For many people, hopping on a plane to get to the office is the new normal. Flagstaff resident Alex Ham became skilled at commuting by air when his former employer, Southern California Edison Company, needed his accounting expertise to implement a new payroll program. He spent four days a week in California and three days in Flagstaff, which he calls an ideal place to live.

Ham says he’d recommend this lifestyle to others, but only for the right opportunity.

“In my particular case, commuting from Flagstaff to Los Angeles weekly was made possible by the direct flights between Flag and LAX; without that I probably would not have done it.”

Today, Alex Ham lives full-time in Flagstaff with his wife Peggy, where they operate their business WineStyles.

A little more than a year ago, Horizon Air, began service from Flagstaff to Los Angeles International Airport with some flights stopping in Prescott. The City of Flagstaff gave the airline a revenue guarantee for the first year of operation. A new 2-year contract waives counter space rental and landing fees, says Stacey Button, Flagstaff’s Economic Vitality Director. “Horizon Air is a great partner and we’re really happy with how things are proceeding,” she added.

Business travelers using Horizon will see some flight changes soon, said Jen Boyer, the airline’s Media Relations Manager. "Our new fall schedule, which starts August 23, offers two flights a day between LAX and Flagstaff, allowing for business travelers in the LA Basin to come to Flagstaff and conduct a full day of business and still be home in time to watch Letterman," said Boyer. The changes, including a nonstop flight departing Flagstaff each weekday at 6:00P.M., are based on feedback from frequent fliers.

Another Flagstaff customer who flies to work on Horizon Air is Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein. He’s a professor at Santa Monica College who spends summers in Flagstaff and most of the school year in southern California.

Tahvildaran-Jesswein says his commute time from Flagstaff is often less than some of his colleagues who spend up to 4 hours a day in traffic on the freeway system.

He’d like to live year round in Flagstaff with his wife and 2 kids but says professorships often pay more in other states. Despite maintaining residences in 2 places, Tahvildaran-Jesswein remains active in the community, having served on Theatrikos Board of Directors for a dozen years.

And while living in one state and commuting to another for work may cause traveling and logistic problems, there are other challenges as well, including tax issues. Flagstaff accountant Sandi Cverko says policies vary, depending on whether you’re an employee, employer or self-employed.

“Most of the time if you’re working for someone else and you’re getting a W-2 and you’re having taxes withheld, then you have to file two state tax returns,” she said.

Cverko says people get a credit for paying double state taxes but the overall amount paid out could be higher than average, depending on where a person is employed.

Brian White had some tax issues when he began working out of state nine years ago, but his accountants were able to solve them.

White, a Flagstaff native, works for The Collegiate Licensing Company based in Atlanta. As the vice president of University Services he and his staff help universities manage and market their brands. White spends a lot of time working from Flagstaff using the computer and telephone to communicate with colleagues. During his company’s busy season, he’s gone about 15 days a month, traveling throughout the country meeting with clients.

“It’s hard work to get on planes and go through the extra travel or to work extra hard to be effective because you’re not in the office every day,” White said. “That’s the price you have to pay to pull it off, at least for me,” he added. Some other employees who work for his company also work remotely and travel when needed.

White says he is seeing more and more people flying out of Flagstaff to jobs in other states. He talks to fellow business travelers, who he says share his love of living in Flagstaff. White says it can be tiring to travel as much as he does so when he has time off he opts for staycations, spending time in northern Arizona with is wife and four boys.