That is excellent news! It would be nice to see a new route as well...even if it’s back on an E175.

Wow. That’s big time. I wonder if we’ll see additional frequency or routes from Alaska

Effective Nov 5, AS OKC-SEA will be operated by an A320.

YES!! Mainline!! Awesome, we will be flying on it when we come to the city. Hoorah!

Would be awesome if AS would consider OKC-LGA and/or OKC-MIA as continuing service from their SEA-OKC mainline service. It would give OKC more option on AS but also open a potential leisure route for SEA-LGA or SEA-MIA via OKC.

OKC-BOS would be all that's left aside from LGA, JFK, and MIA for major east coast cities/airports lacking.

Anyway - without getting carried away, very happy about SEA-OKC being mainline and A320 is no small plane either. ...

Effective Nov 5, AS OKC-SEA will be operated by an A320.

Would love a link to share with family in the PNW!

Would love a link to share with family in the PNW!

Sorry no article. It’s for sale on alaskair.com after 11/5

YES!! Mainline!! Awesome, we will be flying on it when we come to the city. Hoorah!

Would be awesome if AS would consider OKC-LGA and/or OKC-MIA as continuing service from their SEA-OKC mainline service. It would give OKC more option on AS but also open a potential leisure route for SEA-LGA or SEA-MIA via OKC.

OKC-BOS would be all that's left aside from LGA, JFK, and MIA for major east coast cities/airports lacking.

Anyway - without getting carried away, very happy about SEA-OKC being mainline and A320 is no small plane either. ...

I would add SAN and PDX to your list (me having family in Oregon might make me slightly biased towards PDX).

YES!! Mainline!! Awesome, we will be flying on it when we come to the city. Hoorah!

Would be awesome if AS would consider OKC-LGA and/or OKC-MIA as continuing service from their SEA-OKC mainline service. It would give OKC more option on AS but also open a potential leisure route for SEA-LGA or SEA-MIA via OKC.

OKC-BOS would be all that's left aside from LGA, JFK, and MIA for major east coast cities/airports lacking.

Anyway - without getting carried away, very happy about SEA-OKC being mainline and A320 is no small plane either. ...

AA is adding a MIA route in December on an E175 just FYI

If there was a route which needed an upgauge, that was this OKC SEA.
No chance for PDX, it is too small of a market. I hope a Cancun route. when we have Custom office in the airport extension.
Even by weekly, it will be awesome !

maybe they could make PDX work eventually as SEA A320 matures and if there's additional PNW demand.

I'm so proud of OKC! Keep 'em coming!!!

Great news on Seattle! That flight was a 20K points flight but with the new A320 it is now a 10K flight. The shortest duration and the least amount of points!

JFK, BOS, FLL and LGA are the final 4 of the busiest 25 US Airports that OKC does not have a direct flight.

All of those would really help with more flight choices to Europe but JFK seems like it would be the last one to happen, so I guess BOS would be the best hope for the next city.

Great news on Seattle! That flight was a 20K points flight but with the new A320 it is now a 10K flight. The shortest duration and the least amount of points!

JFK, BOS, FLL and LGA are the final 4 of the busiest 25 US Airports that OKC does not have a direct flight.

All of those would really help with more flight choices to Europe but JFK seems like it would be the last one to happen, so I guess BOS would be the best hope for the next city.

NYC is the big gaping hole that I can see (even EWR is still seasonal I think?). If anyone added JFK it would be DL, but they haven't been nearly as aggressive in OKC as AA has, and AA has basically shifted their TATL hub to PHL.

https://flyokc.com/sites/default/files/News/July2019Enplanement.pdf

so should we expect close to 5M pax this year?

Dang, big gains for Southwest. Have they added new routes/capacity since last year?

Doubtful. At current growth rates looking at around 4.5M

Effective Jan 6, Southwest permanently exits OKC-DAL.

Effective Jan 6, Southwest permanently exits OKC-DAL.

wow

Why?

Why?

To free up airframe to fund Hawaii flying.

Effective Jan 6, Southwest permanently exits OKC-DAL.

Wow...that absolutely sucks considering I'm on OKC-DAL about 30 times a year!

AA with 9 flights a day to DFW.

Yeah that is a major bummer. That was one of my favorite and most used routes. :cuss2:

We lose OKC-MCI years back and now this...

That makes zero sense to completely cut ties

Seems odd they would do this rather than just cut capacity. Will AA’s prices go up now with no competition?

Effective Jan 6, Southwest permanently exits OKC-DAL.

Wow, that pretty much ends my desire to fly southwest exclusively

Is it something OKC did (or didn't do) that is causing this? Or is it strictly a SW decision? Seems like other routes would be easier to cut.

Does SW reinforce connection through St Louis, Chicago or Houston ?

I always wonder if lot of people fly to Dallas without having a connection there.

Does SW reinforce connection through St Louis, Chicago or Houston ?

I always wonder if lot of people fly to Dallas without having a connection there.

STL has 2 non-stops/day now, and will stay that way.
HOU has 4 non-stops/day now, and will gain 1 in January to 5/day.

Summary doc of all SW changes.....good read.

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/htcpi66732/attachments/htcpi66732/stories/48087/1/Updated%202020%20January%20Base%20Summary.pdf

Summary doc of all SW changes.....good read.

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/htcpi66732/attachments/htcpi66732/stories/48087/1/Updated%202020%20January%20Base%20Summary.pdf

How is that even possible? That’s gonna jack me up reallllly bad. Dallas is basically a hub.

Usually those OKC-DAL flights are pretty full.

Just shows how little respect airlines not named AA have for OKC. I am guessing AA will capitalize on this and add another flight or 2 to DFW, or upgrade the jets to mainlines, but still.

It makes sense when you look at all the factors at play:

1) WN needs the available aircraft time. They have committed to an aggressive expansion campaign in Hawaii. OKC-DAL (round trip) occupies around 8 hours of aircraft block time per day. If you factor in turn times you’ll approach 10 hours of fleet utilization for the market. Most airlines have around 13-17 hours of daily utilization per airplane. So in a worst case scenario OKC-DAL requires 76% of an aircrafts available time, and in a best case scenario it requires 60%. Of course realistic routing doesn’t necessarily mean one airplane is doing DAL-OKC-DAL all day, but it’s still occupying the resources of “60-75% of one plane”.

2) DAL is gate restrained and operating at capacity. This move gives WN some breathing room and some space to use those gate times for other, more profitable flying.

3) Dallas is a powerhouse of an O&D Market now. They don’t need the low-yield connecting traffic from OKC to fill seats out of DAL. Is it better to sell OKC-DAL-LAX for $189 or DAL-LAX for $169? The connections dilute the strong O&D market. Southwest has to work harder to make less money.

If you combine all of those factors you’ll see it makes sense for them. If you have a route that is primarily connections, occupying aircraft time which you desperately need, and is occupying gates in one of your most constrained airports you’ll see why they came to the conclusion.

What is happening with TUL-DAL? They currently have 4 daily nonstop flights.

WN will operate OKC-BNA daily now. It used to be Sunday only. It will go daily in January

Also, WN will add an additional flight to PHX and HOU starting this January. So, 3 added daily flights to compensate for the removal of the DAL flights

Per the flyokc twitter they also added a nonstop to Nashville

Summary doc of all SW changes.....good read.

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/htcpi66732/attachments/htcpi66732/stories/48087/1/Updated%202020%20January%20Base%20Summary.pdf

Link isn’t working (at least not on an iPad tonight).

Meh how many people are flying just to Dallas from OKC. I'm sure you have your business person but for most it's just a connection. Now you will just have to connect else where. Even though it probably will add more time to your day depending on where your going.

Meh how many people are flying just to Dallas from OKC. I'm sure you have your business person but for most it's just a connection. Now you will just have to connect else where. Even though it probably will add more time to your day depending on where your going.

Dallas is close enough that most probably drive, a direct flight saves time at higher cost, with a connection it is taking longer and costing more than driving.

I'm starting to think either they underbuilt the new Love terminal, or tried to cram too much business in there. Probably both.

I would gladly love to see an extra non-stop to and from BWI over DAL service.

Meh how many people are flying just to Dallas from OKC. I'm sure you have your business person but for most it's just a connection. Now you will just have to connect else where. Even though it probably will add more time to your day depending on where your going.
+1

+1

+ 2

I gladly take more Houston, Phoenix and overall a daily to Nashville over the Dallas one.
Most of my SW connection were through Houston anyway.

If you’re connecting, as most are, there are very few places that are faster via DAL than at other possible connection airports—particularly as you travel farther away. I would say that Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso, and Midland are the only locations which would take significantly longer on Southwest without a Dallas connection. And for the traveler, you can get to those locations through DFW on American (other than the first two locations, I doubt there is enough traffic from OKC to significantly impact prices). The big hit is anyone doing business in downtown Dallas who flew in and out on the same day. Not sure how many people do that, but I’m sure there are some.

The big hit is anyone doing business in downtown Dallas who flew in and out on the same day. Not sure how many people do that, but I’m sure there are some.

I do (now did) that....roughly 25 times a year. I know a couple OKC SW employees who work in DAL HQ and commuted daily. That'll be interesting.

I'm starting to think either they underbuilt the new Love terminal, or tried to cram too much business in there. Probably both.

Federal law locked them in at 20 gates till like 2027ish, when they can expand to 28. Part of the deal they cut for wright amendment repeal

Seems odd they would do this rather than just cut capacity. Will AA’s prices go up now with no competition?

No doubt they could. I also wouldn't be shocked if AA upgauged or added frequencies. I didn't realize there was this much O&D demand to fly between OKC and Dallas. But seems there definitely is a market there.

Dallas is close enough that most probably drive, a direct flight saves time at higher cost, with a connection it is taking longer and costing more than driving.

Depends on how you value your time. Yes there are often dirt cheap fares out of DFW, but for me and my wife it's well worth it to spend an extra $100-200 to save 7 hours of driving and dealing with Dallas traffic. Plus who wants to drive 3-4 hours just to get home after a long flight - not I.

Depends on how you value your time. Yes there are often dirt cheap fares out of DFW, but for me and my wife it's well worth it to spend an extra $100-200 to save 7 hours of driving and dealing with Dallas traffic. Plus who wants to drive 3-4 hours just to get home after a long flight - not I.

I agree with you on driving to Dallas to fly somewhere else. But if I’m actually going to Dallas, driving makes more sense to me. Living on the south side of the metro, the time saving is pretty minimal. Now if I needed to do work in the airport and on the plane, then it would be a different consideration.

WN can "damage control" all they want with the BNA add news, but I think we all know that extra flight won't last long considering there are far fewer connection options there compared to DAL. There is certainly not enough OKC-BNA O&D traffic to support that. I would much rather have seen them add additional flights to STL, MDW, or even SAN (west coast connections) over a daily BNA flight.

Traveling to SAT as much as I do, this just made a trip on WN significantly longer. Guess it will be AA from now on.

It makes sense when you look at all the factors at play:

1) WN needs the available aircraft time. They have committed to an aggressive expansion campaign in Hawaii. OKC-DAL (round trip) occupies around 8 hours of aircraft block time per day. If you factor in turn times you’ll approach 10 hours of fleet utilization for the market. Most airlines have around 13-17 hours of daily utilization per airplane. So in a worst case scenario OKC-DAL requires 76% of an aircrafts available time, and in a best case scenario it requires 60%. Of course realistic routing doesn’t necessarily mean one airplane is doing DAL-OKC-DAL all day, but it’s still occupying the resources of “60-75% of one plane”.

2) DAL is gate restrained and operating at capacity. This move gives WN some breathing room and some space to use those gate times for other, more profitable flying.

3) Dallas is a powerhouse of an O&D Market now. They don’t need the low-yield connecting traffic from OKC to fill seats out of DAL. Is it better to sell OKC-DAL-LAX for $189 or DAL-LAX for $169? The connections dilute the strong O&D market. Southwest has to work harder to make less money.

If you combine all of those factors you’ll see it makes sense for them. If you have a route that is primarily connections, occupying aircraft time which you desperately need, and is occupying gates in one of your most constrained airports you’ll see why they came to the conclusion.

One other thing that wasn't mentioned but could be likely, is that 4) OKC has grown such that connecting flights are no longer "NECESSARY" for OKC to have service. Some markets can't support direct/non-stop city pairs but OKC can and perhaps we'll see more of that from WN. Think about it, OKC has WN nonstop to BWI and DCA.

And one final thing, 5) OKC-DAL is just too close for it to be profitable esp when most OKC pax are connecting. Might be more profitable to lighten DAL for other routes but dedicate more OKC city pairs. I don't see this as a cut by WN at all, overall it might result in OKC becoming a mini-focus city. ...

If the business O/D is that significant, they could add OKC-DAL back after the MAX issue gets resolved (not sure if they were impacted). But even then you'd just probably see flights during the rush hours - and likely most of those business O/D use corporate or charter anyway.

From Dale Denwalt’s story in this morning’s Oklahoman: “American Airlines is the only other carrier offering daily service between Oklahoma City and Dallas with nine daily flights.” (Emphasis mine)

If you’re flying anywhere - nationally or internationally - you’ll probably fly a legacy carrier, and have to connect in DFW, ORD or ATL. To me this cements AA OKC-DFW as my gateway to the world unless I can fly direct through another carrier.

Where I think this hurts is the lack of connecting service to other cities in Texas especially for the O&G industry like Midland, San Antonio and Corpus Christi you can fly to all of them on AA via DFW but now you just have that option, or you connect through Hobby on Southwest.

It will be interesting to see what Delta does with their focus City in Austin. Will it just be mainly flights to hubs and large business centers or will they do some regional flights to OKC, MAF, CRP, TUL, LIT, etc

Where I think this hurts is the lack of connecting service to other cities in Texas especially for the O&G industry like Midland, San Antonio and Corpus Christi you can fly to all of them on AA via DFW but now you just have that option, or you connect through Hobby on Southwest.

It will be interesting to see what Delta does with their focus City in Austin. Will it just be mainly flights to hubs and large business centers or will they do some regional flights to OKC, MAF, CRP, TUL, LIT, etc
I was thinking Delta might give us flights to some of their focus cities such as Seattle or Boston or New York or even Austin, but we get jack from them.

One other thing that wasn't mentioned but could be likely, is that 4) OKC has grown such that connecting flights are no longer "NECESSARY" for OKC to have service. Some markets can't support direct/non-stop city pairs but OKC can and perhaps we'll see more of that from WN. Think about it, OKC has WN nonstop to BWI and DCA.

And one final thing, 5) OKC-DAL is just too close for it to be profitable esp when most OKC pax are connecting. Might be more profitable to lighten DAL for other routes but dedicate more OKC city pairs. I don't see this as a cut by WN at all, overall it might result in OKC becoming a mini-focus city. ...

If the business O/D is that significant, they could add OKC-DAL back after the MAX issue gets resolved (not sure if they were impacted). But even then you'd just probably see flights during the rush hours - and likely most of those business O/D use corporate or charter anyway.

I think those are great points. OKC-Dallas will always be dominated by AA just due to the massive size of DFW, which shows no signs of slowing down. Seriously, as much as I hate what US Airways management has done to AA, the worldwide connectivity out of DFW now is seriously impressive. I'm guessing WN looked at the OKC-originating pax that either went to or through DAL, and concluded that the connecting pax could easily be accomodated elsewhere, and the OKC-DAL O&D just wasn't enough.

WN relies a lot on brand loyalty - so those of you who use WN to connect to places in TX, I'm guessing you'll just switch to connecting through HOU and move on with life.

I was thinking Delta might give us flights to some of their focus cities such as Seattle or Boston or New York or even Austin, but we get jack from them.

It is quite disappointing how little DL has grown in OKC compared to WN/AA. But hey they're going to occupy the new gates so that's cool I guess.

Effective Dec Only AA OKC-LAX returns to 3 daily

Effective Jan-Mar UA suspends EWR-OKC.

Effective Dec Only AA OKC-LAX returns to 3 dailyIs it at the expense of PHX? Going to PHX in Dec and had to book SW (unfortunately) because AA had only one flight a day and it was late afternoon.