PHOENIX (AP) — With the scenic flights grounded, Grand Canyon National Park was quieter than usual on Sept. 11, 2001, as a ranger lowered the American flag to half-staff outside historic El Tovar Hotel.
For three days, the nation's busiest air-tour operation, which generates $100 million in annual revenue, was grounded. Tour companies at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas lost nearly $1.5 million in those few days and half their business in the first full quarter after the terrorist attacks.
Twenty months later, the tour operators still have not recovered from the plunge in tourism and unstable economy.
The number of Grand Canyon tour flights declined 19.4 percent in 2002 from the previous year, and 42 percent from 2000.
"We lost almost all of our international visitors from Europe and Asia," said John Dillon, Grand Canyon Airlines general manager. The airline furloughed a quarter of its staff within two days of the Sept. 11 attacks, moving up the seasonal layoffs by six weeks.
"It's been real difficult," Dillon said.
The fall-off reflects a continuing decline in overall visitation to Grand Canyon National Park, which is Arizona's largest tourist attraction. Last year, visitation declined 2.5 percent, to 4 million, down from a peak of 4.9 million a decade ago. The National Park Service forecasts a further decline this year to an estimated 3.89 million people.
Air-tour visitors represent less than 10 percent of annual Grand Canyon tourists. Last year, about 171,000 people paid between $200 and $300 each to fly tours from Las Vegas that passed over part of the canyon and landed at Grand Canyon Airport, the airport says. The tour groups then often board buses for a visit to the South Rim, lunch and the IMAX theater. Another 159,000 paid about $75 each to board planes or helicopters at Grand Canyon Airport for more-extensive canyon air tours.
While most tourists arrive by car, the air tours have been a high-profile segment of canyon tourism for more than a decade. And the flights are popular with international tourists. Scenic Airlines, for one, reports that at least 90 percent of its customers out of Las Vegas are foreigners.
The air-tour industry has struggled since the terrorist attacks to return to the passenger levels of 1996, when business peaked at more than 100,000 flights in or out of Grand Canyon Airport. It fell to less than half that in 2002, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The war in Iraq, the emergent SARS disease, economic turbulence and higher fuel and security costs combined to stall the recovery.
Some smaller operators have bailed out of the business. The larger tour companies laid off staff, cut pay and grounded aircraft.
Some received federal relief funds similar to assistance provided to the commercial air carriers.
Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines, one of the world's largest air-tour companies, parked eight of its 18 aircraft and cut 60 percent of its staff, said Richard Nielson, Scenic's sales and marketing vice president.
Scenic flies tours to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Yosemite, but the Grand Canyon is by far its No. 1 destination.
In August, the airport in Tusayan usually is abuzz with close to 300 flights per day, busier than many of the nation's midsize city airports.
Scenic's most popular tour from Las Vegas is an eight-hour trip for $244 that includes a flight to and over the canyon, lunch and a bus tour along the South Rim.
In the summer, Scenic typically would carry about 1,200 passengers per day, but Nielson said loads declined to 400 to 500 per day last year. He expects Scenic will carry 700 per day this summer.
Passengers generally rave about the sightseeing tours over the canyon. Yvonne Hall of Rugby, England, called the scenic flight "a magical experience, one not to be missed."
But clearly a lot of travelers are skipping the scenic flight and the canyon altogether.
Scenic Airlines' Nielson said he does not expect a full recovery for air tours until 2005.
Meanwhile, Grand Canyon Airlines has stepped up marketing to attract more domestic visitors, said Dillon, its general manager. But he admits it has been a struggle.
"We're barely hanging in there," he said.
Dillon said it has not helped that the Grand Canyon airspace has been restricted to comply with a federal law aimed at reducing aircraft noise in the park.
Grand Canyon Airlines has eliminated its Cessna aircraft. It relies on quieter DeHavilland Twin Otter planes, which carry four times as many passengers but cost 10 times as much as the Cessnas, he said.
The air-tour operators, who have fought the noise restrictions for more than 15 years, fear that the next set of federal mandates further will hamper their business.
Rob Smith, Southwest representative of Sierra Club, argues that economic factors, not the noise restrictions, are hurting the industry.
Besides, Smith added, the visitors at the South Rim who do not take air tours should be able to enjoy the canyon's natural solitude.
"It should sound different than going to Sky Harbor Airport," Smith said.