Does anyone know of a referance or source that quickly shows if a non stop flight exists from one city to another? For example family is visiting from Phoenix to Norfolk- does a non-stop exist? There must be an easier way than checking each airline one by one.

Go to an on-line booking site and see what comes up. If no non-stops are offered then try "forcing" a non-stop. Another option is to check the web site of the smaller airport.

The "smaller airport" suggestion is what I do first when researching a possible flight. Usually airport sites are great for few reasons, but if nothing else they will tell you which airline uses the airport. At the very least it will give you a good start. You won't have t go to "ALL" the airline sires, just the ones that service the "smaller" airport.

The other suggestion is great too. Go to expedia.com, orbitz.com, travelocity.com and do a reservation. Tell the search engine that you ONLY want non-stops and see what it comes up with.

There are also few low-cost airlines that are not listed on the major travel sites. Southwest.com is one of the biggest, jetblue.com is another one. So if you do find these airlines listed on the airport sites, you will have to go to the airlines website to check.

To answer your question directly, I doubt very much there is a direct non-stop service between the two cities.

Len, I'm frequently in the position of hoping I can find a non-stop from my non-hub airport, so I know what you're up against. So I have to become a detective to scope out which connecting cities permit a) the shortest total flight time and/or b) one decently long leg and one shorter leg, just for the comfort of having a larger jet for the longest part of the trip. If you are lucky, you'll find a routing that will combine both BUT be aware that many airlines will purposely book you through a preferred hub, even if it's less comfortable for you.

For example: to get from Raleigh to the West Coast on American, they will routinely route me through DFW, which means two 3.5 hr. flights (more or less) in an MD-80 with no entertainment or meals. In order to try to find a connection through, for example, Dulles to a larger cross-continental flight, I have to use the "multi-city" feature because their regular itinerary program REFUSES to route me through Dulles. With other airlines, it's a matter of finding the hub closest to either original city or destination city.

Just out of curiosity, I went looking to see who goes from PHX to ORF. I used Orbitz for this because their first display in response to your itinerary request breaks down fares according to non-stop, 1-stop, or 2 stop. So take note of that.

I found: Continental goes through Houston, so you get a decently long flight from there to ORF. They also go through Cleveland, which adds a fair amount of time to the total trip. American will route you through DFW (or Chicago adding time to the trip and also putting you on Embraers for longish flights) and, perversely, uses a 757 for the short leg and an MD 80 for the longer leg. United/USAir (codesharing) may route you through Chicago with more itty-bitty planes, but they can also put you through Charlotte on decently large planes, which is pretty close to the "as the crow flies" route (no offense), but you have to be careful to avoid the turboprops they sometimes use to get you to Norfolk. If it were me, I think I'd go Delta through Atlanta -- decent equipment and not seriously out of your way.

Cassandra, you really answered some other question, not len's. The answer to his question was "embedded" in your comment about using Orbitz to uncover non-stops. If you have enough time to plot out his entire itinerary, perhaps you have too much time.

Len, you can also go to the airport tab on "FlightArrivals.com" and scroll through the departures or arrivals for a given airport and get an idea of where the traffic goes to/comes from. Some airport websites also list cities served. (You can, as you wish, consult a travel agent.)

try using http://www.sidestep.com

Southwest flies to Norfolk and definitely Phoenix, check their site!

Use www.smarterliving.com
this site will give you ALL the flights that are available...non-stops usually listed first.

I always use it to research flights.

One of the advantages of working with a travel agent is being able to get help with this type of question.