"My brother-in-law used to run the Phoenix airport operations for one of the airlines (which will remain nameless, obviously)."
Let me take a guess at it: American West? The City of Phoenix sure got suckered bigtime by them...
The "snowbird" thingy really isn't that big here anymore. Our population remains pretty constant now. In Phx, you worry more about having an A/C for your home that's reliable or a really good battery for your car rather than a decent paint job for it.
Nope. Wasn't America West. But that is the last guess you get. 8^>