"This is particularly important to folks like us, because of the number of times, with the former airline, that we had to cancel between 60 and 90 patients when a specialist that we were having come up to see patients had a flight canceled." David Murray, vice chairman of the Show Low Aviation Advisory Committee, said this to the Show Low City Council on Oct. 6, as the White Mountain Independent reported. Murray previously worked at Summit Healthcare. He was describing a time when a canceled flight out of Show Low Regional Airport affected a whole clinic schedule, not just one traveler.
The same update showed how much that has changed. The flight to Phoenix now completes nearly all of its trips, and three times as many people flew it in 2025 as in 2024. For this holiday season, the airline is less of a worry than the waiting area, and the city is already working on that.
How far the completion rate has climbed
The completion factor is the share of scheduled flights that actually operate. In the spring of 2024, it was the city's main reason for changing carriers. When the City of Show Low turned down Southern Airways Express, which had flown the route since July 2022, it cited missed connections, delays, falling passenger counts, and the completion factors below. Those details appear in the U.S. Department of Transportation order that approved the switch.
| Period | Carrier | Completion factor |
|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Southern Airways Express | 63% |
| April 2024 | Southern Airways Express | 58% |
| May 2024 | Southern Airways Express | 54% |
| August 2026 | Contour Airlines | 94.4% |
In May 2024, close to half of scheduled flights did not operate. In August 2026, Contour completed 101 flights, carried 2,045 passengers, and canceled six.
The service runs under an unusual arrangement. Instead of a standard federal subsidy paid straight to an airline, DOT approved an Alternate Essential Air Service grant to the City of Show Low, and the city contracts the flights from Contour as public-charter service. The grant covers Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2028. Year 3 began Oct. 1, 2026, runs through Sept. 30, 2027, and is set at $6,218,938. Under this setup, the city holds the contract, which is why the airline's performance numbers come up at City Council meetings.
Southern's federal service obligation ended at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2024, and Contour began flying the next day.
Ridership tripled in the first full year
The Federal Aviation Administration's final calendar-year 2025 counts, released Sept. 24, 2026, show 10,345 enplanements at Show Low Regional in 2025, compared with 3,655 in 2024. That is a 183% increase. The 2024 total covers the changeover year, with Southern for nine months and Contour for the last three. Even so, the comparison is striking.
Here is another way to see it. Contour's 2,045 passengers in August 2026 alone equal more than half of all the 2024 enplanements. Spread over 101 flights, that works out to about 20 passengers on a 30-seat regional jet.
The FAA has said preliminary 2026 numbers will not be out until June 2027, so this year's full total isn't available yet.
What recent bookings show for November and December
The City of Show Low says its posted schedule is subject to change and sends travelers to Contour for current times. So treat the times below as what the booking system showed in mid-October, not as a fixed timetable.
For the week of Nov. 2 through Nov. 8, 2026, Contour's booking engine showed:
- LF3383: leaves Show Low at 7:15 a.m., arrives Phoenix Sky Harbor at 8:20 a.m.
- LF3385: leaves Show Low at 12:50 p.m., arrives Phoenix at 1:55 p.m.
- Two flights a day on Nov. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8
- One flight a day on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 7
That comes to 12 flights a week. Spot checks in December were also uneven, with one flight on Dec. 2 and two on Dec. 15.
On one-flight days, there may be no midday backup. Anyone with a fixed holiday departure should look up the exact date on Contour before booking the connecting flight.
On-time numbers still matter for connections
Completion improved a lot. Punctuality improved less. In August 2026, Contour's on-time arrival rate was 69.3% and its on-time departure rate was 64.4%, with 31 delays in the month. For travelers connecting at Sky Harbor, that means about three flights in ten arrived late.
How you book the trip affects what happens after a delay. Contour lists American Airlines as a partner. When the American segment is booked through Contour's website or app, checked bags transfer through and the itinerary has protection for delays and cancellations, according to Contour's partner-airline page. The page doesn't spell out a step-by-step transfer process for Phoenix.
At Sky Harbor, Contour's ticket counter is on Level 2 of Terminal 4, and its gates are B15 A, B15 B and B15 C, according to Contour's airport information page.
The ground side, at 3150 Airport Loop Rd
Show Low Regional is at 3150 Airport Loop Rd. The city's airport page lists Enterprise, Hatch Toyota and Show Low Ford as the rental car businesses that handle pickups and drop-offs there.
The city's airport rates and charges, dated July 2025, cover parking.
- Main lot, south of the terminal: short-term and free for stays under 14 days
- Hangar lot, between 3301 and 3201 Airport Loop: also short-term
- East lot, fenced: long-term at $40 a month, with a 10% discount for paying a full year in advance
Fourteen days counts continuously or in total within a calendar month. A car left in a short-term lot longer than that is charged the long-term rate.
The parking lot expansion was finished this year, along with exterior painting of the terminal and a new roof on the city hangar.
Next up is the waiting room
At the council meeting, Murray said anyone who has flown out of Show Low knows the current waiting area doesn't have much space. Three times as many passengers are now using a room that was already cramped.
The terminal expansion is out to bid. It received budget approval for fiscal year 2027, together with Taxiway B improvements and money for a new AVGAS fuel truck. No construction start or opening date has been announced. Murray told the council that FAA review tends to slow airport projects down.
Other projects are also underway:
- The Arizona Department of Transportation awarded two grants for lighting on Runway 7-25. They cover new LED runway signs, precision approach path indicators and runway end identifier lights. That work has been bid and goes back to the council for approval.
- An environmental assessment for a crosswind runway is scheduled to finish in March 2027. Design work on Runway 18/36 and Taxiway D will follow.
- Large helicopter parking pads were completed in May. Private hangars are going up under new leases, and the city chose one proposal from those submitted after its December 2025 request.
- Replacing the automated weather observing system and moving the wind cone are on the capital list.
The airport also passed its FAA Part 139 certification inspection on Aug. 17 through 19. Murray called that "a huge thing." From January through September, Show Low Regional logged 14,628 aircraft operations and sold 187,479 gallons of fuel.
This season, the trip from the Airport Loop Road lot to Terminal 4 is more dependable than it has been in years. The flight is in better shape than the building where you wait for it.
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This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
