America West Airlines, the No. 2 commercial air carrier at McCarran International Airport, took note of that and has established a partnership with Autolog, a nationwide car transport company.

The deal should be a boon to Phoenix residents, primarily because the city is America West's home base and has far more retirees and "snowbirds" than Las Vegas.

But Myron Levine, president of Linden, N.J.-based Autolog, said Las Vegas is steadily growing as a market for the service.

"We've been in business since 1976 and were the first company to transport vehicles for individuals by truck," Levine said. "We handle a lot of traffic for snowbirds between the Northeast and Florida."

Autolog, which transports about 45,000 cars a year, moves a vehicle cross-country in about one to three weeks.

Its deal with America West allows all Autolog customers who fly the airline within 30 days of their vehicle's shipping date to receive a $25 discount on their return trip or the equivalent of $25 in frequent-flier credit in America West's FlightFund program.

When Autolog ships a vehicle to Las Vegas, it arrives at Walker Towing in Henderson, which arranges for the final delivery of the vehicle. Levine said someday, Autolog may bring cars in by train, which would reduce the cost to the consumer.

Phoenix has the advantage of having a Burlington Northern railhead, so Autolog can offer its less-expensive Car-Rail service of transporting vehicles in enclosed rail cars.

But Levine said since traffic is growing steadily and if demand continues to rise, Car-Rail would be offered via the Union Pacific line for Las Vegans.

"We have an established rail route between Phoenix and Chicago and between Phoenix and Minneapolis," Levine said.

So how much does it cost to transport a vehicle?

From Minneapolis to Henderson, the cost is about $1,050, Levine said. From Chicago, it's $825 and from Autolog's headquarters in Linden, N.J., the cost is $780.

Levine said the price compares favorably with two people driving a vehicle cross-country when the expenses of gasoline, hotels, food and wear and tear on a vehicle are taken into account.

Autolog recently imposed a 5 percent surcharge to cover the rising cost of fuel.

"About two-thirds of our business is on vehicles of individuals relocating or snowbirds that have a need to move a car," Levine said.

In addition to snowbirds who retreat from the Midwest to Phoenix and Las Vegas to escape the cold winters, Autolog's client list includes rental car companies, car leasing firms and automakers and dealerships moving vehicles.

In other tourism news

Several of the nation's lawmakers, including Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., have entered the fray in the bankruptcy case involving United Airlines.

United recently announced that it intends to stop funding employee pension funds as a means to further trim costs and help pull the company out of bankruptcy.

A letter signed by 23 senators and 117 representatives asked United Chief Executive Glenn Tilton to reconsider the decision.

"While we understand that the airline faces difficult challenges in emerging from bankruptcy, the employees and retirees have already agreed to job reductions and significant concessions in their wages and benefits," the letter says. "We strongly believe it is unfair to insist that their retirement security be sacrificed as well."

Berkley, whose district includes McCarran International Airport, said she has been a friend of the airline industry and is working to protect the interests of her district.

"It is essential for the economy of my district that the airlines keep flying and that McCarran operate at cheap levels to support the tourism and convention industries," Berkley said.

She said part of the airlines' problem is that lawmakers keep forcing unfunded security mandates on them and that it's time that Congress approve funding for programs that they require.

Her problem with United, however, is that she feels the company is reneging on promises it made and that employees already have endured layoffs, job and pay cuts and the closure of facilities.

"I appreciate how difficult it is for our airlines to operate in the post-9/11 era, but it is unconscionable to me that they have gone to Congress for relief, which we granted them, and they made certain promises," Berkley said. "Then, they turn around and attempt to backtrack on their promises by refusing to fund the pensions."

The Association of Flight Attendants has been vocal in its opposition to the move, which the union said would affect 120,000 employees and United retirees.

United's presence at McCarran International Airport is important as the third-largest commercial air carrier, and it serves markets that are vital to Las Vegas.

United shifted most of its presence in Las Vegas to the company's low-fare Ted Airlines subsidiary earlier this year. Of the company's 40 daily flights, all but six are Ted operations to and from Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Washington's Dulles International Airport. The remaining six are United Express commuter flights to and from Palm Springs and Fresno, Calif.

Aviation experts have pointed out that the pension issue isn't just about United. US Airways -- the No. 9 carrier at McCarran by number of passengers served -- also is in bankruptcy and has considered trimming pension payments to keep the airline from liquidation. It even has asked the Bankruptcy Court to allow it to impose emergency pay cuts of 23 percent on union wages to save money.

Delta Air Lines, the No. 4 carrier at McCarran, also is teetering on bankruptcy and has negotiated pay cuts of 10 percent with its major unions.

Richard N. Velotta covers tourism and gaming for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4061 or by e-mail at velotta@lasvegassun.com.