Nobody Flew to This Airport for 50 Years Now It’s Closing Again.
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Date: 2025-09-28
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Comments and reviews: 20
melglobus
Interesting video. We have a similar story in Australia with towns of similar size being 3 or so hours from a major city. Airlines are leaving because of lack of use-both Bathurst (3h from Sydney, town of 40000) and Mudgee (3. 5h from Sydney, town of 15000) lost their air services recently because people were choosing to drive - the cost effectiveness of flying for those communities just wasn’t there given the higher airfares and poor reliability of regional airlines. And if the town is serviced by airlines without codeshares with Virgin or Qantas then they had no hope!
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Interesting video. We have a similar story in Australia with towns of similar size being 3 or so hours from a major city. Airlines are leaving because of lack of use-both Bathurst (3h from Sydney, town of 40000) and Mudgee (3. 5h from Sydney, town of 15000) lost their air services recently because people were choosing to drive - the cost effectiveness of flying for those communities just wasn’t there given the higher airfares and poor reliability of regional airlines. And if the town is serviced by airlines without codeshares with Virgin or Qantas then they had no hope!
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clinthowe7629
When I was about 18 I flew on a Cessna that belonged to a Dr Friend of my family, i told him I had never flown on a small plane and he offered to take me along on his weekly flights to read X-rays, he was a radiologist, I packed a bag and flew out of Scottsdale airport to San Manuel and stayed with relatives for a week and the next week he picked me up on his rounds again we landed in Safford, where he read X-rays the flew on to Springerville, where he did more radiology, then back to Scottsdale, I had a blast. his name was Dr John Coy, RIP John, thanks.
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When I was about 18 I flew on a Cessna that belonged to a Dr Friend of my family, i told him I had never flown on a small plane and he offered to take me along on his weekly flights to read X-rays, he was a radiologist, I packed a bag and flew out of Scottsdale airport to San Manuel and stayed with relatives for a week and the next week he picked me up on his rounds again we landed in Safford, where he read X-rays the flew on to Springerville, where he did more radiology, then back to Scottsdale, I had a blast. his name was Dr John Coy, RIP John, thanks.
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molivil
Del Rio International airport is also mostly closed. Me and my dad visited it in August and it was remarkable. All the equipment is there for a large airport including the TSA security check but nobody was home. The lady there works for the city of Del Rio was happy to talk about what is going on, and she explained things about airport contracts and politics surrounding airlines and routes. If you get a chance to interview the employees there, you'll have an interesting lesson about how airports work with the airline industry.
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Del Rio International airport is also mostly closed. Me and my dad visited it in August and it was remarkable. All the equipment is there for a large airport including the TSA security check but nobody was home. The lady there works for the city of Del Rio was happy to talk about what is going on, and she explained things about airport contracts and politics surrounding airlines and routes. If you get a chance to interview the employees there, you'll have an interesting lesson about how airports work with the airline industry.
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TylerFreels
In the general aviation pilot world, Safford is a semi controversial airport to fly into. A little while back, they tried adopting a controversial landing fee system, which uses ADSB technology which is meant to keep pilots safe in the air to bill us remotely for landing fees. A lot of of the general aviation pilots that would fly into Safford for breakfast or lunch completely stopped doing so out of protest and they eventually rolled back the landing fees, but there’s still a bad taste in a lot of Pilot’s mouth.
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In the general aviation pilot world, Safford is a semi controversial airport to fly into. A little while back, they tried adopting a controversial landing fee system, which uses ADSB technology which is meant to keep pilots safe in the air to bill us remotely for landing fees. A lot of of the general aviation pilots that would fly into Safford for breakfast or lunch completely stopped doing so out of protest and they eventually rolled back the landing fees, but there’s still a bad taste in a lot of Pilot’s mouth.
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deboindahouse
Both my parents are from the Gila Valley (its pronounced Hee-La, btw Noel, and I spent nearly every weekend there in my youth. While most of my family their have since moved away, there's still a few cousins there. I love the rare chances I have to visit there, now mostly to visit the graves of my grandparents and great-grandparents. My dad started his private pilot training out there before having to move to the Phoenix area for school at ASU.
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Both my parents are from the Gila Valley (its pronounced Hee-La, btw Noel, and I spent nearly every weekend there in my youth. While most of my family their have since moved away, there's still a few cousins there. I love the rare chances I have to visit there, now mostly to visit the graves of my grandparents and great-grandparents. My dad started his private pilot training out there before having to move to the Phoenix area for school at ASU.
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charlesberis1235
One of the biggest issues is that people, mainly residents of Safford, were not aware of the flights. I would think that Grand Canyon Airlines should be able to fill a Cessna Caravan once a day to Phoenix. But, for this route to be successful, Grand Canyon Airlines would need to interline, maybe even codeshare, with American Airlines. If you had both AA and GCA selling seats, it would probably work.
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One of the biggest issues is that people, mainly residents of Safford, were not aware of the flights. I would think that Grand Canyon Airlines should be able to fill a Cessna Caravan once a day to Phoenix. But, for this route to be successful, Grand Canyon Airlines would need to interline, maybe even codeshare, with American Airlines. If you had both AA and GCA selling seats, it would probably work.
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djmark_74
Another one of those videos that I can fully appreciate Noel. A flight to a place most of us most likely never heard of, especially if you do not live in the USA. And I love the videos where you actually travel in something else than a fancy shiny Boeing. These older tiny planes have so much more charm if you ask me and I am sure it adds a whole different experience to the trip. Well done Noel. Loved it!
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Another one of those videos that I can fully appreciate Noel. A flight to a place most of us most likely never heard of, especially if you do not live in the USA. And I love the videos where you actually travel in something else than a fancy shiny Boeing. These older tiny planes have so much more charm if you ask me and I am sure it adds a whole different experience to the trip. Well done Noel. Loved it!
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guinnessporter
Really not sure why this video and trip was made. A lot of your videos seem to be done just to be done and they inconvience the locals just so you can make a video about it. It would be nice to sometimes see a behind the scenes video of how you book flights and how it benefits the airline because sometimes like this one you seem like a menace. Thank you so much! You rule!
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Really not sure why this video and trip was made. A lot of your videos seem to be done just to be done and they inconvience the locals just so you can make a video about it. It would be nice to sometimes see a behind the scenes video of how you book flights and how it benefits the airline because sometimes like this one you seem like a menace. Thank you so much! You rule!
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Thitithen_of_Wome
Safford was featured in Albert Brooks's yuppie comedy Lost in America. It's where he ended up as a school crossing guard.
He also mentioned Benson. Definitely a place of interest as there is a Titan II missile silo museum there (with missile. Do not miss it. People are taken from the tour group to run the launch procedure. The countdown is chilling.
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Safford was featured in Albert Brooks's yuppie comedy Lost in America. It's where he ended up as a school crossing guard.
He also mentioned Benson. Definitely a place of interest as there is a Titan II missile silo museum there (with missile. Do not miss it. People are taken from the tour group to run the launch procedure. The countdown is chilling.
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jamiedonohue4884
I have watched a lot of your videos Noel and I have to say this is probably one of my favourites! Great story, well written and narrated, amazing scenery, and flying at its best awesome with a capital A! Brilliant. Getting ever so close to that 700k mark Noel. All the best hope the recovery is going well and all the best to Rach and the kids.
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I have watched a lot of your videos Noel and I have to say this is probably one of my favourites! Great story, well written and narrated, amazing scenery, and flying at its best awesome with a capital A! Brilliant. Getting ever so close to that 700k mark Noel. All the best hope the recovery is going well and all the best to Rach and the kids.
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wb8ert
In 1975, I was 18 years old and living in Gallipolis, OH, the county seat of Gallia County and home of Bob Evans Farms. We had a regional airport (opened in the 1960s. As far as I know, we never had commercial airline traffic, nor do we have commercial airline traffic. Fifty years later, I'm 68, and we still don't have commercial traffic.
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In 1975, I was 18 years old and living in Gallipolis, OH, the county seat of Gallia County and home of Bob Evans Farms. We had a regional airport (opened in the 1960s. As far as I know, we never had commercial airline traffic, nor do we have commercial airline traffic. Fifty years later, I'm 68, and we still don't have commercial traffic.
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dh5516
I've flown into KSAD many times for fuel and occasional overnight stays. Without fail, the FBO staff and others working on the airport couldn't care less if you're there or not. While not outright rude, they're indifferent and not helpful, nor engaging or proactive to offer assistance/service. I would never go there if I didn't have to.
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I've flown into KSAD many times for fuel and occasional overnight stays. Without fail, the FBO staff and others working on the airport couldn't care less if you're there or not. While not outright rude, they're indifferent and not helpful, nor engaging or proactive to offer assistance/service. I would never go there if I didn't have to.
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amifrancisco8901
Welcome to my former childhood hometown! An interesting point of interest Mount Graham is the tallest mountain in Arizona. Whilst it is not the highest elevation it was the tallest rise. If you put all the Arizona mountain ranges on level ground Graham would be the tallest. Btw Gila is pronounced hee-la. Enjoy!
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Welcome to my former childhood hometown! An interesting point of interest Mount Graham is the tallest mountain in Arizona. Whilst it is not the highest elevation it was the tallest rise. If you put all the Arizona mountain ranges on level ground Graham would be the tallest. Btw Gila is pronounced hee-la. Enjoy!
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IMRROcom
Sky Harbor Airport. Gila is pronounced Hela or Hee La. You must be a foreigner or something and not blending in at all.
FYI: Amtrack doe not go to Phoenix either. Amtrak stopped sometime in the late 90s and Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the US. Station is more than an hour away from downtown Phoenix.
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Sky Harbor Airport. Gila is pronounced Hela or Hee La. You must be a foreigner or something and not blending in at all.
FYI: Amtrack doe not go to Phoenix either. Amtrak stopped sometime in the late 90s and Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the US. Station is more than an hour away from downtown Phoenix.
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johngrasso6224
I went to university in a small town, larger than safford but still a blip on the map. 3 hours from the large cities in state, 90 minutes from the nearest train or a city the next state over. We had an airport, but it was general aviation only. Would have loved to see an idea like this to fly back home someday.
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I went to university in a small town, larger than safford but still a blip on the map. 3 hours from the large cities in state, 90 minutes from the nearest train or a city the next state over. We had an airport, but it was general aviation only. Would have loved to see an idea like this to fly back home someday.
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tjzambonischwartz
I've spent a fair bit of time in the area around Safford. Back when I did volunteer work with the Arizona Museum of Natural History we ran excavations for pliestocene fossils on a site near Safford. Lots of interesting stuff out there.
Also: Gila is not pronounced with a hard G. It's pronounced Hee-la.
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I've spent a fair bit of time in the area around Safford. Back when I did volunteer work with the Arizona Museum of Natural History we ran excavations for pliestocene fossils on a site near Safford. Lots of interesting stuff out there.
Also: Gila is not pronounced with a hard G. It's pronounced Hee-la.
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J. B-s7z
Arizonan here, I’ll help with pronunciations: Gila is hee-la’La Quinta is La Keen-ta’. Bonus: saguaro is sah-wah-ro’. There’s your crash course in AZ Spanish/Native American words. I know, our state gets virtually all the counties & towns butchered when people try to say it literally.
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Arizonan here, I’ll help with pronunciations: Gila is hee-la’La Quinta is La Keen-ta’. Bonus: saguaro is sah-wah-ro’. There’s your crash course in AZ Spanish/Native American words. I know, our state gets virtually all the counties & towns butchered when people try to say it literally.
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MichaelBethel
You should do a flight into the Douglas Municipal Airport (DGL) at the border South of Safford. It was/is the nations first international airport christened in 1933 by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The taxiway crossed the US-Mexico border to pass through customs before continuing the flight.
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You should do a flight into the Douglas Municipal Airport (DGL) at the border South of Safford. It was/is the nations first international airport christened in 1933 by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The taxiway crossed the US-Mexico border to pass through customs before continuing the flight.
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noel_philips
From Safford, it would be great to fly to Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport in Brazil, which is JOI. (I know, it should be JOY which doesn't seem to exist with IATA - I hope JOI is close enough)
As an alternative, St. Anthony Airport in Canada could do, as it is YAY.
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From Safford, it would be great to fly to Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport in Brazil, which is JOI. (I know, it should be JOY which doesn't seem to exist with IATA - I hope JOI is close enough)
As an alternative, St. Anthony Airport in Canada could do, as it is YAY.
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roberthutson2023
It's actually really sad when you think about that, it sucks, our government needs to step up and handle taking care of places like this, we need it in general. The people of that area really need it, and we should be doing everything we can to make that happen for them.
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It's actually really sad when you think about that, it sucks, our government needs to step up and handle taking care of places like this, we need it in general. The people of that area really need it, and we should be doing everything we can to make that happen for them.
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