The 6th daily on American to Chicago O'Hare has been reversed back down to 5 dailies.

Neh. OU likes to stretch the facts some times with all of their qualifiers. For instance OU claims 27 Rhodes scholars and in reality they have 26. "OU is the #1 University in the Nation*"

*North of the Red River, east of the Rockies, West of the Ozarks and South of the Arkansas River.
Whatever, I'll assume you know what whatever means these days.

Woo! Woo!

Delta mainline returns as of October 1st, from Atlanta.


ATL-OKC 6:50PM - 8:11PM MD-88
OKC-ATL 5:30AM - 8:47AM MD-88

Frequency remains the same at 6x, so it is a capacity increase.

Ahh, didn't expect it this soon. The airport has been busier in recent days though, looks like bookings are getting stronger.

Yes, bookings are getting very strong. I am waiting for May data to be released, should be sometime this week. If the numbers are positive, then that will be 2 straight months in a row of positive movement in passenger numbers -- a trend in the making.

I keep hearing that airlines, across the board, are now starting to look seriously at increasing capacity due to increased demand so I'm sure that bodes well for Will Rogers.

I keep hearing that airlines, across the board, are now starting to look seriously at increasing capacity due to increased demand so I'm sure that bodes well for Will Rogers.

I'm not sure we'll see major pushes in capacity, but we'll likely see them push to get yield back to levels to where they can make money (aka higher fares since demand is high). Delta is removing the Saab 340 fleet from its Connection network over the next 2 years to reduce capacity. The only reason they are dumping them is because they can't break the leases on the 50-seat CRJs (which they want rid of badly). I would image we will see some increases in capacity here in OKC over the next couple of years. To what extent...it all depends on yields and if they remain strong. If they start to fall, they'll return to RJs quickly. OKC does have the benefit of relatively low LCC activity...Southwest isn't all that low far anymore and Frontier bounces back and forth.

Airport Trust meeting at 1030am tomorrow morning. 200 N Walker, City Hall, 3rd Floor.

Yes, Southwest is still low.

Southwest announces fare sale ? USATODAY.com (http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/06/southwest-announces-fare-sale/97523/1)

I'm not sure we'll see major pushes in capacity, but we'll likely see them push to get yield back to levels to where they can make money (aka higher fares since demand is high). Delta is removing the Saab 340 fleet from its Connection network over the next 2 years to reduce capacity. The only reason they are dumping them is because they can't break the leases on the 50-seat CRJs (which they want rid of badly). I would image we will see some increases in capacity here in OKC over the next couple of years. To what extent...it all depends on yields and if they remain strong. If they start to fall, they'll return to RJs quickly. OKC does have the benefit of relatively low LCC activity...Southwest isn't all that low far anymore and Frontier bounces back and forth.

I wasn't suggesting any major increase just moderate would be fine along with giving us a few more options for scheduling. As for fares, I deal with those daily. Fares are not low. Some are stating that Southwest is low and they do sometimes have good promotional fares but overall they are by far the highest I have ever seen for them.

Meeting highlights:


Budget increased $5 mil this year from last year to $110,000,000, due to revenue increases.
Planning for the new Rent A Car facility will begin this year
May 2010 passenger enplanements up 6 1/2% over May 2009. (exact numbers not released to public yet)
Airport Trust and Dept. of Airports in good position both financially and operationally.

The new website for OKC will be started on 01AUG. Bids on July 28 Trust.

May 2010 stats are out. I asked the airport to begin offering stats broken down by airline and they did it.

http://flyokc.com/releases/10-11%20May%20Enplanement.pdf
http://flyokc.com/releases/May%2010%20Activity.pdf

Positive numbers. Looks like AA/CO might need some help though.

Bringing this thread back to life.

OKC Activity Report has been released for the month of June.

June 2010 was a negative month in most categories.



Commercial aircraft operations (takeoff, landing) were up .59% over June 2009. Up, but not by much.

Civil (General Aviation, corporate, etc. ) and Military ops were down.

For the entire month operations were down 6.36% over June 2009. 9257 < 9886

Passenger numbers were down overall for inbound and outbound for June. The numbers however are very similar to May's numbers. Since the airline industry collapsed last year, I believe as it rebuilds, it will come back in a different trend than before it hit the bottom. I think summer travel will still be high, but I think it will be spread over the entire summer period, May->the first week of September. So the same number or more people will travel over the entire period, and spread more evenly. Instead of a huge spike in June and July.

The reported landing weight of airlines was up 4.47%, which is a key element of the reports. It means the planes are going out fuller. What adds weight to airplanes? Passengers, cargo, and fuel. We can rule out the third as it wouldn't spike as fuel load is averaged out when you fly the same flights every day all year round. Added fuel for one flight for more flight time for weather or such would not spike the number. It is safe to say that the spike was due to passengers or cargo. Which is great news, because even though we are running the same number of flight a day when averaged as we were this time last year, it means those flights are flying out heavier (fuller). Airlines like their airplanes to be full at a higher yield. From my friends at the airport, the higher yielding (higher fare, First Class, etc.) seats are selling well. Continued good performance of our flights will lead to an upguage in equipment and/or more flights. The mainline addition on Delta also confirms this.

Inbound cargo on the cargo airlines was up, while outbound was down.

----

Also somw things I would like to add.

*Garage B (the old Long Term Garage) will be renovated soon. The A/E is finishing the plans and will begin work sometime in the near future. Much needed, in my opinion.

*The new FBO on the east side has been plotted out. I talked to a manager for Atlantic Aviation last month, who will be running the FBO, it is expected to open about this time next year. So a July/August opening is expected. FBO's are usually anchors for more development on airports. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more hangars, either run or corporately run, open up on the east side near that FBO. Other businesses normally try to locate near them.

*Airport Trust meeting on Wednesday the 28th of July, at 1030am. City Hall, 200 N. Walker, OKC.

*Web design team will be selected and awarded a contract with the Trust on the 28JUL meeting. Work will begin in August on a new WRWA/flyokc.com website.

*New TSA checked baggage security and sort system will be installed over the 10-11 fiscal year. This will increase capacity and add redundancy to the system. Currently there is only one main chute for the checked bags to go down on, if it breaks down. You are SOL - an industry term ;). The Airport Trust fund, the FAA, and the federal government are all pitching in for this.

I plead ignorance here, what is an FBO? Thanks for educating me.

Fixed Based Operator. For general aviation.

I noticed during my last two recent flights out of OKC the east security checkpoint was closed and all security screening was routed through the central terminal entrance. What gives?

I was noticing on the airport's Wikipedia site that Washington Dulles is listed under two different United Express carriers. Has that service gone to twice daily or do different carriers operate that flight on different days of the week?

Two different carriers for Washington-Dulles, it is split between the days. The service is 1x daily.

About the east checkpoint, I am not sure. It is not an airport problem, it is probably a TSA issue. I will try and find something out tomorrow at the meeting.

As a side note, several major airlines are now reporting healthy profits for the last quarter. That indicates that fare increases may be coming since they aren't needing to discount so much. Baggage fees, etc, have made a signficant difference in their bottom line.

I just checked the Atlantic Aviation website, and it has updated its "Press" page with the new OKC facility news:

Source: http://www.atlanticaviation.com/PressReleases.aspx

Looks pretty neat. Even more impressive is the hangar (28,000 sq. ft) and the GA terminal (12,000 sq. ft). I guess we can expect an increase in GA traffic at OKC.

anything new on the east terminal expansion?

I noticed during my last two recent flights out of OKC the east security checkpoint was closed and all security screening was routed through the central terminal entrance. What gives?

For most of last year and this year, they were closing down the west (central) security checkpoint after 2:00 pm and routing everything through the east checkpoint. I thought that was pretty strange considering the majority of passengers had to walk all the way down to the Delta/Southwest gates and then back to the west terminal.

If they need to close a checkpoint during slower times, the east one makes more sense to me.

Got to love it. Many of the airlines started charging for 2nd+ checked baggage (and some even charged for the 1st). When people stopped checking bags and just took their carry-on, there is one airline (sorry can't recall which one but was in the paper recently) is charging $45/carry on bag. Most are going to get ya one way or the other.

I think it might have more to do with crowding in the west part of the airport, as people tend to 'wait' for travelers upstairs (which is weird) and this prevents the flow of pax who want to check in through security.

i actually like the idea and wish they would kindly ask arrivals to wait downstairs. ...

Oh, Larry - the airline you seek is Spirit. They dont fly to OKC - thank God. But in their defense, they are truly a low frills airline and must nickle and dime in order to any marginal revenue.

Got to love it. Many of the airlines started charging for 2nd+ checked baggage (and some even charged for the 1st). When people stopped checking bags and just took their carry-on, there is one airline (sorry can't recall which one but was in the paper recently) is charging $45/carry on bag. Most are going to get ya one way or the other.

Maybe you haven't heard Spirit Airlines latest proposal. They may start charging people to talk to a "live" employee at the airport. They are really becoming a joke.

New FBO is starting to take shape, they have the perimeter fence extended out to make way for the construction.

The taxiways are all open again. Taxiways K, G between J and 17L/35R, F between J and 17L/35R were being reconstructed. And Runway 17L/35R, taxiways E south of E-8, M, E11, and E12 were closed to allow vehicles for construction to operate safely. But all of those are open now and the airport is running at full capacity. (not that it affected the operations at all)

There was a public scope meeting last Thursday regarding the East Side Development, the Terminal Expansion Phase 3 (East Concourse), and various others related items. I was out of town and didn't attend, but it doesn't sound like anything happened. They were just seeking the public's opinion.

Frontier drops DEN flights to 3x daily starting in November if I remember right. Hopefully a winter pullback.

Been pretty slow as far as airport news has been. Hopefully some passenger numbers for July will be out soon.

This thread has been dead for a while. Not much going on though either.

Southwest is "evaluating" the Boeing 737-800. Configured to 175 seats. Their 737-300's and 737-700's hold 137. So this is a 35 seat increase if done. What does this mean for OKC? Not a whole lot, but there is the potential for these to rotate through occasionally. Especially to Denver or Dallas.

The Boeing relocation might stimulate some traffic to Southern California as the families move away to OKC and might visit friends and family in SoCal. Will also have the potential to add some traffic on OKC-Seattle and Chicago. We'd have close to around 1,500 Boeing jobs in OKC after that move is completed. With Boeing large in Seattle and Chicago, there is bound to be some Boeing traffic on the routes, probably not enough to warrant non-stop to Seattle or an upguage to Chicago. But every bit helps.

http://flyokc.com/index.aspx?page=update&id=899

http://flyokc.com/index.aspx?page=update&id=899

It's great to see that they're starting on this reconstruction. Taking a shuttle bus down Terminal drive was akin to an amusement park ride.

Effective January 9th through March 11th (End of schedule). Southwest to Houston Hobby will go from 3 daily flights to 4.

When people like me don't have work today, we do stuff like this. Here is a breakdown of the schedule for both OKC and TUL. This is for the day of February the 7th, 2011.

Please excuse the codes....it's a long type as it is.

OKC:

Delta: 17 flights

ATL 6x. (2x CR9 4x CR7) 432 seats
DTW 2x. (2x CR7) 140 seats
MEM 3x. (1x CR7 2x CR2) 170 seats
MSP 3x. (3x CR2) 150 seats
SLC 3x (3x CR7) 210 seats

--
United: 13 flights
DEN 5x (1x 320 1x 319 3x CR7) 462 seats
ORD 5x (1x CR7 3x ERJ 1x CR2) 266 seats
LAX 2x (2x CR7) 132 seats
IAD 1x (1x CR7) 66 seats

--
Frontier: 3 flights
DEN 3x (2x E90 1x E70) 250 seats

--
Southwest: 21 flights
BWI 1x (1x 737) 137 seats
DAL 5x (5x 737) 685 seats
HOU 4x (4x 737) 548 seats
DEN 3x (3x 737) 411 seats
PHX 2x (2x 737) 274 seats
LAS 2x (2x 737) 274 seats
STL 2x (2x 737) 274 seats
MCI 2x (2x 737) 274 seats

--
American: 11 flights
DFW 7x (7x S80) 980 seats
ORD 4x (2x CR7 2x ER4) 228 seats

--
Continental: 10 flights
IAH 9x (1x 73G 8x ERJ) 524 seats
EWR 1x (1x ERJ) 50 seats

19 Destinations, 75 Flights, 6,937 departing seats.
..

TUL:

Delta: 14 flights

ATL 5x. (1 x M88 1x CR9 3x CR7) 428 seats *
DTW 2x. (1x CR9 1x CR7) 146 seats
MEM 3x. (3x CR2) 150 seats
MSP 2x. (2x CR2) 100 seats
SLC 2x (2x CR7) 140 seats

--
United: 10 flights
DEN 4x (1x 320 1x 319 2x CR7) 396 seats
ORD 5x (3x ERJ 2x CR2) 250 seats
LAX 1x (1x CR7) 66 seats

--
Southwest: 17 flights
DAL 5x (5x 737) 685 seats
HOU 4x (4x 737) 548 seats
DEN 3x (3x 737) 411 seats
PHX 2x (2x 737) 274 seats
LAS 1x (1x 737) 137 seats
STL 2x (2x 737) 274 seats

--
American: 11 flights
DFW 8x (2x 752 1x 738 4x S80 1x ER4) 1,116 seats
ORD 4x (1x S80 3x ER4) 272 seats
MIA 0x [Sa, Su only]

--
Continental: 10 flights
IAH 9x (1x 738 8x ERJ) 557 seats
EWR 1x (1x ERJ) 50 seats

17 Destinations, 63 Flights, 5,940 departing seats.
..

AA is obviously very strong in TUL for a couple reasons: AA Maintenance Base, strong business, ties between TUL and DFW, no leakage to DFW as is the case with OKC (I-44 to I-35, OKC is a quick shot down I-35). Miami flight was not included because it was not running on the day I picked. This date is 6 months out and very likely to change. But it is interesting comparing the two cities.

For what it's worth, I fly out via Will Roger's around 30-40% of the year for business and it is always pretty efficient and easy to get around. Compared to, say, DFW, I like that we're small enough that it only takes a few minutes to taxi to/from the gate or runway. Nothing is worse than being somewhere like STL during the winter where you have to taxi 5 mins away from the gate to de-ice, then taxi another 10 minutes to to the runway.

I highly prefer traveling during non-summer and non-holiday times, though. :)

Skywest, maybe my math isn't what it used to be. Tulsa has 11 AA flights. 8 to DFW and 4 to ORD?

You are correct, I have it written down correctly in my notes. I must have typed it out wrong. OKC has 11 and TUL has 12. Everything was counted separately so the seat numbers and flights are still correct.

Thanks,
Matt

You are correct, I have it written down correctly in my notes. I must have typed it out wrong. OKC has 11 and TUL has 12. Everything was counted separately so the seat numbers and flights are still correct.

Thanks,
Matt

Well don't let it happen again. We don't allow typos here. LOL

As my FAA friend always says, it's close enough for government work! (Makes you wonder why everything is over budget and over schedule, huh?)

As my FAA friend always says, it's close enough for government work! (Makes you wonder why everything is over budget and over schedule, huh?)

Makes me sad that the largest passenger plane on your list is an A320. Didn't you say a while back that we had a Continental 738 flying out of OKC? I do enjoy watching the FedEx A300 land on my way home from work though.

Oh and as an FAA employee...I agree. :doh:

Continental rotates the 735, 73G (737-700), 738, and 739 depending on the day. The day I happened to do this schedule run, we had a 73G and TUL had a 738. Some days it's the opposite or both of us have it. It's a toss up.

I like the FedEx 727's !

Makes me sad that the largest passenger plane on your list is an A320. Didn't you say a while back that we had a Continental 738 flying out of OKC? I do enjoy watching the FedEx A300 land on my way home from work though.

Oh and as an FAA employee...I agree. :doh:

While it might be nice to have larger planes, frequency is really much more important to give OKC citizens as much flexibility as possible in planning their schedules.

I would agree. We could support mainline on United to LAX, I think it's better to have 2 smaller planes with more schedule opportunities, though.

I would agree. We could support mainline on United to LAX, I think it's better to have 2 smaller planes with more schedule opportunities, though.In the instance where there are only two regional jets I agree with you. But examples like the Delta flights to ATL, United and American to ORD, and Continental to IAH, all the regional jets are BEYOND RIDICULOUS! They need to replace some of those RJs with mainlines.

In fact, if the FAA quit allowing the airlines to flood their hubs with so many RJs, there would be a lot less delays in the US.

Seats add up very quickly, especially with mainline. We are getting one mainline to ATL starting October, ending in December. TUL runs through to the end of the schedule, which makes me believe they just haven't gotten around to extending our mainline out, yet, which is why it doesn't appear in my analysis above.

A lot of the problem with mainline is that we can support it here, but other cities with higher traffic get first looks at it. The extra seats to OKC come in the form of RJ's cut elsewhere. Until OKC begins leapfrogging other airports with higher yield and higher passenger numbers, we will continue to have predominate RJ service.

Fedex actually has 300s or 310s to/from OKC these days, and UPS has switched to double-daily 757-200Fs for the time being, up from a daily 757-200F.

And I visited STL just a few weekends ago, trust me, other than Southwest, there really isn't much traffic out there. In fact, the additional runway that was built in anticipation of increasing traffic back when TWA was expanding is basically a dormant runway, it's rarely used these days, if at all. Only some flights that are going to park at Concourse A, the nearest concourse to that runway, use it. That's only some days of the month.

Seats add up very quickly, especially with mainline. We are getting one mainline to ATL starting October, ending in December. TUL runs through to the end of the schedule, which makes me believe they just haven't gotten around to extending our mainline out, yet, which is why it doesn't appear in my analysis above.

A lot of the problem with mainline is that we can support it here, but other cities with higher traffic get first looks at it. The extra seats to OKC come in the form of RJ's cut elsewhere. Until OKC begins leapfrogging other airports with higher yield and higher passenger numbers, we will continue to have predominate RJ service.

Absolutely, Skywest. The airlines look at their bottom line first and foremost before anything else. We'll get larger planes and more seats when it's in the best interest of the airlines not when it's in our best interests.

Another factor some aren't considering when downgrading the smaller jets is the speed in boarding and deplaning. Try telling a business traveler on his way to a very important meeting that a larger plane is better when he's on the last row of a 747 having to make a 40 minute connection in Dallas and change terminals.

Speaking of passenger numbers....

http://flyokc.com/releases%5CJuly%2010%20Enplanement.pdf

Enplanements up a third of a percent over July last year, deplanements down 0.17%

For the year to date, total traffic is up 0.485% over last year to date. (Enplanements up 0.59%, deplanements up 0.38%)

Not considered impressive numbers, but it is positive ground none-the-less.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA131/history/20100821/0051Z/KOKC/KMDW

Wish this was a common occurrence. Maybe one day....

hm, maybe that was a test?

I really would like to see OKC get some nonstops to CHI, in fact - I'm very surprised OKC doesn't have at least one daily nonstop to MDW already. ......

Not sure. I'll check with my SWA friend to see if he knows why they skipped over Kansas City.

hm, maybe that was a test?

I really would like to see OKC get some nonstops to CHI, in fact - I'm very surprised OKC doesn't have at least one daily nonstop to MDW already. ......

Unless you're just talking about Chicago Midway Airport, OKC already has nonstop flights to O'Hare on United and American.

Actually, I know why it did this.

It actually flies Sacramento-Phoenix-Midway. The last OKC-Midway flight offered (with stops of course) leaves OKC at 540pm OKC time. They most likely had a few flights go over at OKC and had some passengers bound for Chicago stranded here. This airplane probably had enough open seats to pick up the stranded passengers and since the plane would go to Midway anyway, it made sense to stop and pick them up.

If it was a fuel stop it most likely would show up diverted, but the fact that they knew about this stop before hand and filed PHX-OKC-MDW before leaving PHX instead makes me believe the above is the probable cause.

Actually, I know why it did this.

It actually flies Sacramento-Phoenix-Midway. The last OKC-Midway flight offered (with stops of course) leaves OKC at 540pm OKC time. They most likely had a few flights go over at OKC and had some passengers bound for Chicago stranded here. This airplane probably had enough open seats to pick up the stranded passengers and since the plane would go to Midway anyway, it made sense to stop and pick them up.

If it was a fuel stop it most likely would show up diverted, but the fact that they knew about this stop before hand and filed PHX-OKC-MDW before leaving PHX instead makes me believe the above is the probable cause.

You're probably right. Southwest seems to operate in a little more "freehanded" way than other airlines which would have probably just left passengers stranded until the next day.

sorry, I meant MDW-OKC.

Interesting discussion - I am a frequent business traveler (2 to 4 legs a week) and recently moved from the Dallas area.

I like the looks and services of Will Rogers. Getting through security is a breeze. Overall, I like Will Rogers better than DFW or Love Field.

But, I really dislike the parking situation. Parking is tight, it's a really really long walk (as bad as MSP-Lindbergh). And weirdly, there are no parking signs on the first parking garage. If I'm gone for a few days, how do I remember where I parked? I usually take a pic of a parking sign with the camera on my phone to remember....but no such luck in OKC.

However, parking is CHEAP....I mean really cheap. I wish they would charge more and put up signs or offer a valet service. I'm not a big fan of waiting on the shuttle for off-airport parking but it's better than parking onsite.

I am a big fan of the regional jets:
- it means more flights enabling me to catch a flight home to see my family at night which is really important
- no middle seat which is a biggie
- more non-stop flights cutting travel time
- IMO, it's easier to drop a carry-on outside of the jet door and not have to worry about overhead space

And yes, the west terminal at STL is a ghost town. It looks nearly as bad a post-Katrina New Orleans.

Cjohnson, the new parking garage does have level and row signs, however the old one does not...for now. Starting in a few months renovations will be done to the old parking garage. I am hoping that includes bringing it up to date with better signage and more modern elevator waiting areas.

He has a good point about parking being cheap. It is great that it is, but as a flyer myself I wouldn't mind paying a bit more if more services were added, the valet suggestion is a good one.

Actually, when the new rental car site is built on 54th and Meridian, they plan to turn the lower 2-story garage lot (what is now rental car ready/return) into short term parking, and have a valet lane and parking installed.

Released today.

Less than impressive numbers across the board.

http://flyokc.com/releases%5CJuly%2010%20Activity.pdf

This will be the company doing the new WRWA Website: http://www.funneldesigngroup.com/

This will be the company doing the new WRWA Website: http://www.funneldesigngroup.com/

hopefully the new WRWA Website won't come with such "wonderful" music as well as be flash based.