By John Yantis, Tribune

America West has always had a perception problem.

The eighth largest airline in the United States has trouble selling itself either as a full-service carrier like the nation’s largest airlines or as a no-frills airline like JetB lue Airways or Southwest.

Employees who answer the phone at America West headquarters in Tempe let callers know they’ve dialed ``America’s second largest low-cost airline.``

Southwest is the largest.

But because so many airlines are offering low fares, America West is beginning its latest branding campaign to help it break out of the pack.

Called ``Get on Board,`` the low-budget marketing and advertising campaign will sell what America West says are perks often seen on larger airlines such as firstclass cabins, assigned seating, in-flight entertainment and a frequent-flier program with partner carriers that fly to Hawaii and internationally to Europe, Australia and even Jordan. The idea is to ``upgrade the lowfare experience.``

``We really do have this unique niche that we think we should do a better job of telling people about because some of our most loyal customers, and, frankly, some our most loyal employees, tell us they think we’re a well-kept secret to some people, and that’s true for people outside of Arizona in particular,`` said Travis Christ, vice president of marketing.

America West will use executives from home-grown Valley companies, such as Bashas’, Fulton Homes and Coldstone Creamery, to sell the airline during television spots. The goal is to hook small-business travelers, Christ said.

``Ninety percent of America works for small companies,`` Christ said. ``Those are the kind of people that are certainly watching their dollar, but in a lot of ways, they like to feel like they’re getting the same kind of perks as some of wealthier companies.``

The carrier will not throw a lot of money at the effort.

``It’s also not a nationwide advertising campaign,`` Christ said. ``It’s not spending tens of millions to run ads in USA Today and be in the Super Bowl and that kind of stuff. What it is a deeper branding for the most part for people flying with us already. We carry about 20 million passengers a year so that’s a lot of eyeballs that are getting on Americawest.com, that are receiving e-mails from us, that are walking through the airports and looking at our signs and posters, checking in at our kiosks, getting on the airplane, watching the video inflight and reading the in-flight magazine.``

America West will also use something Southwest is known for — humor. In one advertisement to promote the benefits of assigned seating, a dubious-looking, bearded biker is featured, smiling, and looking backward from the seat of his bike. The caption reads: You and your six-yearold will not be separated by someone nicknamed ``Hambone.``

Michael Boyd of the Boyd Group, a Colorado-based airline consulting firm, praised the campaign. ``When your fares are the same to the same destination, you try and differentiate your product,`` he said.