Honoring Prescott Area Women Leaders 3RD ANNUAL PRESCOTT AREA ATHENA AWARDS SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 3-5pm
Get your Tickets at PRESCOTTATHENA.COM Last year’s event was sold out! See page 35 for more information
Longer Stays Promoted to Experience Prescott T
By Ray Newton, QCBN
he City of Prescott tourism and destination marketing team is encouraging visitors to stay longer and experience more. A new strategy was outlined in detail to business and community members during a Tourism Department meeting at Tis Gallery on June 22. City of Prescott Community
Outreach Manager John Heiney explained that developing the strategic plan began more than three years ago. “We used data gathered from local and regional surveys and from oneon-one interviews as the basis for our deliberations. Decisions were based on real data, not ‘what if’ ideas.” The result from those months of study demonstrates a shift from the prior theme, “Visit Prescott,” to the
new theme, “Experience Prescott.” The intent, says Heiney, is to increase the amount of time and money spent by visitors who will celebrate and honor the history, culture, traditions and natural beauty of Prescott and the area. He said the new theme goes beyond just having people visit. It emphasizes schedules and itineraries that prompt visitors to stay longer in
the unique Southwestern city. Tourism numbers throughout Arizona are up significantly from a year ago. Data released by the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) show that statewide in 2021, 40.9 million overnight visits were recorded, up from 32.1 million in 2020. Even so, that number is still far behind the record year of 2019, when 46.6 million Continued on page 38
Training Pilots Pilot shortage felt in Northern Arizona By Stan Bindell, QCBN
A Leighnor Aircraft team members, including Lance and Debbie Leighnor, Jim Slaughter, Kian Yazduni, Hunter Vandertoll and Maxwell Denney, are experiencing a huge interest in pilot training and plane rentals. Photo by Kay Lyons
August 2022 | Issue 8 Volume 10
s Prescott and the nation feel the impact of the pilot shortage, about 50 pilots a year are earning their pilot licenses through training by Leighnor Aircraft. Owner Lance Leighnor says the pilot shortage has meant that his family business has been very busy with training and plane rentals for the last two years. As a result, Leighnor Aircraft has increased from two to 15 planes in Prescott and has two planes in Cottonwood. “The demand has gone crazy,” he said about the increased interest. One of the causes for the shortage, he says, is that the federal government mandates that pilots retire when they reach 65.
Leighnor said some of his clients are interested in becoming professional pilots, while others want to fly for fun. Teenagers can start training when they turn 16. It takes about two years to earn a professional pilot’s license. “It’s a big problem,” he said about the pilot shortage, as he pointed to national news that flights are canceled every day, with hundreds of flights canceled on July 4. He noted that one airline recently pulled out of Flagstaff because of a lack of pilots. Skywest canceled flights to 30 essential air service cities. Flights to essential air service cities receive federal funds. Airlines gave up “free money,” he says, because of the lack of flight crews. “That’s how bad it is,” said Leighnor. “This is a 10-year problem. This is not going to
get fixed next year. The only reason we have survived the pilot pipeline problem was because of Embry-Riddle.” He says before the pandemic, the airlines knew pilots would soon be aging out of the profession, but the pandemic made the situation worse with decreased air travel and the resulting furlough of pilots. “These pilots are not coming back,” he said. “The travel restrictions have eased and we’re almost back to pre-pandemic levels, but we don’t have the pilots.” He believes the mandatory retirement age needs to be revisited. “Age 65 is a bit low. We need to look at people’s medical conditions. There are some 40and 50-year-olds you wouldn’t want as your pilots. After 65, there should be enhanced medical requirements, but let them go as long as they can.” Continued on page 36