ah. what I meant was can't think of anything better that works for the airport. I always seem to get early morning flights and they serve breakfast. Also great to be able to get a route 44 and get a limeade or whatever combination you like to take with you on the flight.

Their food isn't the best but for what I ever needed (breakfast, or a big drink) it always was my go to spot in the airport.

You nailed what, for me, is the reason why I view it as a loss. Sonic served all sorts of things for meals throughout the day. If it was a late flight, dinner stuff. If it was early, breakfast. Mid-afternoon, good drinks. Tucker's will be onion burgers all day, every day. I see that as a loss for the flying public.

You nailed what, for me, is the reason why I view it as a loss. Sonic served all sorts of things for meals throughout the day. If it was a late flight, dinner stuff. If it was early, breakfast. Mid-afternoon, good drinks. Tucker's will be onion burgers all day, every day. I see that as a loss for the flying public.

We haven't seen an announcement from the operator yet... who is to say they won't do something special for breakfast? Five Guys serves a pretty mean breakfast sandwich in their airport locations.

We haven't seen an announcement from the operator yet... who is to say they won't do something special for breakfast? Five Guys serves a pretty mean breakfast sandwich in their airport locations.

I did not know that... I was really just detailing why I view not keeping Sonic as a loss, not so much why I'm not a fan of Tucker's going in - if that makes sense. But you bring up an excellent point. I'll refrain from any other judgments until I see what they propose.

I did not know that... I was really just detailing why I view not keeping Sonic as a loss, not so much why I'm not a fan of Tucker's going in - if that makes sense. But you bring up an excellent point. I'll refrain from any other judgments until I see what they propose.

It's complete conjecture on my side, but I bet they'd do an awesome breakfast if they were to do it.

Where have the cargo operations moved to?

They have been operating out of the Air Cargo buildings at 6300 Air Cargo Rd, where you normally see UPS and FedEx jets parked.

They have been operating out of the Air Cargo buildings at 6300 Air Cargo Rd, where you normally see UPS and FedEx jets parked.

That's what I assumed. Thanks for the reply.

A Native American restaurant would be really cool to have at WRWA for incoming visitors. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation, for example, opened FireLake Fry Bread Taco in Shawnee in 2014.

Delaware North Announces New Restaurant Concepts for WRWA
Tucker’s Onion Burgers and Coolgreens Highlight Local Fare

Oklahoma City – January, 26, 2017 Will Rogers World Airport’s master food concessionaire, Delaware North, today announced three new restaurant concepts coming to the airport’s food and beverage program. Two prominent local restaurants, Tucker’s Onion Burgers and Coolgreens, will make their airport debut providing travelers a uniquely Oklahoma food experience. World-famous Cinnabon® will open its first full-size store in Oklahoma. The announcement was made during a presentation to the Oklahoma City Airport Trust.

“One of our primary goals with the new concepts was to introduce more local fare to airport customers,” says Michael Moses, general manager, Delaware North - Oklahoma City. “Coolgreens and Tucker’s will give travelers a real sense of place. These are unique Oklahoma City businesses. You won’t find them in any other airport. ”

Over the last several years, Delaware North has committed itself to Oklahoma and to Oklahoma products. Every restaurant at WRWA is MIO (Made in Oklahoma) certified, meaning each store utilizes as many locally sourced products as possible. It was a natural progression for the company to partner with two local businesses committed to serving food with fresh, local ingredients.

Tucker’s, part of A Good Egg Dining Group, will offer its authentic Oklahoma onion burger along with hand-cut French fries and hand-dipped shakes. Tucker’s is committed to using the best ingredients and prides itself on made-to-order products. Tucker’s currently has four metro area locations.

“Tucker’s is thrilled to be a part of the new Will Rogers World Airport's local restaurant lineup, says Keith Paul, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, A Good Egg Dining Group. “The emphasis Delaware North and Will Rogers World Airport put on providing local fare was a huge draw to our company. We are looking forward to serving our handcrafted onion burgers, shakes and fries to the many visitors to Oklahoma City, our home town!”

Coolgreens, Oklahoma’s premier lifestyle eatery, currently has six Oklahoma City metro locations and is focused on serving fresh, made-to-order salad, sandwich, wrap and flatbread options that support the wellness goals of its health conscious customers.

“At Coolgreens, we believe that taste, health and freshness go hand-in-hand. All of our menu items, including our dressings, marinades and soups, are made in house daily using only the freshest of ingredients,” said Coolgreens CEO Robert Lee. “We are very excited to offer our healthy and flavorful selection of house-made salad, sandwich and wrap options to the busy, on-the-go traveler at Will Roger World Airport.”

Coolgreens will be located in the west concourse near Gate 8. Tucker’s and Cinnabon® will be located in the food court area, replacing the Sonic and Salt Lick locations respectively. All three restaurants are expected to open early 2017. Coolgreens is scheduled for early March, Cinnabon® for mid-March and Tucker’s for mid-April. Delaware North is working with Coolgreens and Tucker’s to finalize the airport menu, which will include breakfast items.

Operating hours for Coolgreens will be from 5:00 a.m. until 30 minutes before the last departure daily. Tucker’s and Cinnabon® will operate from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. daily, except on Saturday, when they will remain open until 30 minutes before the last departure.

In the spirit of “keeping it local,” Delaware North will be using Red Prairie Design Group and Globe Construction, two Oklahoma City companies, to design and build out the new concepts.

More:



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/wrwanew1.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/wrwanew2.jpg


Coolgreens is a local brand with 6 metro locations. The store provides fresh farm-to-guest appeal and a strong tie to the community
Open daily 5am until 30 minutes before the last scheduled flight on the west concourse




http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/wrwanew3.jpg


This will be the first full-size Cinnabon® in Oklahoma as all others are the mini Cinnabon® inside the Schlotzsky's locations in the metro area
Cinnabon® will open 5am till 7pm daily with the exception of Saturday when it will remain open until 30 minutes before the last scheduled flight



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/wrwanew4.jpg


Tucker’s will open 5am till 7pm daily with the exception of Saturday when it will remain open until 30 minutes before the last scheduled flight.
A Good Egg Dining Group is still working to finalize the airport menu, including a breakfast menu and pricing.

^^^ Seems like they already have most of the ingredients for breakfast tacos... and a Tucker's breakfast taco sounds pretty dang good.

^^^ Seems like they already have most of the ingredients for breakfast tacos... and a Tucker's breakfast taco sounds pretty dang good.

I'd just slap a couple of fried eggs on a cheesy Mother Tucker and well.... SHUT YO MOUTH!!! ;)

I'll be at Coolgreens any time I need a meal at the airport. No question. This is awesome.

Who wants greasy before you fly? Ugh.

Who wants greasy before you fly? Ugh.

Grease helps you squeeze in tight places. ;)

I'll be at Coolgreens any time I need a meal at the airport. No question. This is awesome.

Who wants greasy before you fly? Ugh.

Yep that's just asking for a bad time on an airplane.

Grease helps you squeeze in tight places. ;)

...also provides for a better BM once you get to your destination; good replacement for fish oil. :D

A Good Egg Dining Group is still working to finalize the airport menu, including a breakfast menu and pricing.
[/LIST]

Cafeboeuf nailed it. Well done, sir.

Cafeboeuf nailed it. Well done, sir.

Ha, just an educated assumption on my part.

I'm a Good Egg-homer, you might say. Tuck always nails it.

Tuck always nails it.

That he does. But no matter, you called it. So credit where it's due my friend!

Good news.

So can someone give all of the food offerings that will be available now at the airport? I would have expected that from the newspaper, but. ......???

Reading the paper you'd think it will just be these three vendors only. 'shrug'

Good news.

So can someone give all of the food offerings that will be available now at the airport? I would have expected that from the newspaper, but. ......???

Reading the paper you'd think it will just be these three vendors only. 'shrug'

http://flyokc.com/Food.aspx

Here is a video update from the Oklahoman.

http://newsok.com/multimedia/video/5298899494001

Coolgreens, Tucker’s Onion Burgers land at airport

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record January 26, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – Will Rogers World Airport’s concessions management company has chosen new restaurants for the concourse and food court, including two Oklahoma-grown chains.

Delaware North Co. officials revealed designs Thursday for a Coolgreens salad bar and Tucker’s Onion Burgers, a brand within the Good Egg Dining Group of companies. Plans include a Cinnabon franchise as well.

Airport tenancy carries the promise of greater exposure to consumers from out of the state, Coolgreens General Manager Angelo Cipollone said. Coolgreens has six Oklahoma City-area restaurants. However, spreading the franchise to other markets isn’t the company’s goal, he said.

“I knew this was going to be a great thing for Coolgreens because our style of eating – healthy, more nutritional – it’s happening around the country now. Even great restaurants are turning to the farm-to-fork trend,” Cipollone said. “Our biggest fans are on the coasts, and when they fly across the country to the great state of Oklahoma for conventions, they want that type of food.

“So now we have people from everywhere knocking on our door, asking if we want to franchise. But we’re not there yet,” he said. “The owners feel that we need to do our thing great, not a lot of things good.”

Good Egg Chief Executive Keith Paul said the licensing agreement with Delaware North will be the first time his company doesn’t have direct control over its employees, but he trusts the concessionaire to present the brand name in the best light. Like Coolgreens, Tucker’s isn’t overly concerned about franchising, he said.

As the contracts with Oklahoma Bakery, Salt Lick and Sonic restaurants came to a close, Will Rogers officials asked Delaware North to try to replace them with other local companies, airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said.

Michael Moses, Delaware North’s Oklahoma City general manager, said the company followed that directive and singled out Coolgreens and Tucker’s after extensive market research. He said both are signature brands that provide a sense of the community’s personality that can’t be found in any other airport.

Every restaurant at Will Rogers is MIO-certified under the state Department of Agriculture’s Made in Oklahoma marketing program, meaning they use as many locally sourced products as possible.

And in the spirit of keeping it local, Delaware North will be using Oklahoma City-based Red Prairie Design Group and Globe Construction to design and build out the new concepts.

Operating an airport eatery entails minor adjustments to meet travelers’ needs. Coolgreens, which sells fresh, made-to-order salads as well as sandwiches and wraps, took a close look at its packaging, for example. Cipollone said the company invested in new bowls with snap lids that will be easy to carry on board with luggage.

He said Coolgreens is also working with the Energy FC professional soccer team players on identifying their favorite items so they can be picked up easily on the way to out-of-town games.

Tucker’s is working with Delaware North on adding breakfast items to its menu, Paul said. He said Will Rogers is a great marketing opportunity and possibly the best way to showcase Oklahoma’s culinary claim to fame: the fried onion hamburger.

Delaware North officials said the new restaurants will cost about $500,000 to install. They are expected to generate $56,000 in additional revenue annually for the airport.

Coolgreens will be installed in the west concourse near Gate 8. Tucker’s and Cinnabon will be in the food court area, replacing the Sonic and Salt Lick locations, respectively. Coolgreens is scheduled to open in early March, with Cinnabon and Tucker’s to follow weeks later.

One other question, probably for Josh:

Will these new concessions interfere with the terminal expansion and more specifically the reconfiguration of the TSA?

http://flyokc.com/Food.aspx (http://flyokc.com/Food.aspx)

not up-to-date

One other question, probably for Josh:

Will these new concessions interfere with the terminal expansion and more specifically the reconfiguration of the TSA?

They will not interfere. They are taking the place of existing locations. New ideas are being discussed for the concession and retail spaces that will be built in the terminal expansion project. One thing that has already been discussed is that Pops West will move to the corner closest to the new consolidated checkpoint. It will be the first store to the right as travelers come through the checkpoint.

not up-to-date

Informational page should be current now, showing where Tucker's, Cinnabon and Coolgreens will be located.

Thanks Josh +2

I know this may be a little off topic, but Amazon is building its own Air Cargo Hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Was OKC in the running for this? Gaining something like this would have been huge for WRWA.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-plans-first-air-cargo-hub-1485901557

I know this may be a little off topic, but Amazon is building its own Air Cargo Hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Was OKC in the running for this? Gaining something like this would have been huge for WRWA.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-plans-first-air-cargo-hub-1485901557

Amazon has a huge distribution complex at the Alliance Airport just north of Ft Worth. I doubt they need another one in the region ?

I know this may be a little off topic, but Amazon is building its own Air Cargo Hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Was OKC in the running for this? Gaining something like this would have been huge for WRWA.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-com-plans-first-air-cargo-hub-1485901557

I doubt this was even on OKC's radar just as much as I doubt OKC was on Amazon's radar. Proximity to the NE is a HUGE factor for this hub, as Amazon's Prime Air network is very much made up of bulk volume -- large cities produce that kind of volume. Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, Philly, Chicago, etc. Having the hub based in CVG will allow them to have quick bulk shipping directly to their "last-mile" counterpart, usually the USPS or UPS/FedEx. CVG also has plenty of infrastructure that is essentially turn-key ready for an operation like this.

Even if Amazon was remotely interested in OKC, the OKC Dept. of Airports is way too busy trying to build a retail shopping center and relocate Portland Ave (the Portland Ave relocation is nearly a decade in the making). The shopping center was a short-sighted development as in the future, if an operation like Amazon would have been interested in OKC, it would require a TON of space with close interstate access -- something the airport is dead set on turning into a Target, 2 hotels, a Ross Dress-4-Less and a gas station.

I doubt this was even on OKC's radar just as much as I doubt OKC was on Amazon's radar. Proximity to the NE is a HUGE factor for this hub, as Amazon's Prime Air network is very much made up of bulk volume -- large cities produce that kind of volume. Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, Philly, Chicago, etc. Having the hub based in CVG will allow them to have quick bulk shipping directly to their "last-mile" counterpart, usually the USPS or UPS/FedEx. CVG also has plenty of infrastructure that is essentially turn-key ready for an operation like this.

Even if Amazon was remotely interested in OKC, the OKC Dept. of Airports is way too busy trying to build a retail shopping center and relocate Portland Ave (the Portland Ave relocation is nearly a decade in the making). The shopping center was a short-sighted development as in the future, if an operation like Amazon would have been interested in OKC, it would require a TON of space with close interstate access -- something the airport is dead set on turning into a Target, 2 hotels, a Ross Dress-4-Less and a gas station.okc should be building all of that infrastructure we don't have that, that other airport had that landed this thing. They can always build a new freeway looping Will Rodgers airport from the south. That needs to be done anyways.

okc should be building all of that infrastructure we don't have that, that other airport had that landed this thing. They can always build a new freeway looping Will Rodgers airport from the south. That needs to be done anyways.
Not sure what you mean looping from the south? I 44 comes from the south with exit for airport road.

Even if Amazon was remotely interested in OKC, the OKC Dept. of Airports is way too busy trying to build a retail shopping center and relocate Portland Ave (the Portland Ave relocation is nearly a decade in the making). The shopping center was a short-sighted development as in the future, if an operation like Amazon would have been interested in OKC, it would require a TON of space with close interstate access -- something the airport is dead set on turning into a Target, 2 hotels, a Ross Dress-4-Less and a gas station.

lulz. Sad, but true. Our airport leadership is focused on getting a strip mall. Jebus... How stupid.

lulz. Sad, but true. Our airport leadership is focused on getting a strip mall. Jebus... How stupid.

A large majority of this section is dedicated to attracting aviation related businesses with only a small section dedicated to retail which will be a money generator. Plus, there is a lot of empty land (with quite bit owned by the airport trust already) south, west and north of the airport.

http://www.flyokc.com/CurrentProjectDetails.aspx?ID=d1e190c1-5a91-45f4-838f-91c446600935

A large majority of this section is dedicated to attracting aviation related businesses with only a small section dedicated to retail which will be a money generator. Plus, there is a lot of empty land (with quite bit owned by the airport trust already) south, west and north of the airport.

http://www.flyokc.com/CurrentProjectDetails.aspx?ID=d1e190c1-5a91-45f4-838f-91c446600935

I understand it's just one part of a larger plan, but as catch stated, the road itself is nearly a decade in the making. And what do they have to show for it? Why was it needed? There are many other things the airport could have spent a decade working on, but this is what they chose? IMO, it makes no sense.

shopping along Meridian/Terminal drive would have made better sense to me, at least to start. ...

shopping along Meridian/Terminal drive would have made better sense to me, at least to start. ...
The daily car count is a lot higher along i44 than this area of Meridian. They are going to do quite well on property rental as this area is starting to become alive.

Edit: Wrong thread.

I have a random question for those more in the know in the airlines industry. I understand it is probably unrealistic that OKC will ever get a designation of a hub city from one of the major airlines. My question is, do you see an airline like Alaska Airlines to consider OKC for a Hub? The company seems to be growing rapidly, especially since they recently acquired Virgin America.

I have a random question for those more in the know in the airlines industry. I understand it is probably unrealistic that OKC will ever get a designation of a hub city from one of the major airlines. My question is, do you see an airline like Alaska Airlines to consider OKC for a Hub? The company seems to be growing rapidly, especially since they recently acquired Virgin America.

Hub? never. Not in our lifetime at least. Cities like Austin, Kansas City, and Nashville aren't hubs but the traffic and passenger count is way more than OKC. The closest thing OKC might even be considered for in the future would be a focus city on a point to point model rather than a hub and spoke model.

Agree. WRWA is far from being a contender insofar as passenger count goes. Its all-time high if I recall was around 3.8-million in 2014. But the airport is modern and clean and safe. It's just not a major player, which has always made me wonder what the "world" part of its name is supposed to imply.

And do we really want it to be a hub? Part of the beauty of using Will Rogers is that it's not a madhouse and it's insanely huge. And with mergers and failures, what are the chances of getting that and then losing out on it later? Look at Pittsburgh and New Orleans. With the population crash in PIT and the purchase of what was it, Northeast?, PIT sits half emtpy. NOLA is the same way on an average day with the lights even off in parts of the place.

What's worse than a small airport? A larger one with the lights off. Kind of like Crossroads Mall.

I have a random question for those more in the know in the airlines industry. I understand it is probably unrealistic that OKC will ever get a designation of a hub city from one of the major airlines. My question is, do you see an airline like Alaska Airlines to consider OKC for a Hub? The company seems to be growing rapidly, especially since they recently acquired Virgin America.

What ... no. For around 2 million reasons, but especially not with DFW - one of the largest fortress hubs in the world - just a stone's throw away (by air standards).

In PIT's case it was actually the shutdown of the US Airways hub. With consolidation after the 2001 attacks, and PHL only 257 miles away (coupled with the high airport fees - US Airways lost $40 million/yr by 2003 in running the hub), it really was a no-brainer in shutting the hub down. It really boggles the mind though as to why any airline would set up two hubs in the same state less than 300 miles apart.

There have been plenty of other examples of these what I like to call "on-the-edge" hubs that do great when the economy's good but tank when things go bad, or when their hub airline goes into the red. Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Int'l, Greensboro (Eastwind), Raleigh-Durham (Midway), Kansas City (multiple times - TWA, Frontier, Braniff, Midwest and Vanguard; then again, MCI was never built to be a hub airport but that's another story), and most recently Port Columbus Int'l with both, America West and Skybus.

As for OKC, we're doing fairly well all things considered, especially for our passenger volumes. We have nonstop service to more than 20 cities, pretty good for a market of our size. We could use more frequencies, but we need to retain as many passengers as possible from "leakage" to DFW, which will help in getting the passenger numbers up.

One thing I noticed while flying today: the gate numbers get smaller the further away from the entrance you get. I just thought that seemed kind of strange; it seems like it would make more sense to start at 1 and count up as you walk away from the ticket counters.

Was it numbered this way to accommodate future expansions without a need to renumber all the gates after new ones are added on the south end of the terminal?

One thing I noticed while flying today: the gate numbers get smaller the further away from the entrance you get. I just thought that seemed kind of strange; it seems like it would make more sense to start at 1 and count up as you walk away from the ticket counters.

Was it numbered this way to accommodate future expansions without a need to renumber all the gates after new ones are added on the south end of the terminal?

With the addition of the east Concourse, numbering quickly get confusing. For example, if current Gate 24 was 1, you'd have to renumber the entire Concourse for any additions to the east. Better to start out at one end and work across.

One thing I noticed while flying today: the gate numbers get smaller the further away from the entrance you get. I just thought that seemed kind of strange; it seems like it would make more sense to start at 1 and count up as you walk away from the ticket counters.

Was it numbered this way to accommodate future expansions without a need to renumber all the gates after new ones are added on the south end of the terminal?


With the addition of the east Concourse, numbering quickly get confusing. For example, if current Gate 24 was 1, you'd have to renumber the entire Concourse for any additions to the east. Better to start out at one end and work across.

Just to add to Catch's comment, the gate numbering scheme was established during the development of the Terminal Master Plan. The plan determined that expansion would begin on the west (west concourse) and then future expansions would continue east (current Terminal expansion project). So, gates can be added on the west without having to adjust gate numbers throughout the concourse. Currently, due to the availability of ramp space, the west end is where expansion efforts will continue to be focused.

Just to add to Catch's comment, the gate numbering scheme was established during the development of the Terminal Master Plan. The plan determined that expansion would begin on the west (west concourse) and then future expansions would continue east (current Terminal expansion project). So, gates can be added on the west without having to adjust gate numbers throughout the concourse. Currently, due to the availability of ramp space, the west end is where expansion efforts will continue to be focused.


Are you sure about west expansion? The current west Concourse buts up as far as it can to the Runway 13/31 Safety zone.

I think he was saying they expanded west from the old concourse and then will expand back east again.

I think he was saying they expanded west from the old concourse and then will expand back east again.

Right. Building the West Concourse was the first step taken under the plan.

Are you sure about west expansion? The current west Concourse buts up as far as it can to the Runway 13/31 Safety zone.

Sorry about that. Meant east is where ramp space is available, and east is where expansion will be focused.

Can someone remind me on the timeline to seeing some structure go up? I thought that the cargo side on the east had been cleared out, but maybe that's not done yet? It seems like they're taking an awfully long time to get where anyone can see anything happening.

Can someone remind me on the timeline to seeing some structure go up? I thought that the cargo side on the east had been cleared out, but maybe that's not done yet? It seems like they're taking an awfully long time to get where anyone can see anything happening.

13791

Including the latest progress shot from the east side. The building is down, yes, but the surfacing is not complete. There is also extensive infrastructure/utilities work being done right now. Still may be a while before you see vertical progress.

^Did we have DFW diversions that day? Unusual to see three AA planes parked out there.

Good to see the progress being done on the resurfacing and such, appreciate the photo.

^Did we have DFW diversions that day? Unusual to see three AA planes parked out there. Good to see the progress being done on the resurfacing and such, appreciate the photo.

Yes, that picture is from 9AM this morning.

It's likely that this group is talking the most about air service in Oklahoma. That's why we want to hear from you. Please take our 2017 Air Service Survey (https://goo.gl/yKzais).13830

I posted. Flights are way too expensive at Will Rodgers compared to DFW. Almost $1,000 compared to $256 round trip from LAX to DFW.

I posted. Flights are way too expensive at Will Rodgers compared to DFW. Almost $1,000 compared to $256 round trip from LAX to DFW.

Thanks for taking the survey. This is a comment we see on a regular basis. It's true, prices at OKC are more expensive than DFW and can contribute to leakage. To offset this, we continue to attempt to attract low-cost carriers. We also try to keep the cost of business as low as possible for the airlines. Competition is important though. We need more of it.

I posted. Flights are way too expensive at Will Rodgers compared to DFW. Almost $1,000 compared to $256 round trip from LAX to DFW.No idea what you are looking at. If you go 3 weeks out, OKC-LAX round trip is consistently $336 to $376 depending on the dates you choose, even non-stop. $183 for Allegient. That's pretty good! I couldn't even get anything higher than $848 to pull up for even tomorrow on a non-stop (cheaper for changing planes). Surely you can't be complaining about last minute rates? If those are expensive it means the planes are full or nearly full, which means good things for our airport.

I posted. Flights are way too expensive at Will Rodgers compared to DFW. Almost $1,000 compared to $256 round trip from LAX to DFW.

Good Tip - book on a Monday or Tuesday at least 3 weeks out and sometimes you will beat the DFW price. Plus you have a way easier time at the airport.