Mayor of Sparks Geno Martini, John Parker, senior business consultant - Capacity Planning for Southwest, Adam Decaire, managing director of network planning for Southwest, Jennifer Cunningham, interim managing director of RSCVA, Mike Kazmierski, CEO and president of EDAWN and Marily Mora cut the luggage shaped cake at the event.
Public officials and representatives from Southwest Airlines and the Reno Airport gathered outside Reno-Tahoe International Airport Monday, June 6 to celebrate the new flight service between Oakland and Reno.
Southwest is now offering three daily flights from Reno to Oakland International Airport.
“You asked for it, RTAA heard the call,” Rick Murdock, vice chairman of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Board of Trustees, said. “The region has brought the largest carrier back into the market.”
The prior non-stop flight from Oakland to Reno was discontinued in 2013. As the economy has rebounded and fuel prices have dropped, The Airport Authority, Reno-Sparks Visitor’s Authority and Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN), city officials and more have been working to expand the number of direct flights from Reno.
The return of the non-stop flights to Oakland was announced last December during the 25th anniversary celebration of Southwest’s service to the Reno airport.
“We are really fortunate to have an airline like this who has really invested in our community,” Marily Mora, president and CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said.
The new flight will provide faster access to the Bay Area as businesses continue to settle in northern Nevada.
“What an exciting opportunity to connect to the Bay Area in an even more effective way,” Mike Kazmierski, president and CEO of EDAWN, said.
He reminded the attendees that the growth in northern Nevada is only partially due to the large companies settling in the region.
“(Tesla) is less than 30 percent of the growth we are experiencing in this region,” Kazmierski said.
He said that it is important to recognize that some of the growth is due to the startups and entrepreneurs in the community. The return of the flight will make it easier to connect entrepreneurs in northern Nevada to the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
“Three years ago this flight went away, those were still bleak times here in the area,” Kazmierski said. “Now that we have come back, this flight will just accelerate our growth in the region in a lot of ways.”
The speakers at the event encouraged the northern Nevada community to take advantage of the new flight service.
“Southwest is here,” Murdock said. “Use it or lose it.”
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