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Business leader Howard Stewart said the concept for his Fly Tucson First initiative was buzzing around in his head for years before he had the chance to share his idea to bolster Tucson鈥檚 economy.

Stewart has been president and CEO of for almost 20 years and a dedicated member of the Tucson Metro Chamber board of directors since 2012.

鈥淔rom my understanding, every successful city here in the United States has a successful airport,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淭ucson has an airport that is trying to be successful, but it could certainly be a lot more successful if our residents by and large supported it; but many don鈥檛.鈥�

Stewart was on the Public Affairs Council at the Tucson Metro Chamber when he first brought his idea to light. In Stewart鈥檚 first meeting, Robert Medler, Tucson Chamber vice president of state and federal affairs, asked the new councilmembers for their ideas to boost the region鈥檚 economy.

鈥淣obody had ever asked me that question 鈥� what do I think would really help this city?鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淭he idea was that鈥� we community leaders in particular should that we will fly out of Tucson except under certain circumstances.鈥�

Tucson International Airport (TUS), which originally opened in 1919, was the first municipally-owned airport in the U.S. The nonprofit Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) oversees operations at TUS and Ryan Airfield (RYN), a small general aviation airport about 15 miles west of Tucson.

TUS and RYN contribute $7.4 billion in annual economic impact to Southern Arizona and support 43,062 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages, according to a by Elliot D. Pollack & Company for TAA.

TUS saw more than 3.4 million total passengers arriving and departing in 2017, according to the report. That number was up to 3.6 million in 2018 and is pacing even higher for 2019, said David Hatfield, senior director of air service development and marketing for TAA.

鈥淎s the region鈥檚 major commercial airport, most people know what a valuable asset Tucson International Airport is when it comes to travel to and from southern Arizona,鈥� said Bonnie Allin, president and CEO of TAA, in a statement. 鈥淭his study takes it a step further quantifying how tightly interconnected TAA鈥檚 airports are as economic engines that benefit us all in many ways.鈥�

Stewart said it is not uncommon for Tucsonans to drive about 220 miles roundtrip and fly out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) instead of TUS.

鈥淭he last figure I heard is 鈥� we lose about a million passengers a year to Sky Harbor,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can imagine, if we had a million extra people per year going through Tucson Airport, that there would be a . We鈥檇 have a lot more flights鈥� my calculations are about 40 percent more.鈥�

That means increasing the existing 60 flights out of TUS to about 84 flights total, Stewart said.

鈥淥f course, that鈥檚 going to require a bigger airport,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd if nothing else it鈥檚 going to require more manpower鈥� more employees, more pilots, more flight attendants, more people servicing the aircraft; and that鈥檚 going to create more jobs.鈥�

Currently, TUS does not offer flights to East Coast cities, but that could change, Stewart said. With more flights to and from more places, tourists may be inclined to fly into Tucson more often, he said.

One challenge is that, in order to have more flights, there have to be people interested in taking the trip both ways, he said.

For example, American Airlines offered a direct flight from Tucson to New York City and back, but it did not last; Tucsonans and New Yorkers alike showed limited interest. According to Stewart, Tucsonans do not want to brave East Coast winters, and New Yorkers 鈥渄on鈥檛 particularly鈥� want to visit Arizona during the scorching summer months.

鈥淲e have this problem that there鈥檚 easily six months a year where we don鈥檛 do a very good job of supporting each other鈥檚 cities,鈥� Stewart said.

That鈥檚 where the pledge comes in. Stewart said he wants business leaders in particular to sign the pledge to fly themselves and their employees out of Tucson whenever possible.

鈥淚鈥檇 like every resident to sign it, but a lot of times these are the people who are running companies or large organizations,鈥� he said.

Sun Corridor, an economic development organization representing the metropolitan areas of Southern Arizona, on the business side of things.

鈥淥ne of the most important pieces of infrastructure for Southern Arizona is the Tucson airport, and while the flying public depends on access to transportation, so do prospective commercial and industrial entities,鈥� said Laura Shaw, senior vice president at Sun Corridor. 鈥淥ur efforts in that area include a partnership that expands the airport鈥檚 assets, really trying to build up more commercial development and help plan for proper land use around the airport for the next five to 10 years.鈥�

The partnership is currently under a three-year contract in which TUS has outsourced its economic development to Sun Corridor. When a company is looking to establish itself or expand near an airport in Southern Arizona, Sun Corridor plays both promoter and broker, pointing a spotlight at the region鈥檚 assets.

鈥淭he airport has a lot of unique assets here that are really great for business,鈥� Shaw said. 鈥淭here are probably about 800 to 1,000 developable acres around the airport that the airport鈥檚 looking at, and we鈥檙e looking at, to help them figure out how to utilize that acreage, how to make them shovel-ready and really ready for business.鈥�

TUS is surrounded by employers, including 鈥� one of the state鈥檚 largest private-sector employers 鈥� as well as Bombardier and Ascent Aviation. There are smaller manufacturers, MROs (maintenance, repair and operations services) and fixed-base operators (FBOs) around the airport. FedEx, HomeGoods, Target and Amazon have large distribution centers near TUS.

鈥淚t鈥檚 got direct access, sitting right between two major highway systems, I-10 and I-19,鈥� Shaw said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the only Arizona airport with 24/7 CBP () air cargo handling, so that鈥檚 a big benefit as well. And there鈥檚 no real property tax for tenants because of how the airport is structured.鈥�

Additionally, the , a full-service inland port, rail yard and intermodal facility, is about a 15 minute drive from TUS.

鈥淭he more businesses and individuals鈥� [that] can fly out of Tucson, the more flights we鈥檒l get,鈥� Shaw said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same thing with us and economic development 鈥� the more companies we can attract, the more talent we can attract, and vice-versa. So, the more people that fly out of Tucson and don鈥檛 drive up to Phoenix really helps to build up the flights here, which will in turn help us to attract more businesses that know that they can fly in and out easily.鈥�

Stewart said the Fly Tucson First initiative reminded him of something Ben Franklin supposedly said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: 鈥淲e must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.鈥�

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do all this collectively 鈥� if we don鈥檛 all agree to do this 鈥� we鈥檙e screwing ourselves individually, whether we think we鈥檙e helping ourselves or not,鈥� Stewart said.