So does this bring us to 4 airports with commercial airline service?

Lawton
Oklahoma City
Stillwater
Tulsa

Any others? Doesn't some small town in the panhandle have a commercial service on Great Lakes to Denver?

So does this bring us to 4 airports with commercial airline service?

Lawton
Oklahoma City
Stillwater
Tulsa

Any others? Doesn't some small town in the panhandle have a commercial service on Great Lakes to Denver?

Those will be the only four airports with scheduled commercial passenger service. Nothing that I know of in the panhandle. Guymon might have used to have something to Denver, but it hasn't been in the last 7 years.

Those will be the only four airports with scheduled commercial passenger service. Nothing that I know of in the panhandle. Guymon might have used to have something to Denver, but it hasn't been in the last 7 years.

Great Lakes flies from Denver to Liberal, KS about 45 min from Guymon. Great Lakes flies to a number of small cities across the Plains, typically on EAS contracts as the single airline operating there.

Today is the big day for Stillwater!

Celebration from 12-2 p.m. at the Stillwater Regional Airport.

Learn more here: http://stillwater.org/city_of_stillwater_american_airlines_celebrate_fir st_commercial_flight_from_stillwater_regional_airp ort.php

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ENY3345

First flight.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ENY3345

First flight.

Is there any way to know how full the flight is?

Is there any way to know how full the flight is?

I think I remember 20 passengers.

On Aug. 23, 2016, Stillwater Regional Airport's open house at the terminal for the first arriving and departing American Eagle flights drew a large crowd. Some pictures from that historical event.

Arriving passengers leaving plane.
http://okieworld.com/airport/DSC00991.JPG
Pistol Pete greets arriving passengers.
http://okieworld.com/airport/DSC00996.JPG
Plane taxiing to runway to depart
http://okieworld.com/airport/DSC01010.JPG
American Eagle leaves Stillwater Regional Airport for Dallas
http://okieworld.com/airport/DSC01013.JPG
Ticket counter and arrivals/departures area
http://okieworld.com/airport/DSC01011.JPG

More photos here: http://www.ocolly.com/gallery/collection_aa7bf5fc-697c-11e6-a7cf-477774528189.html

Although I m die hard Sooner, I am a proud Oklahoman first. Congratulations Stillwater and OSU. Happy to see Stillwater growing.

Local articles on the first American Eagle flights:

http://www.ocolly.com/news/article_ff46d422-6999-11e6-9bbb-6fc0eabc21f8.html
http://www.ocolly.com/news/article_b651aac8-6988-11e6-a57d-474ed8763603.html
http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/wheels-up-stillwater/article_abfdb6ac-eabb-58a3-b185-2a57c166add4.html

Is there any way to know how full the flight is?

You can check the seat map at aa.com for a rough guesstimate.

Good luck to SWO - hope they can sustain this service and keep OKC fares in check somewhat!

This morning on KOSU, Burns Hargis mentioned being on the flight from DFW to SWO and said he thought there were 48 people. Both pilots were OSU grads.

Loads look somewhat light overall the next few days. A few flights which look fuller than others, but at least 7 seats for sale on all of them. Having said that, AA will definitely need to be patient with this route. There are a large number of international students at OSU so I'm sure AA will easily fill up the planes eventually. Pretty impressive that it's now possible to fly (for example) BOM-DOH-DFW on QR and connect to SWO on AA.

I believe osu and Stillwater are kicking in some pretty big subsidies. AA probably doesn't need to sell a bunch of seats to turn a profit.

The biggest long term challenge for this will be when e145's are retired. Airlines are dumping 50 seat RJ's very rapidly in favor of larger equip

I know Ponca City and Enid had nonstops to/from Denver by Air Midwest or Big Sky Airlines (one of those "small-town" EAS carriers) with Swearingen III Metroliner turboprops, but that was way back in the day, mid-late 90s if memory serves well. After that, it's been only three airports in the state with scheduled commercial service. Nice to see Stillwater join that list.

Hope this one lasts for a while, it will be great for the international student population there as well, which I'm sure has grown quite a bit over the years.

appears that the plane is based out of SWO given the overnight stay. ...

appears that the plane is based out of SWO given the overnight stay. ...

Likely a different airplane overnight.

http://m.ocolly.com/news/article_2af63cba-88cc-11e6-bc5e-773012a19156.html?mode=jqm

http://m.tulsaworld.com/business/aerospace/john-klein-want-to-get-to-dfw-you-can-now/article_07321120-f047-5870-b8d5-c45e6386a9eb.html?mode=jqm

Sounds like flights are going well. I've noticed lots of advertisements in around Stillwater for the air service as well.

It's said Stillwater has two years to prove to American Airlines that it is a viable market for them. Surely nearby towns will help. http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/hargis-updates-business-leaders-on-osu/article_d77626cb-66b5-5135-bdf8-c2472ebff94a.html

Looks like the Houston Rockets were re-routed to Stillwater because of the airport shooting in OKC yesterday.

Looks like the Houston Rockets were re-routed to Stillwater because of the airport shooting in OKC yesterday.

Strange to divert to SWO when TUL is much more capable of handling a diversion of that type.

Strange to divert to SWO when TUL is much more capable of handling a diversion of that type.

They surely wanted to land the plane at the nearest available airport for the shortest bus trip to OKC. That's unfortunate that OKC only seems to have one airport able to accept a plane the size Houston Rockets were using.

They surely wanted to land the plane at the nearest available airport for the shortest bus trip to OKC. That's unfortunate that OKC only seems to have one airport able to accept a plane the size Houston Rockets were using.

KPWA - Wiley Post Airport - actually has larger runways than KSWO - Stillwater Regional - and could easily accept the aircraft for landing. If I had to guess, KSWO was the closest diversion available with the equipment to handle a commercial jet. KLAW - Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport - could probably have handled the aircraft too, since American Eagle flies out of there.

Wiley Post does not have the runway weight capacity to handle a 757. The Operating Empty weight (no payload) exceeds the PWA Runway weight capacity for tandem-double wheel by nearly 25,000 lbs. (115,000 lbs OEW vs DDT 90,000 lbs)

That's an important tidbit of information that I missed - I stand corrected.

http://www.fox23.com/news/fox23-investigates/osu-stillwater-could-start-buying-empty-seats-on-american-airlines-flights/465400963

Read carefully, says flights have been full. Kinda a click baity article bring up lots of ifs and buts.

http://www.fox23.com/news/fox23-investigates/osu-stillwater-could-start-buying-empty-seats-on-american-airlines-flights/465400963

Read carefully, says flights have been full. Kinda a click baity article bring up lots of ifs and buts.

Lankford said “We can't continue to sustain programs that are economic development jumpstarts in communities where historically that program has not worked out in other communities most of the time,” So is it working out well in Manhattan, KS and Columbia, MO? If the federal government isn't putting up some of the money to subsidize empty seats, why should it try to be against such an arrangement? Anyway, I'm glad I never voted for Sen. Lankford.

Lankford said “We can't continue to sustain programs that are economic development jumpstarts in communities where historically that program has not worked out in other communities most of the time,” So is it working out well in Manhattan, KS and Columbia, MO? If the federal government isn't putting up some of the money to subsidize empty seats, why should it try to be against such an arrangement? Anyway, I'm glad I never voted for Sen. Lankford.
I like lankford, but if a city wants to invest in flight service they should be allowed too. And there's no way burns is going to let him push that through.

Without getting too polictical but if the Feds were subsidizing flights that's not cool, but a city I'm ok with. Sounds weird but I'm more ok with big city gov than big fed gov. Citizens have more control and ability to effect (affect?) a city than fed gov. Overall more power to cities, than states, than fed. Keep gov as local as possible.

does American no longer have any prop jets?

I fear that the airplane may be too big and wonder if a daily prop would be easier to keep the service.

If SWO does eventually lose the service, OKC needs to jump on it and get scheduled bus service going between downtown Stillwater and OKC-WRWA.

Looks like the Houston Rockets were re-routed to Stillwater because of the airport shooting in OKC yesterday.

Curious if the Rocket's 757 plane departed out of SWO or if it eventually flew to OKC after the restriction was lifted.


Also, weird that PWA is weight restricted when IT is the FAA designated reliever facility for Will Rogers. .... You'd think it should be able to handle most of the airplanes that WRWA is capable (757 would be middle-of-the-pack since OKC can handle widebodies up to a 747).

Curious if the Rocket's 757 plane departed out of SWO or if it eventually flew to OKC after the restriction was lifted.


Also, weird that PWA is weight restricted when IT is the FAA designated reliever facility for Will Rogers. .... You'd think it should be able to handle most of the airplanes that WRWA is capable (757 would be middle-of-the-pack since OKC can handle widebodies up to a 747).

A lot of the relief is shifting the general aviation activity away from the airports with commercial flights, so they often do not have to cater to very large aircraft.

Curious if the Rocket's 757 plane departed out of SWO or if it eventually flew to OKC after the restriction was lifted.


Also, weird that PWA is weight restricted when IT is the FAA designated reliever facility for Will Rogers. .... You'd think it should be able to handle most of the airplanes that WRWA is capable (757 would be middle-of-the-pack since OKC can handle widebodies up to a 747).

There's simply no reasonable justification for spending the hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the runway at PWA to handle commercial jets. I think upgrading Norman to handle larger jets would be a better use of funds, but that does not fall under the OKC Airport Trust. Norman has a better chance of actually attracting larger airplanes, and is far enough away from OKC that it would not be a duplication of services. PWA is literally only a few miles from WRWA, and WRWA has better access to downtown. There's really no reason a large aircraft would ever need to land at Wiley Post as the corporate/commercial traffic prefers WRWA for many reasons. Except, for strange operations that occur when airports shut down like what happened this week. Also, if this were another city located in a more geographical diverse area, the justification might exist because localized weather conditions may be poor at WRWA but clear skies at PWA, that very rarely happens in OKC. Usually the weather (the conditions which affect flight) are the same or similar no matter your location in the metro.

does American no longer have any prop jets?

I fear that the airplane may be too big and wonder if a daily prop would be easier to keep the service.

If SWO does eventually lose the service, OKC needs to jump on it and get scheduled bus service going between downtown Stillwater and OKC-WRWA.

American (via Envoy Air) is flying the Embraer ERJ145 in and out of SWO; the ERJ145 has a seating capacity of 50. This puts it roughly in the middle between two very common turboprops formerly used in American's fleet - the ATR72 (~70 seats) and the Saab 340 (~34 seats). I'm not sure about total operating cost between the ERJ145 and a comparable modern turboprop on this route, however.

They don't use the Saab 340 or the ATR-72 anymore, but they do have a Dash 8 w/ Piedmont Airlines. Looks cool with the new livery if you ask me. 13280

WHY?? do we have Wiley Post airport then? It seems to be a bit of a waste of space when WRWA is the preferred airport by far and (as Catch mentioned) Norman would be better utilized for transient traffic if you didn't use WRWA.

I always thought PWA would be a great location for an aircraft manufacturer or maintenance but even those and FBOs seem to only want to be at WRWA. So I ask, and am being honest, WHY do we have PWA? Is it time to shut it and CE Page down and focus resources?

WHY?? do we have Wiley Post airport then? It seems to be a bit of a waste of space when WRWA is the preferred airport by far and (as Catch mentioned) Norman would be better utilized for transient traffic if you didn't use WRWA.

I always thought PWA would be a great location for an aircraft manufacturer or maintenance but even those and FBOs seem to only want to be at WRWA. So I ask, and am being honest, WHY do we have PWA? Is it time to shut it and CE Page down and focus resources?

PWA is meant to relieve GA(general aviation) traffic from Will Rogers, as is OUN given its reliever status. Given that PWA has 400 plus based aircraft (including 100 jets) based there and OUN has 100 plus aircraft I would say they're doing their jobs fairly well. OKC only has about 20k GA ops per year whereas PWA and OUN handle about 118k GA ops per year. That's not to say OKC can't have GA traffic because it does see some GA traffic due to its more convenient location for some businesses. If you'll remember, PWA used to have an aircraft manufacturer for a long time back in the heyday of aviation. And they currently have a decently sized aerospace maintenance/modification company out there now utilizing some of the old manufacturing facilities.

PWA can handle just about any aircraft in the GA fleet except for the BBJ type aircraft. To increase the strength of the runway to accommodate such aircraft would be outside the scope of what federal/state agencies could afford.....and the airport trust certainly isn't going to do it on their own dime. OUN is in a prime location to handle larger aircraft, but they're currently landlocked and can't handle much of an expansion in any direction.

Wiley Post certainly has a genuine function as a General Aviation and corporate airport. The flexibility offered from a general aviation airport cannot be matched by WRWA. WRWA, as the prime commercial airport of the area, is subject to much more strict security regulations that is a deterrent to GA traffic.

OU has adequate runway length, but also like PWA, it is the runway weight capacity which prevents larger movements. As traffic on I-35 between Norman and OKC continues to worsen with a growing population, OU and Norman may eventually be able to convince the deep pockets of town to invest in a runway strengthening program. OU afterall does charter quite a few commercial airplanes, and quite often their team is sitting in traffic on I-35. I used to work OU charters all the time when United still had its own people in OKC, and we would always have the plane waiting and the bus would be late to the airport due to traffic conditions. It really would be in OU and Norman's best interest to eventually spend the money to strengthen their runway. For now, OKC's metro airport system functions exactly how it should given how busy the region is.

Saw a presentation from the director of OKC airports on thursday, there is a proposal to upgrade PWA's western most runway but not sure it will get the weight limit up that much.

Is there a way we could get Q3 2016 enplanement and deplanement statistics ? They have 100 in and 100 out everyday so calculating load factor won't be difficult.

A column writer for the Stillwater News Press writes of her impression with the flight service: http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_columnists/next-time-you-fly-take-the-stillwater-flight/article_4da2371e-c3d2-11e6-840e-738eeab61d57.html

At the Dec. 5 City Council meeting, City Manager Norman McNickle reported the City is very excited about the airport investment. He added the City should see some recovery of those invested funds. The City had estimated 10,000 passengers for the first year of operations based upon a Manhattan, Kansas, model. McNickle said, “We are way way WAY ahead of that projection. We eclipsed that number in the first three months with over 12,500 passengers utilizing the service.”

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/stillwater-airport-team-wins-customer-service-award/article_e76406fa-3cd3-5031-8aaf-40c7d356ad5c.html

"Strawder said the increasing number of passengers keeps her crew busy.

The mid-day flight is usually almost full, and the airport’s overflow parking lot has been used more than expected.

Stillwater Regional Airport Director Gary Johnson has been excited to watch commercial air service succeed after working for years to bring it to Stillwater."

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/stillwater-airport-team-wins-customer-service-award/article_e76406fa-3cd3-5031-8aaf-40c7d356ad5c.html

"Strawder said the increasing number of passengers keeps her crew busy.

The mid-day flight is usually almost full, and the airport’s overflow parking lot has been used more than expected.

Stillwater Regional Airport Director Gary Johnson has been excited to watch commercial air service succeed after working for years to bring it to Stillwater."

That's great news. I really hope it works out for Stillwater in the long run. It will be interesting to see if the service sticks around after route subsidies end, or if Stillwater feels the subsidies are worth the cost to have the city connected. Would be nice if they could convince United to offer a DEN service. I would love it as it would give me one more option to get home when OKC and TUL flights are full.

That's great news. I really hope it works out for Stillwater in the long run. It will be interesting to see if the service sticks around after route subsidies end, or if Stillwater feels the subsidies are worth the cost to have the city connected. Would be nice if they could convince United to offer a DEN service. I would love it as it would give me one more option to get home when OKC and TUL flights are full.

How long do the subsidies last? I live in Edmond and have flown out of Stilly twice and both times the fares were about 10%-15% cheaper than the same flight out of OKC. The check-in and boarding process were much faster, too. It's a longer drive, but in the end I have to leave the house at about the same time because I don't have to spend as much time waiting in lines.

That's great news. I really hope it works out for Stillwater in the long run. It will be interesting to see if the service sticks around after route subsidies end, or if Stillwater feels the subsidies are worth the cost to have the city connected. Would be nice if they could convince United to offer a DEN service. I would love it as it would give me one more option to get home when OKC and TUL flights are full.

Denver on United Express would be a nice, realistic second option for Stillwater. Houston on United and Atlanta on Delta are long shots. I can't see anything else working.

Though Stillwater-DEN would likely be more expensive than DEN-OKC or DEN-TUL due to having United and Southwest competition on those routes.

Denver has several non-stops to smaller cities in Kansas and Nebraska. Dodge City, Liberal, Kearney, North Platte and Scottsbluff on PenAir; Salina on Great Lakes; and Hays on United Express. I'm surprised they don't have a Lawton/Ft Sill non-stop.

Lawton did have a non-stop to Atlanta on Delta Connection about 5-6 years ago. From what I heard, it didn't do well because the flights weren't popping up on the system that the army was using to book flights. I'm not sure how accurate that rumor was though. My parents live in Lawton and they only fly out of the airport down there and they tell me every flight they get on is full.

Lawton did have a non-stop to Atlanta on Delta Connection about 5-6 years ago. From what I heard, it didn't do well because the flights weren't popping up on the system that the army was using to book flights. I'm not sure how accurate that rumor was though. My parents live in Lawton and they only fly out of the airport down there and they tell me every flight they get on is full.

Interesting. I have relatives in Duncan that use LAW to fly to DFW instead of driving to OKC. AA has flights to DFW 4x/day. I think United Express could do fine with 2x/day to LAW and 1x/day to SWO from Denver, especially with an EAS subsidy for SWO.

Denver on United Express would be a nice, realistic second option for Stillwater. Houston on United and Atlanta on Delta are long shots. I can't see anything else working.

Though Stillwater-DEN would likely be more expensive than DEN-OKC or DEN-TUL due to having United and Southwest competition on those routes.



Why not Chicago? Manhattan, KS other departure is to Chicago.

Why not Chicago? Manhattan, KS other departure is to Chicago.

If AA added service to SWO it would be to chicago. If United added service they would add Denver as it would provide better west connections than DFW or ORD can.

I would love to see Southwest! Possibly to Denver or Chicago. Or one to and from each daily. However, I think there's a non-compete contract in place for a couple of years. If we did Delta it would have to connect to Atlanta. But I would prefer Southwest!

Guys Stillwater isn't getting another flight for at least 3-4 more years. Let's just hope they can keep the Dallas flight consistently full enough to keep it

Guys Stillwater isn't getting another flight for at least 3-4 more years. Let's just hope they can keep the Dallas flight consistently full enough to keep it

I'm very sure that's true. Getting more service anytime soon would just dilute the amount of traffic on AA and possibly cause the loss of that service.

Lankford said “We can't continue to sustain programs that are economic development jumpstarts in communities where historically that program has not worked out in other communities most of the time,” So is it working out well in Manhattan, KS and Columbia, MO? If the federal government isn't putting up some of the money to subsidize empty seats, why should it try to be against such an arrangement? Anyway, I'm glad I never voted for Sen. Lankford.
It looks like it may be a big problem for Stillwater.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-end-subsidies-rural-airline-214418516--politics.html

It looks like it may be a big problem for Stillwater.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-end-subsidies-rural-airline-214418516--politics.html

SWO isn't in the EAS program so there wouldn't be any issues with their service if it went away.

And now they're changing the flights. This sucks! No more early morning flight. This just ruins connections.
Anyone know why this would happen?
http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/american-airlines-changes-stillwater-flight-schedule/article_7edb4479-6bd0-57ec-88b9-9f1de0ad2fca.html

And now they're changing the flights. This sucks! No more early morning flight. This just ruins connections.
Anyone know why this would happen?
http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/american-airlines-changes-stillwater-flight-schedule/article_7edb4479-6bd0-57ec-88b9-9f1de0ad2fca.html

No, but hope it's only for the summer months, but I won't be surprised, if it doesn't help summer business.

And now they're changing the flights. This sucks! No more early morning flight. This just ruins connections.
Anyone know why this would happen?
http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/local_news/american-airlines-changes-stillwater-flight-schedule/article_7edb4479-6bd0-57ec-88b9-9f1de0ad2fca.html
Don't be so reactionary. The flight now arrives in Dallas around 1pm, still a ton of connecting flights out of Dallas in the afternoon.

^I think AA/Eagle have 8-9 daily banks of flights (they re-banked their hub in 2015 I believe), so yeah plenty of connecting opportunities left after that (even if you assume a minimum one-hour connecting time after the flight reaches the gate). Not to mention most of the international flights leave after 3:00p.m. anyway. Now it probably doesn't help the business traveller that has to have an early morning departure, but knowing the kind of passenger traffic to/from SWO, I don't think it will hurt matters that much.