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damonsmuz
02-09-2018, 05:15 PM
I'm curious about ViaAir. Their model is interesting. I'm guessing you can't connect with the,. They are strictly P2P

warreng88
02-12-2018, 02:14 PM
Airport expansion includes more access to electric outlets

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record February 9, 2018

OKLAHOMA CITY – Will Rogers World Airport has tasked designers in the upcoming terminal expansion project to include more access to electric outlets in the seating areas of all gates, officials said.

Those plans will also integrate power into all the post-security checkpoint areas used for travelers’ work and lounging. Director Mark Kranenburg is encouraging food and retail concessions to do the same when they move into the new parts of the terminal.

“We continue to monitor the amenities expected by today’s travelers (who) often have two devices when they come to the airport,” he said. “To the extent possible, we try to accommodate access to power throughout the airport.”

Although the overall draw on the airport power grid is small, it’s a huge value to travelers, according to a 2017 Airports Council International-North America guest experience survey. Electrical charging stations are now the fourth most common traveler amenity. At the same time, payphones and banking services are being phased out, reflecting the shift to private technology such as smartphones and portable computers.

ACI-NA spokesperson Mimi Ryals said the trend is expected to grow as airports deploy more innovations to better serve their passengers through mobile technology such as the rapid expansion of Mobile Passport, parking reservation systems, mobile-app ordering and ride-booking apps.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is the latest to commit to a major charging stations upgrade. Last year, DFW approved a $1 million contract to install about 2,750 electrical outlets at gate seating in its terminals. With the new outlets, about 50 percent of seats now have direct access to power, compared with about 15 percent before the work.

Tulsa International Airport management foresaw the trend years earlier, spokeswoman Alexis Higgins said. The airport already has 1,700 power charging outlets incorporated in the gate area seating on the concourses, a total that does not include power charging stations in the business centers.

Higgins said new furniture installed in waiting areas last year also included charging stations. Overall, about 90 percent of the public areas in the terminal now have access to power, she said.

At Will Rogers, electrical outlets are now a fundamental amenity assumption for renovations and construction. Cross Grain Brewhouse, which opened in late 2015, added outlets built into dining tables and other seating areas in the restaurant. In 2016, another 16 bench power ports were added throughout the airport.

Kranenburg said the Oklahoma City airport is evaluating the addition of some shelf or bank-type charging stations as more space has opened up in the concourse.

d-usa
02-12-2018, 02:44 PM
Whenever I travel I have a 4-USB charger that can use 110-220v and has a universal power-cord connector that lets me change out the power cable to fit whatever shape outlet I need. More than once I’ve been at an airport with limited outlets, and I’ve usually been able to share with folks who are waiting by letting them use the other 3-ports. None of them are data ports, and it’s nice to turn a single outlet into four outlets. Travelers gotta stick together.

BG918
02-12-2018, 03:40 PM
I'm curious about ViaAir. Their model is interesting. I'm guessing you can't connect with the,. They are strictly P2P

Via Air's route map. I guess you could connect in Austin if you want to fly to Tucson.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QPGBlbv1BofBrz24mX9JCG26ru-gDORcRvz3JYdTW0lwG1mvHQKR9WQ_ChFgIn4fVc2aqOr4WCfk4 Tca7ospgdHhh_vo_M53rAlE-nSlU3Q7PIJkLGfIktScCpznfhOgohNAel2WTUx2LqBZhYyDXzj Lx-zv1WaF6YxcUinDhSgjMMOR-oBq_pl3bFNBIGBcmv5w3_p1ZG7SieVeCPJ0Xr7W6KxvCqps7Wa n8rhnZMpxlRZvvDT9r1Yc000qsflsjbCMmRBc2rAhR983tm3iY voc52vSVzs5XVt_d5ow2PYbjypvnV5UQzChPyqAWim00TWjw6t-UvB6x1Ghn5ufOy_Y_0RsVIBHKzYsuIBwVsfm-oltvNHerSrsrGI6iOJvwt-srhSRfD3su-7vaE9ufiu9FEkAMcBrjrto7j-WZc7u2Xc4aAUQzwtGuFN9aoj_rqz3B15rdpvS3xO67aHVgeg_0-nsbCjZHpUgo9AIFYOnIkk3u-sE_8OmPIUTZyXtjWtgVU3cyovdftFSb3bjbgYs_YN4eixPTzVW O-A4Uj0s0dlK2sra5Q_-W1xnUp5OMsZcOCxyOivB5cX3PCRcZ-3C1lKyU-7vV5UlLg=w1193-h646-no

Seeing DEN, MCI and Steamboat Springs on there reminds me of the old Mountain Air Express in the 1990's. Easy way to get from Oklahoma to the mountains.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vTifdVDoypg/Um_HDj8pSVI/AAAAAAAABNw/feBNCv1HeSE/s1600/image027.jpg

Urbanized
02-13-2018, 09:46 AM
Whenever I travel I have a 4-USB charger that can use 110-220v and has a universal power-cord connector that lets me change out the power cable to fit whatever shape outlet I need. More than once I’ve been at an airport with limited outlets, and I’ve usually been able to share with folks who are waiting by letting them use the other 3-ports. None of them are data ports, and it’s nice to turn a single outlet into four outlets. Travelers gotta stick together.
Outlets are a great idea and these days I can’t imagine building a space designed for lingering/waiting/eating which doesn’t incorporate outlets - with integrated USB - convenient to all chairs (except in an upscale dining environment perhaps). I can’t tell you how aggravating it is to go into recently-built places (especially bars) and have to hunt for an outlet or ask a bartender or server to charge behind the bar or something.

It’s awkward, often an imposition for the server, and yet it is simply the case that customers are going to be in places (especially in the evening) where their devices are critically low on juice. It’s easy to say it’s the customer’s problem, not the establishment’s, but the reality is that people are often using their phones to coordinate with other people who might be joining. It’s also reality that if people’s phones are dying and they have no access to charging they are likely to leave an establishment. I’ve done it many times myself, often in favor of moving to an establishment where I know there are easily-accessed charging outlets. Also there is the issue of customers bugging staff to assist with charging. I’ve done that too. So, including them is a good business decision, pure and simple.

Obviously the airport has a captive audience, but they are usually running multiple devices, often haven’t been able to charge for a while, plus anything you can do to make the flying experience less unpleasant is a good idea.

All of this said, now that Apple has finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the modern era of wireless charging, if I were building out a place I’d be placing wireless charging surfaces literally anywhere I could afford to do so: http://www.lgviaterausa.com/media/292/150

gopokes88
02-13-2018, 11:55 AM
https://flyokc.com/sites/default/files/News/January2018Enplanement.pdf

gopokes88
02-13-2018, 11:57 AM
That’s a huge number even when taking out frontier.

damonsmuz
02-13-2018, 02:40 PM
Wow! Great numbers in what is traditionally a slow month for flying. Nice way to start the year. And good for Frontier. The is certainly demand for an ULCC carrier here and given the way Frontier likes to toss around flights means they may be more inclined to add a few more oddball flights here.

Your turn Alaska. What say you?? PDX??? :)

HOT ROD
02-14-2018, 01:51 AM
Wish List for Alaska Airlines:
1) upsize the SEA-OKC flight to mainline first,
2) then add PDX via Horizon regional. (can be simultaneous btw)
3) add'l frequencies to the aforementioned as the market matures (would love to have a red-eye SEA-OKC mainline; proof that 'you've made-it' as an airport)
4) add un-served options E of OKC.

whatitis
02-14-2018, 08:13 AM
Looking at the Will Rogers Map of Non Stop Cities. The 4 biggest ones missing I see are New Orleans, Boston, Portland, Miami. I could see Alaska adding New Orleans. Allegiant flies so much Around florida they could add Miami/Ft Lauderdale. Looking at their route map allegiant flies quite a bit in and out of New Orleans so they could add either one.

Boston is great for international flights. A lot of ULCC fly out of boston logan so that would be a nice addition but I don't know who would take it.

Richard at Remax
02-14-2018, 08:24 AM
I have to go to Austin in early May, what are the chances that the ViaAir service makes it off the ground. I probably wouldn't take the flight there due to the schedule, but the flight back would be perfect.

Jeepnokc
02-14-2018, 08:29 AM
Looking at the Will Rogers Map of Non Stop Cities. The 4 biggest ones missing I see are New Orleans, Boston, Portland, Miami. I could see Alaska adding New Orleans. Allegiant flies so much Around florida they could add Miami/Ft Lauderdale. Looking at their route map allegiant flies quite a bit in and out of New Orleans so they could add either one.

Boston is great for international flights. A lot of ULCC fly out of boston logan so that would be a nice addition but I don't know who would take it.

Would love to see MSY added. New Orleans is building a new terminal which will add 35 gates next year. Currently they serve 57 cities non stop but most (not all) look to be bigger markets than OKC. Spirit added four new non stops last year and is adding a seasonal to Columbus Ohio in March 2018.

It would be torture for me to have a non stop to one of my favorite cities (NOLA) on an airline (Allegiant) that I refuse to fly due to cancellations and safety concerns.

whatitis
02-14-2018, 09:12 AM
Would love to see MSY added. New Orleans is building a new terminal which will add 35 gates next year. Currently they serve 57 cities non stop but most (not all) look to be bigger markets than OKC. Spirit added four new non stops last year and is adding a seasonal to Columbus Ohio in March 2018.

It would be torture for me to have a non stop to one of my favorite cities (NOLA) on an airline (Allegiant) that I refuse to fly due to cancellations and safety concerns.

Haha yeah I've never flown allegiant, but I've flown spirit a lot. it's not a great experience but I also just do non stop flights. usually 2 or 3 hour flights. so even while not terribly enjoyable for under 3 hours I can make it work.

BG918
02-14-2018, 09:39 AM
Looking at the Will Rogers Map of Non Stop Cities. The 4 biggest ones missing I see are New Orleans, Boston, Portland, Miami. I could see Alaska adding New Orleans. Allegiant flies so much Around florida they could add Miami/Ft Lauderdale. Looking at their route map allegiant flies quite a bit in and out of New Orleans so they could add either one.

Boston is great for international flights. A lot of ULCC fly out of boston logan so that would be a nice addition but I don't know who would take it.

I wouldn't put it past Frontier to try something like OKC-FLL or OKC-MSY, if they are doing well on their other flights. Allegiant tried TUL-MSY a couple years ago but it didn't last very long. It's another one of those perfect regional routes Southwest would dominate if they had a smaller plane than the 737, something like an E-175. That would be perfect for MCI, AUS, SAT, BNA and MSY.

catch22
02-14-2018, 05:25 PM
Allow me throw this wildcard out there for New Orleans service.

Silver Airways out of Florida is the NA launch customer for the new ATR 600's. They begin to receive 20 of them in April. Some will replace the Saab 340 fleet, but others may be slated for some expansion. I have heard rumors that New Orleans could possibly become a base for some of those ATR's. OKC, TUL, MEM etc. would be likely markets if they did in fact go that route.

Not holding my breath, but I am interested in their next plans. They are a great little airline with solid operating history. I've flown them before when they were a United Express carrier. They are no longer the UA brand but they are managing quite well in this cut throat industry.

OUman
02-14-2018, 07:06 PM
It's actually the ATR 42/72-600. Judging from the "46 seats" that the ATRs will have according to Silver Airways' website, it's going to be mostly the ATR 42-600 that replaces the Saab 340Bs that the airline currently flies (the deal is for 16 ATR 42-600s and four ATR 72-600s). And the new planes will be replacing the entire fleet of Saabs the airline currently flies (which makes sense) so I'm thinking initially all of the ATRs will be used for existing Florida and Caribbean routes. It had plans to start service between New Orleans and both, Birmingham and Jacksonville back in 2015 but then dropped those. I'm also hoping Silver Expands westward with a new base, MSY does seem like a good fit for such service.

I have flown in the ATR 72-500, great aircraft especially for a turboprop. Having flown in the Dash 8-Q400, the ATR beats the Dash hands-down in my opinion. The ATR is roomier, feels and sounds a lot more like a jet and no vibrations in the cabin. The Q400's cabin (not really "Q" from my experience) vibrates in-flight, the props have a continuous drone (not the case in the ATR) and in general is just not a pleasant ride.

The ATR 42/72 is an ideal aircraft actually for routes like OKC-MSY and even OKC-AUS. It's much more fuel-efficient than an RJ on the same distance and is basically just as fast in terms of flight time.

damonsmuz
02-14-2018, 09:50 PM
I agree with what you said about the ATR. Back in my ASA days we had a ton of ATR's. The cargo was in the front so you entered from the rear. Overall liked how roomy it was on the inside.

OUman
02-14-2018, 10:41 PM
^Wow, cool that you worked for ASA! I recall ASA had many ATRs based at ATL, and some at the DFW hub at its peak. I think they were the variant -200 though, which had the four-bladed prop instead of the six-blade props the -500 and now the -600 do. I didn't fly in any of ASA's ATRs but did fly in American Eagle's ATR 72-200 when it had essentially what amounted to a shuttle service with those things back in the late '90s (American and American Eagle had a combined 14 or so flights a day to DFW in those years!). Have to admit, the -200s were quite a lot noisier and slower though, I remember the only flight I had in those from DFW to Oklahoma City took about 1 hour, when I took the -500 down it took about 37 minutes, same as a jet.

Buffalo Bill
02-15-2018, 11:59 AM
I have to go to Austin in early May, what are the chances that the ViaAir service makes it off the ground. I probably wouldn't take the flight there due to the schedule, but the flight back would be perfect.

Supposedly starting up April 22nd.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/02/14/after-delay-flights-to-okc-set-to-take-off-more.html

s00nr1
02-16-2018, 12:30 PM
Yeah, those January numbers are eye-opening. I'd be interested to see what AA's actual LF's are on all of their flights now that they've seemingly added a decent amount of capacity.

Plutonic Panda
02-16-2018, 12:39 PM
http://journalrecord.com/2018/02/15/although-none-are-scheduled-airport-prepares-for-international-flights/?platform=hootsuite

Plutonic Panda
02-16-2018, 07:24 PM
https://apnews.com/amp/f220b4b464a04487a0890fa0a43c2ecf?__twitter_impress ion=true

Another article about preparing for international flights.

I don’t know if way finding signage project has gone up yet, but it seems now it’s take so long to get this done, technology has already improved to fully LED wayfinding signs that could chosen instead. Obviously a higher cost, but worth it.

catch22
02-18-2018, 09:13 PM
Airlines are finalizing early summer schedules this week and next, I'm watching the summer schedules closely for any changes.

Here's a good one: United will begin mainline service to Chicago-ORD on June 7 with an A319. Will remain 4x daily, (1x 319, 3x E75)

HOT ROD
02-19-2018, 12:01 PM
OMG! YES!

OKC has made it finally in the business world - the return of mainline to ORD again. and still keeping the 3 regionals to boot - a very nice boost...

catch22
02-20-2018, 11:33 AM
Reading this in the airport trust meeting this week. On the surface it sounds like Field Aerospace is wanting to expand their operation? I believe They are Hangar 84 LLC.

https://agenda.okc.gov/sirepub/view.aspx?cabinet=published_meetings&fileid=3966720

catch22
02-20-2018, 11:53 AM
Also throw this in the rumor basket. I was talking to a SkyWest flight attendant the other night on my way home and she mentioned that there's a strong rumor of a SkyWest crew domicile opening up in OKC. Not sure if just f/a or if a pilot base would open up too. With the amount of SkyWest flying in OKC it would make sense, as at some point the cost of overnighting so many crews can cost more than the administrative cost of basing crews here.

Bellaboo
02-20-2018, 01:01 PM
Also throw this in the rumor basket. I was talking to a SkyWest flight attendant the other night on my way home and she mentioned that there's a strong rumor of a SkyWest crew domicile opening up in OKC. Not sure if just f/a or if a pilot base would open up too. With the amount of SkyWest flying in OKC it would make sense, as at some point the cost of overnighting so many crews can cost more than the administrative cost of basing crews here.

Maybe due to the maintenance facility being built ?

HOT ROD
02-21-2018, 05:07 AM
best shot at a hub in OKC

OUman
02-21-2018, 01:05 PM
Maybe due to the maintenance facility being built ?

If I'm not mistaken, I think it has more to do with the number of crews staying overnight in Oklahoma City before returning to work for flights the next day.

Also, there are crew domiciles in cities that are not hubs, so having a domicile doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a hub. But it's good for jobs and potential pilots/flight attendants. Catch22 will know more though but that's just from what I gather. :)

catch22
02-21-2018, 02:31 PM
OUman correct. SkyWest for example might overnight 10 trips a night here, each flight has 4 crew. So that is 40 rooms a night they have an agreement with some hotel for. Assume they have a contract rate of $85 a night. That's $1.2 million a year in lodging alone in OKC. By making OKC a crew base, they can make OKC the start and end of a crew's trip, thus not needing hotels here. The crew would live here just like anyone else. The administrative cost to run a crew base isn't terrible expensive, but it is probably around $1 million a year or more. So I'm not sure if it is likely to happen, although it would give them some added flexibility in order to use the maintenance base to rescue a flight somewhere else (for example a maintenance delay in Wichita will result in the crew there timing out, they could dispatch an airplane and a crew from OKC to Wichita to save the flight).

Like I said, just a rumor I heard that is going around! Aviation industry is full of rumors that people start in the hope they come true!

Laramie
02-21-2018, 04:53 PM
If we could ever get an international flight system established into WWRA; we have Tulsa and Wichita which would probably be a better alternative drive to OKC than to St. Louis, Dallas or Kansas City.

BG918
02-21-2018, 05:21 PM
If we could ever get an international flight system established into WWRA; we have Tulsa and Wichita which would probably be a better alternative drive to OKC than to St. Louis, Dallas or Kansas City.

Doubtful, people in Tulsa and Wichita would just use DFW or ORD as they do now. Only exception would maybe be a LCC like Wow Air to Iceland. I know some people who are driving from Oklahoma to KC for the Icelandair flight this summer.

Laramie
02-21-2018, 05:21 PM
nm double post...

OUman
02-21-2018, 07:33 PM
I think one international flight alone would be a miracle here haha. Best bets as have already been pointed out are either Mexico City, Cancun or somewhere in Canada (either Toronto or Calgary). Back in the day when Champion Air (yes, that long back) ran charter 727s between OKC and CUN I recall the flights were fairly popular. I think Champion did twice-weekly service. I believe it also had nonstops to Puerto Vallarta for a small period before it went out of business. The obvious issue back then of course was that the terminal at OKC did not have customs/immigration facilities, but it looks like that will not be an issue now once the east side terminal expansion gets done.

WOW is actually starting Iceland flights at DFW this Spring, as is Icelandair (interestingly enough the Icelandair announcement came just weeks after WOW's did). I'm guessing that pretty much eliminates OKC as a contender for WOW's service.

gopokes88
02-21-2018, 08:16 PM
Emirates to Dubai is a possibility, as Dubai sorta functions as the worlds hub.

tillyato
02-22-2018, 09:08 AM
I would think WOW is still a possibility. They fly to a number of smaller markets, and recently announced service to St. Louis and Kansas City.

Jeepnokc
02-22-2018, 10:02 AM
I would think WOW is still a possibility. They fly to a number of smaller markets, and recently announced service to St. Louis and Kansas City.

Almost makes sense to hit markets without non stop flights to Europe. I have looking at them online thinking about a trip. Out of OKC...I have to take 2 flights minimum to get to Europe. With WOW...still two flights but breaks up the flight about halfway which is preferable to me.

OUman
02-22-2018, 10:32 AM
A far-out possibility but WOW is starting thrice-weekly flights between DFW and Iceland this May, so I doubt it will add OKC to its network when it's already starting flights at an airport just a couple hundred miles away. Icelandair will also be starting flights at DFW with four times a week service. Now stranger things have happened and it would be awesome if OKC gained even a twice-weekly nonstop to Europe, but the odds are not that high.

I'm wondering exactly how many passengers fly to international destinations from OKC on average on a daily basis. I would bet that Kansas City and St. Louis have better international passenger counts than OKC does.

As for Emirates starting service, you can pretty much count that out also. EK has already cut back on flights to/from the U.S. last year due to tourist numbers dropping. The Big 3 U.S. carriers have been calling for greater transparency from the Middle East carriers since there have been accusations of them receiving unfair subsidies for expansion, especially to the U.S. Recently, the U.S. signed an agreement with Qatar which called for transparency of Qatar Airways' revenues and such. On the same subject, AA discontinued its oneworld codesharing agreement with Etihad, and as a result Etihad will be ending service at DFW this year. So things are kind of shaky at the moment as far as any new service goes with the Big 3 Middle East carriers.

BG918
02-22-2018, 11:20 AM
A far-out possibility but WOW is starting thrice-weekly flights between DFW and Iceland this May, so I doubt it will add OKC to its network when it's already starting flights at an airport just a couple hundred miles away. Icelandair will also be starting flights at DFW with four times a week service. Now stranger things have happened and it would be awesome if OKC gained even a twice-weekly nonstop to Europe, but the odds are not that high.

I'm wondering exactly how many passengers fly to international destinations from OKC on average on a daily basis. I would bet that Kansas City and St. Louis have better international passenger counts than OKC does.

As for Emirates starting service, you can pretty much count that out also. EK has already cut back on flights to/from the U.S. last year due to tourist numbers dropping. The Big 3 U.S. carriers have been calling for greater transparency from the Middle East carriers since there have been accusations of them receiving unfair subsidies for expansion, especially to the U.S. Recently, the U.S. signed an agreement with Qatar which called for transparency of Qatar Airways' revenues and such. On the same subject, AA discontinued its oneworld codesharing agreement with Etihad, and as a result Etihad will be ending service at DFW this year. So things are kind of shaky at the moment as far as any new service goes with the Big 3 Middle East carriers.

The only US destination I see the ME3 starting service in the near future is DEN. Otherwise they have the country well-covered and as you mentioned it's pretty contentious.

tillyato
02-22-2018, 04:59 PM
American is also starting a nonstop daily to KEF starting in June as a response to the new WOW and Icelandair routes, so DFW is going from 0 to 3 carriers on that route in the next couple of months...

stjohn
02-22-2018, 06:24 PM
Emirates to Dubai is a possibility, as Dubai sorta functions as the worlds hub.

LOL what? Smallest plane Emirates flies is a 777. 300+ passengers flying from OKC to Dubai? Even DFW only has one daily.

BG918
02-22-2018, 10:12 PM
American is also starting a nonstop daily to KEF starting in June as a response to the new WOW and Icelandair routes, so DFW is going from 0 to 3 carriers on that route in the next couple of months...

I remember people were surprised when I told them I was flying nonstop to Reykjavik from Denver in 2013. Now it seems all the large cities and even places like Kansas City and Pittsburgh have flights to Iceland. Crazy.

Jeepnokc
02-23-2018, 08:11 AM
I remember people were surprised when I told them I was flying nonstop to Reykjavik from Denver in 2013. Now it seems all the large cities and even places like Kansas City and Pittsburgh have flights to Iceland. Crazy.

I have several friends in CT that fly up to Reykjavik often for boy's weekends. Suppose to be a great place for weekend trips.

HOT ROD
02-23-2018, 11:20 AM
Reykjavik is positioning itself as the reliever hub for flights to Europe; in competition to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. It actually makes sense since Island is roughly half way to nearly every major destination in NA or Europe so why not take advantage and get some tourism out of it. ...

I wish OKC had this thought back in the late 1970's with regard to Will Rogers WORLD Airport; that OKC is in the center of the country - equidistant to most major US cities so why not build a DFW style airport to capitalize on our geography. Back then OKC and DFW were not too much different.

BG918
02-23-2018, 12:00 PM
Reykjavik is positioning itself as the reliever hub for flights to Europe; in competition to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. It actually makes sense since Island is roughly half way to nearly every major destination in NA or Europe so why not take advantage and get some tourism out of it. ...

I wish OKC had this thought back in the late 1970's with regard to Will Rogers WORLD Airport; that OKC is in the center of the country - equidistant to most major US cities so why not build a DFW style airport to capitalize on our geography. Back then OKC and DFW were not too much different.

That ship sailed when Dallas and Ft Worth agreed to build a joint airport, and was a major driver in making DFW one of the largest and wealthiest metros in the country. The biggest "missed opportunity" in our region is when Austin built a new airport at Bergstrom AFB instead of a joint Austin/San Antonio airport outside San Marcos. That would likely be a legitimate hub with the combined metros at nearly 4 million.

PhiAlpha
02-23-2018, 02:14 PM
That ship sailed when Dallas and Ft Worth agreed to build a joint airport, and was a major driver in making DFW one of the largest and wealthiest metros in the country. The biggest "missed opportunity" in our region is when Austin built a new airport at Bergstrom AFB instead of a joint Austin/San Antonio airport outside San Marcos. That would likely be a legitimate hub with the combined metros at nearly 4 million.

I don't know how feasible a San Antonio/Austin combined airport would've been. The city centers of Dallas and FTW are 30 miles from each other. Austin and San Antonio are 80 miles apart. San Marcos wouldn't be that far for people that live in each city center or between them, but it would be a pretty big hike from the north and east side of Austin or the south and west sides of San Antonio. It would be more similar to throwing an OKC/TUL airport in Stroud than DFW being located in Grapevine. I'm sure it could've been done, but it seems like a stretch.

stjohn
02-23-2018, 02:33 PM
Never would have worked. Austin and San Antonio are more than twice as far apart as Dallas and Fort Worth, and DFW only happened because the FAA forced it. San Antonio would NEVER have agreed to having their primary airport in San Marcos, 50 miles from downtown.

damonsmuz
02-23-2018, 05:16 PM
Stillwater will be adding a 3rd flight in June to DFW on AA that will leave Stillwater in the evening. According to AA they are doing this to relieve congestion out of OKC. I'm not sure about that explanation because Ive been under the impression that Stillwater flights have been doing well. But whatevs

sooner333
02-23-2018, 06:14 PM
Stillwater will be adding a 3rd flight in June to DFW on AA that will leave Stillwater in the evening. According to AA they are doing this to relieve congestion out of OKC. I'm not sure about that explanation because Ive been under the impression that Stillwater flights have been doing well. But whatevs

Maybe it means that Stillwater doesn't have to guarantee as much revenue for the third flight?

OUman
02-24-2018, 06:35 PM
Don't mean to extend the Austin-San Antonio airport discussion but I've read that residents of San Antonio and Austin had that idea pitched to them by the FAA of all entities (back in the '70s or so when the City of Austin started looking at alternative sites for an airport) but few Austinites supported driving halfway to San Antonio for a flight. This information is referenced as coming from The Daily Texan on Austin Bergstrom's Wikipedia page, and it sounds legit.

This might sound like I'm an AUS cheerleader but it's just my enthusiasm for aviation and the growth of traffic at AUS is pretty insane. AUS has climbed to almost 14 million annual passengers, has more than 200 daily nonstop departures (about 260 on average) to about 70 cities, has at least a couple daily flights to non-hub and not-typical hubs (in most cases, between Southwest, Allegiant and Frontier multiple daily flights), in addition to your "usual" hubs. Delta and SAS will be operating special charters for SxSW to/from Amsterdam and Stockholm respectively, and starting this Spring, AUS will have 10 weekly flights to London. BA is actually upgrading to a 747-400 this summer, while Norwegian will start 3X weekly service with a 787-9. Condor will be increasing its summer-seasonal service to FRA to thrice weekly this year. And Frontier's mad expansion at AUS continues, it just announced 14 cities in addition to the ones it's already announced last year (granted, they're mostly seasonal, but still that's crazy). And you're getting an east concourse expansion with nine additional gates, three of which can accomodate widebody jets for international flights. That gives AUS a 34 gate terminal, and if trends continue even that will not be enough. It's a good thing AUS has re-opened the South Terminal for Allegiant, Sun Country and now Via Air. Keep in mind that the Big 3 carriers have been either adding routes or flights, or added larger aircraft. So while there's no actual hub airport for Austin and San Antonio combined, I think things have turned out pretty well and AUS consistently keeps beating its own passenger records.

I would be ecstatic to have half of that at OKC, but we're definitely moving in the right direction, let's hope the momentum keeps going this year.

p.s. Some statistics have the Austin-Round Rock metro population at 3 million by 2030 or so, which if it holds will add millions more to the airport passenger counts.

BG918
02-24-2018, 09:21 PM
Growth at AUS has been impressive, too bad it’s not currently connected to OKC and TUL (until ViaAir starts but it’s not daily service).

OUman
03-01-2018, 07:05 AM
Just a heads-up for any aviation enthusiasts/people working at the airport, Atlas Air has a 747-400F coming in from ANC (Anchorage International Airport) today, if it's on schedule then it will be coming in at 12:12p.m. Should be pretty cool to watch.

LakeEffect
03-01-2018, 08:45 AM
Just a heads-up for any aviation enthusiasts/people working at the airport, Atlas Air has a 747-400F coming in from ANC (Anchorage International Airport) today, if it's on schedule then it will be coming in at 12:12p.m. Should be pretty cool to watch.

Hmmmmm. Now I know what I might do for lunch.

OUman
03-01-2018, 09:10 AM
^Keep in mind I said "if it's on schedule" - showing more than 3 hours late (https://flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI8552) now. Hopefully you can still go out and watch it!

HOT ROD
03-01-2018, 12:21 PM
saw that Alaska Airlines is mainline now. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA9443

amocore
03-01-2018, 12:46 PM
saw that Alaska Airlines is mainline now. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA9443

This is good news ! This flight has been fully booked everyday almost ! They needed to put more capacity.

OUman
03-01-2018, 01:00 PM
Hate to break it to you but this is likely a repositioning flight headed back to SEA after AAR maintenance - note the flight number is in the 9000s.

HOT ROD
03-01-2018, 02:16 PM
Just a heads-up for any aviation enthusiasts/people working at the airport, Atlas Air has a 747-400F coming in from ANC (Anchorage International Airport) today, if it's on schedule then it will be coming in at 12:12p.m. Should be pretty cool to watch.

Landing scheduled (https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KOKC) for 3:15pm, got an hour to get out there for pics.

GTI8552 (https://flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI8552)B744 (https://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/B744)Anchorage Intl (ANC (https://flightaware.com/live/airport/PANC))03:55a AKST
03:15p CST

HOT ROD
03-01-2018, 02:18 PM
Hate to break it to you but this is likely a repositioning flight headed back to SEA after AAR maintenance - note the flight number is in the 9000s.

it's a start though, and is mainline nonetheless.

damonsmuz
03-01-2018, 02:25 PM
Alaska sends lots of mainline flights to OKC for maintenance. But any flight that is in the 9000s is not a revenue flight. It's merely here for work and then heads back to SEA. Maybe one day we'll have mainline but unfortunately not yet :(