver began in 1985 and Trans-Colorado planned to inaugurate new service to Telluride, CO from Albuquerque for the 1985/1986 winter ski season however flights were operated through Cortez, CO instead. Service from Denver to Cheyenne, WY was added on April 7, 1986. On February 3, 1986, Trans-Colorado began service to Farmington, NM and Roswell, NM with routes from Denver to Farmington and from Albuquerque to Farmington and Roswell. All service at Albuquerque and Roswell ended on July 15, 1986, when

504-775: The late-1970s, two small commuter airlines began service, Zia Airlines with Handley Page Jetstream propjets flights to Albuquerque and Airways of New Mexico to El Paso. By late-1979, Frontier was in the midst of becoming an all-jet airline and thus discontinued its Alamogordo service with commuter airlines continuing to serve the airport. Zia ceased operating in early 1980 and Air Midwest then began flights to Albuquerque with Swearingen Metroliner propjet commuter aircraft later that year. Airways of New Mexico also initiated flights to Albuquerque with Air Midwest ending their service in 1981. Airways of New Mexico ceased operating in 1985 at which time Mesa Airlines began service with Beechcraft 99 and Beechcraft 1900 turboprop airliners. JetAire,

532-486: The period of the contract. In addition, Rocky Mountain paid Trans-Colorado a fee for its aircraft that were not leased and for aircraft that were not flown due to weather, air traffic control, and related factors. Rocky Mountain provided the flight schedules, ground handling, and support services for the flights. Flights were to be operated in accordance with Trans-Colorado policies and procedures. The contract specified that Trans-Colorado could neither be sold nor control of

560-407: The spring of 1988. Mesa's service to Albuquerque continued until 2002, when Rio Grande Air was awarded a federal Essential Air Service (EAS) contract for subsidized flying to smaller U.S. cities. Two years later, Rio Grande Air ceased operations and the EAS contract was then awarded to Westward Airlines which only operated for a few months in 2005 before suspending operations as well. The EAS contract

588-479: The summer of 1981. The company inaugurated service to Montrose, CO in May 1981 and acquired a second aircraft, a Metro III, in November 1981. On February 1, 1982, the airline acquired its second Metro III and, 1 month later, inaugurated service to Cortez, CO . The company acquired its third Metro III on Monday, May 2, 1983, and service began from Denver to Durango, CO on June 15, 1983. On December 16, 1983, service

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616-399: The terms of the contract, which was in effect through February 28, 1988, Trans-Colorado provided Rocky Mountain with airplanes and crews for $ 400/block hour for flights operated from May 15, 1987, through December 31, 1987, and $ 357/block hour for flights operated from December 31, 1987, through February 28, 1988. A minimum of 245 block hours per aircraft per month was guaranteed, averaged over

644-414: The voting stock transferred without the approval of Rocky Mountain. However, the contract stated that "Continental's withholding of consent will not be unreasonable....” In the early summer of 1987, Trans-Colorado began to experience serious financial difficulties. In a September 30 letter to a financial organization, a company official stated that "...the only cash that is paid out will be only that which

672-614: Was also used on two Albuquerque-Farmington flights as well. All Continental Express routes from Denver were transferred to Rocky Mountain Airways on June 5, 1987, leaving only the Albuquerque flights operating as Continental Express. The Alamogordo, El Paso, and Tucson flights were very short lived and discontinued on June 15, 1987, along with the Convair 580. The remaining Albuquerque flights were then discontinued on July 31, 1987. Trans-Colorado records indicate that its load factor increased as

700-409: Was extended to Albuquerque, NM with an Albuquerque-Durango-Gunnison route. On April 15, 1984, Trans-Colorado began service to Colorado Springs , with an Albuquerque-Colorado Springs-Denver route. Its corporate headquarters and all maintenance activities were moved to Colorado Springs later that year. At the end of 1984, the company operated one Metro II and four Metro III aircraft. One year later,

728-446: Was reinstated from Albuquerque to Farmington and Roswell and new service was added to Alamogordo, NM , Carlsbad, NM , El Paso, TX , and Tucson, AZ all as Continental Express. An Albuquerque-Roswell-Carlsbad-El Paso route was started which was a route that Continental Airlines first operated in 1940. Alamogordo, NM was served from El Paso and one Convair 580 aircraft was used to provide service from Albuquerque to Tucson. The Convair 580

756-628: Was responsible for all aspects of the operations and all maintenance on the airplanes. New service began from Denver to Casper, WY , Gillette, WY , and Jackson Hole, WY , as well as to Rapid City, SD and Pierre, SD . Two 50-Passenger Convair 580 aircraft were leased from Sierra Pacific Airlines and painted in full Continental Express colours. Trans-Colorado revised its schedule to provide feed to Continental at Denver and Colorado Springs. On January 1, 1987, Trans-Colorado returned to Albuquerque as Continental Express and reinstated its flights to Colorado Springs and Durango. On April 1, 1987, service

784-438: Was then given to Valley Air Express; however, this airline was still on the drawing board and never got off the ground. Mesa Airlines was then ordered to return to Alamogordo until early 2008 when Pacific Wings , dba New Mexico Airlines , began service using single engine, nine-seat Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop aircraft. The Caravan is an unpressurized and smaller and slower type of aircraft and passenger traffic dwindled causing

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