"I've been waiting for years for jet service out of Meacham," a Fort Worth minister said as he boarded Mesa Airlines for his weekly trip to Houston, and for the first time he was leaving from Fort Worth's Meacham International Airport rather than DFW.

On May 5, 1997, scheduled jet service came to Fort Worth, giving travelers on the west side of the Metroplex less reason to envy their east side neighbors' access to Southwest Airlines and Love Field. If you're thinking this is just another start-up destined to fail like the two previous, and underfunded, turboprop attempts out of Meacham a decade ago, think again. Mesa brings experience, $60-million in cash reserves, $500-million in annual revenues from its existing regional airlines, and brand new jet aircraft to Meacham. Although initially offering service only between Meacham and Houston Hobby (but starting with 11 daily round trips), Mesa plans to add service to San Antonio and other Texas cities as soon as the market will bear, increasing total daily flights to 40 by year's end and 62 by September 1998.

Nobody really expects the Mesa-Meacham combination to knock either Southwest Airlines' Love Field operation or American Eagle's DFW service out of the market. Southwest really doesn't draw heavily from Fort Worth and Tarrant County. As for DFW, many Fort Worth area travelers would rather just drive to Houston than fight the traffic and hassles of driving to DFW to catch a short flight to Houston. As a matter of fact, Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr insists, "Fort Worth continues its unwavering commitment to Dallas-Fort Worth International as the North Texas commercial air center. Adding quality regional service, such as that provided by Mesa Air, enhances our city's and our region's already outstanding transportation system."