Hello all,

Going to get this started with a baseline schedule for Jan 2021. 1/11/21 is the date I am using.

Alaska Airlines
SEA 1x E75

Allegiant Air
LAS (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service; operates Su Th)
LAX (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service begins 6/2)
SFB (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service begins 5/26)
VPS (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service begins 4/16)

American Airlines
CLT 3x (2x E75; 1x CR7)
DCA Not Operating, but will likely return
DFW 6x (3x CR7; 2x 319; 1x E75)
LAX Not Operating, but will likely return
LGA Not Operating, but will likely return
MIA Not Operating, but will likely return
ORD 1x CR7
PHL Not Operating, but will likely return
PHX 2x CR7

Delta Air Lines
ATL 5x (3x CR9; 2x 712)
DTW Not Operating, but will likely return
MSP 2x CR9
SLC 2x E75

Frontier Airlines
DEN (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service; operates Su Th)
MCO (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service begins 3/7)
LAS (Not operating on date, 2x weekly service begins 3/15)

Southwest Airlines
ATL (Not operating on date, 3x weekly service begins 2/7)
BNA (Not operating on date, operates Sa)
BWI Not operating, but will likely return
DCA (Not operating on date, 1x daily service begins 4/11)
DEN 2x 737
HOU 3x 737
LAS 1x 737
MCO (Not operating on date, 1x weekly service begins 3/13)
MDW (Not operating on date, operates Sa)
PHX 2x 737
STL 1x 737

United Airlines
DEN 3x (2x CR2; 1x E75)
EWR Not operating, but will likely return
IAD Not operating, but will likely return
IAH 4x E75
ORD 2x (1x E75; 1x CR5)
SFO Not operating, but will likely return

Happy New Year!

As always, thanks a lot Catch!

Great info, thank you. I found out that WN was trying MCO once again when I was trying to book OKC-MHT and they were offering MCO as a connection. The only other connection they were offering was via MDW. And these were the ONLY two flights they were offering for a date in late July! We almost always fly thru BWI on that route, but it was not offered! I suppose it is likely that they will add seats to routes as things open up later in the spring for the summer, but as of now, there are not a lot of options on this route at least. Unusual times to be sure.

Southwest will now have the largest planes at OKC, I really like seeing the larger planes come in, but alas they usually are military or freighters.

Great info, thank you. I found out that WN was trying MCO once again when I was trying to book OKC-MHT and they were offering MCO as a connection. The only other connection they were offering was via MDW. And these were the ONLY two flights they were offering for a date in late July! We almost always fly thru BWI on that route, but it was not offered! I suppose it is likely that they will add seats to routes as things open up later in the spring for the summer, but as of now, there are not a lot of options on this route at least. Unusual times to be sure.

I really liked the one stop in BWI for MHT. We are looking at taking a road trip, instead of flying, this year with out destination being the White Mountains.

I really liked the one stop in BWI for MHT. We are looking at taking a road trip, instead of flying, this year with out destination being the White Mountains.

If I had more vacation time, I would LOVE to drive back east! The White Mountains (and New Hampshire in general--say as opposed to VT and ME) are/is an under-appreciated destination outside of the northeast--a very beautiful and charming place to visit any time of the year.

Hopefully, more connections between OKC and MHT will open up as we move closer to summer.

I really liked the one stop in BWI for MHT. We are looking at taking a road trip, instead of flying, this year with out destination being the White Mountains.

I used BWI as a one-stop connection on Southwest from OKC to PWM (Portland ME) a few years ago. Another great spot to start a road trip along the Maine coast, especially if you like eating fresh lobster and clam chowder!

Nice rundown, catch! Here's hoping we see at least some kind of recovery this year. OKC was on quite a roll pre-COVID. Was especially excited for AA's OKC-LGA flight. Would love AA to resume OKC-LAX as soon as feasible! If DL wanted to get in on that route, I wouldn't mind that either.

You aren’t kidding about the LAX-OKC flight. That has really impacted me and it’ll be like a breath of fresh air once it resumes. I just wish it was Southwest operating it. Sometimes I’ll hop on a bus to Vegas when I can take it easy just to fly SW to OKC.

You aren’t kidding about the LAX-OKC flight. That has really impacted me and it’ll be like a breath of fresh air once it resumes. I just wish it was Southwest operating it. Sometimes I’ll hop on a bus to Vegas when I can take it easy just to fly SW to OKC.

I have always wondered why this route hasn't been flown by WN. I have to think it would do well.

Several factors:

1) LAX is extremely competitive. This drives yields/prices down - for a route like OKC-LAC to work you need a certain percentage of downline contribution (connection traffic). Network carriers such as AA offer this in the form of Hawaii and Intl Pacific, even offline connections (oneworld). Southwest can't touch that, although they are trying Hawaii.

2) LAX is a gate constrained airport. Southwest has plenty of gates, but they cant get anymore. They are essentially maxed out on gate space. Adding OKC-LAX would require them reduce service in a different market. There are always markets that can be cut or reduced, but is it worth it? Let's assume Southwest's worse performing market in LAX has the least desirable time slot. Such as a 10pm arrival in LAX and a 6am departure out of LAX. Trading that time window to an OKC flight might be equally or even less profitable than whatever route is "fortunate" enough to operate at those times.

TLDR: Markets like LAX are highly competitive; very expensive to operate in; maxed out assets require a potential market to significantly outperform whatever route is currently using that asset

Several factors:

1) LAX is extremely competitive. This drives yields/prices down - for a route like OKC-LAC to work you need a certain percentage of downline contribution (connection traffic). Network carriers such as AA offer this in the form of Hawaii and Intl Pacific, even offline connections (oneworld). Southwest can't touch that, although they are trying Hawaii.

2) LAX is a gate constrained airport. Southwest has plenty of gates, but they cant get anymore. They are essentially maxed out on gate space. Adding OKC-LAX would require them reduce service in a different market. There are always markets that can be cut or reduced, but is it worth it? Let's assume Southwest's worse performing market in LAX has the least desirable time slot. Such as a 10pm arrival in LAX and a 6am departure out of LAX. Trading that time window to an OKC flight might be equally or even less profitable than whatever route is "fortunate" enough to operate at those times.

TLDR: Markets like LAX are highly competitive; very expensive to operate in; maxed out assets require a potential market to significantly outperform whatever route is currently using that asset

Definitely makes sense - with Hawaii and the Pacific at near zero compared to what it was, I can see how OKC-LAX would be a tough one for AA at the moment. Do you know if they closed the Eagle's Nest at LAX also? As much as I hated it, it was worth it for the nonstop flights.

Several factors:

1) LAX is extremely competitive. This drives yields/prices down - for a route like OKC-LAC to work you need a certain percentage of downline contribution (connection traffic). Network carriers such as AA offer this in the form of Hawaii and Intl Pacific, even offline connections (oneworld). Southwest can't touch that, although they are trying Hawaii.

2) LAX is a gate constrained airport. Southwest has plenty of gates, but they cant get anymore. They are essentially maxed out on gate space. Adding OKC-LAX would require them reduce service in a different market. There are always markets that can be cut or reduced, but is it worth it? Let's assume Southwest's worse performing market in LAX has the least desirable time slot. Such as a 10pm arrival in LAX and a 6am departure out of LAX. Trading that time window to an OKC flight might be equally or even less profitable than whatever route is "fortunate" enough to operate at those times.

TLDR: Markets like LAX are highly competitive; very expensive to operate in; maxed out assets require a potential market to significantly outperform whatever route is currently using that asset

Thank you; a very interesting perspective. As an avgeek, I could talk this stuff all day long!

Pardon my ignorance in airlines language.

Are you guys talking about a direct flight from OKC to LAX?

There are, I think, 4 other airports that Southwest flies into the the LA general area. Ontario, Burbank, I can't recall the other 2.

Since LAX is maxed out, I'm just curious why Southwest might not offer a direct flight to one of the other LA area airports?

I have flown Southwest Ontario airport before, it was fine.

Anyway, just a curious thought and question, thanks for letting me show my lack of knowledge in this area.

I appreciate reading you guys comments on the OKC airport and flights.

Pardon my ignorance in airlines language.

Are you guys talking about a direct flight from OKC to LAX?

There are, I think, 4 other airports that Southwest flies into the the LA general area. Ontario, Burbank, I can't recall the other 2.

Since LAX is maxed out, I'm just curious why Southwest might not offer a direct flight to one of the other LA area airports?

I have flown Southwest Ontario airport before, it was fine.

Anyway, just a curious thought and question, thanks for letting me show my lack of knowledge in this area.

I appreciate reading you guys comments on the OKC airport and flights.

Yes, we were talking about an OKC-LAX nonstop on Southwest (WN is the International Air Transport Assoc. airline designator). Southwest flies to LAX, BUR, ONT, SNA (Orange Cty.), and soon LGB (Long Beach). I'll take a stab at answering a question based off of Catch's answer above. Capacity is probably a factor as these airports are considerably smaller. Also, I have heard there is a marketing challenge with helping people) who don't know the southland well) understand that these airports are secondary L.A. airports because they do not contain the name Los Angeles. A couple of them have tried in the past to include the name Los Angeles in their official names so that people understand that! So, it might be a hard sell, even if they did have capacity, to market a OKC-BUR nonstop, let's say, as opposed to an LAX flight. It's probably just not cost effective is the bottom line, when OKC has good connectivity out west with WN at two of their hubs that direction, LAS and PHX. Even DEN can be a good connection for SoCal from OKC. So, when they can just put you through a hub instead of launching an OKC-LAX nonstop, they're gonna do it. We'd have to be a bit bigger market to get a nonstop to LAX on WN (for instance MCI and STL are other heartland markets that have an LAX nonstop, but those metros are about a million/million and a half bigger than we are in population).

I would love to see an OKC flight to LA area to an airport that isn’t LAX. That would be a dream come true. Long Beach is expanding or remodeling IIRC, Ontario, OC, and Burbank are great airports I’d have no issue with.

Thank you for responding, I appreciate it, I've learned some new things.

I would love to see an OKC flight to LA area to an airport that isn’t LAX. That would be a dream come true. Long Beach is expanding or remodeling IIRC, Ontario, OC, and Burbank are great airports I’d have no issue with.

It would be great to have a fight to a secondary L.A. airport. I have used all except SNA, but I think BUR is my favorite. For one I grew up in its flight path, but it is my preferred airport when going to L.A., it is SO easy to use in an area where crowds everywhere you turn are the norm rather than the exception. Highly recommend using BUR.

I have reservations on AA in June for the non-stop OKC-LAX for a multigenerational trip. So, I hope it is back up and running by then. It is planned to be our first trip since Covid started. I hope all of us can get a vaccine by then; if not we would have to cancel regardless of if the flight has restarted.

I think we will just have to be thankful for whatever actually returns this year and next. Service to secondary airports is a pipe dream when we don't even have service to the primary.

Alaska tried SNA-ABQ a few years ago and I don't think it worked out.

It would be great to have a fight to a secondary L.A. airport. I have used all except SNA, but I think BUR is my favorite. For one I grew up in its flight path, but it is my preferred airport when going to L.A., it is SO easy to use in an area where crowds everywhere you turn are the norm rather than the exception. Highly recommend using BUR.

Great in that it’s an easy airport to get in and out of - the actual airport is terribly outdated and in need of a renovation. Reminds me of the OKC airport before the rebuild.

If I’m flying to Los Angeles I prefer BUR and SNA. Haven’t done ONT but I’ve heard it’s equally easy. Same for San Francisco -I much prefer SJC and OAK depending on where I’m going in the Bay Area

Great in that it’s an easy airport to get in and out of - the actual airport is terribly outdated and in need of a renovation. Reminds me of the OKC airport before the rebuild.

If I’m flying to Los Angeles I prefer BUR and SNA. Haven’t done ONT but I’ve heard it’s equally easy. Same for San Francisco -I much prefer SJC and OAK depending on where I’m going in the Bay Area

We've considered flying into ONT but man, it is FAR from LA proper. If you're going anywhere inland then ONT would work, but otherwise, ONT is quite a haul from LA or Orange County.


I have reservations on AA in June for the non-stop OKC-LAX for a multigenerational trip. So, I hope it is back up and running by then. It is planned to be our first trip since Covid started. I hope all of us can get a vaccine by then; if not we would have to cancel regardless of if the flight has restarted.

Certainly hope it's running by then, and I appreciate you wanting to get vaccinated!!!


I would love to see an OKC flight to LA area to an airport that isn’t LAX. That would be a dream come true. Long Beach is expanding or remodeling IIRC, Ontario, OC, and Burbank are great airports I’d have no issue with.

Can't see this happening anytime in the near future - an OKC-SNA/ONT/BUR flight would be the definition of point-to-point and would have to survive on local traffic alone. Hard to see any airline biting on that when LAX offers both the O&D and worldwide connections.

Great in that it’s an easy airport to get in and out of - the actual airport is terribly outdated and in need of a renovation. Reminds me of the OKC airport before the rebuild.

If I’m flying to Los Angeles I prefer BUR and SNA. Haven’t done ONT but I’ve heard it’s equally easy. Same for San Francisco -I much prefer SJC and OAK depending on where I’m going in the Bay Area
Ontario is very easy airport to get in and out. Good if you are going to Riverside, Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, West Covina, and other places on the east. And, it’s usually much cheaper to fly into for a short drive to Palm Springs/Cochilla Valley than flying into Palm Springs airport.
J

Flying Southwest to Houston tomorrow morning, gonna be interesting to see how full of a flight it will be.

They've been fuller than you might expect

They've been fuller than you might expect

And then yesterday was the lowest TSA passenger screening since July. Up and down... flights may be more full but it's still primarily because the overall number of flights is down.

And then yesterday was the lowest TSA passenger screening since July. Up and down... flights may be more full but it's still primarily because the overall number of flights is down.

it's also January

Flying Southwest to Houston tomorrow morning, gonna be interesting to see how full of a flight it will be.

Just got back from SLC via Southwest and our flights were packed both to and from our connections in Denver.

Working in a hub kind of gives me a visual on a large number of flights. It's very hit or miss. There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to the patterns of full vs empty. Sometimes a flight to Riverton WY or Cody WY will have more people on it than a trip to OKC. Or OKC will come in completely full but a TUL flight next door will have 6 people on it. 150 open seats to Ft Lauderdale one day but overbooked the next.

Super frustrating for network planning.

Just got back from SLC via Southwest and our flights were packed both to and from our connections in Denver.

Shoulda stopped by Concourse B, I feel like I am at work 24/7 right now!

Now that United has insourced the united express work in Denver, I moved over to work Express. I typically work B80 and B82. if anyone is coming through send me a message and say hello. Nice working the small planes again - reminds me of working in OKC. Just a lot more flights. lol.

Also some good news. American is bumping OKC-CLT back to 3 daily in March. Still a long ways to go, however. But it is a good sign!

Also some good news. American is bumping OKC-CLT back to 3 daily in March. Still a long ways to go, however. But it is a good sign!Not that I can do anything about it (the understatement of the year/pandemic) but I wonder how far ahead AA will firm up their June schedule. I see the OKC-LAX flights are there now starting April 2, but that would be a really random time to re-start them. I assume April 1 was the end of the last schedule load that took them out. For instance, I would hate for them to take out the OKC-LAX flights for June on the next load, us to get re-routed through DFW for our June trip, then AA re-instate them before our trip because of a huge increase in travel bookings. :eek:

AA is publishing its actual schedule in 4 week chunks, approx 60 days out. April should be loaded this time next month. May in March, June in April. This is tighter than usual as usually they publish monthly updates 90 days out, with a final schedule (like flight number changes, change of equipment, moving times within 30 mins, etc) posted 60 days out.

AA is publishing its actual schedule in 4 week chunks, approx 60 days out. April should be loaded this time next month. May in March, June in April. This is tighter than usual as usually they publish monthly updates 90 days out, with a final schedule (like flight number changes, change of equipment, moving times within 30 mins, etc) posted 60 days out.Thanks. That's great info.

BTW, if we feel comfortable enough to make this trip to LAX (which is a big family trip) I bet we make a couple summer DEN trips on UA to get to mountains too. I think those flights are pretty much a given that they won't go anywhere. We also are looking forward to the SFO flights returning because it makes for a great getaway to the city or Half Moon Bay, one of our favorites. We are very much looking forward to traveling again. Our last flight was in December 2019. :ohno:

AA cancelled OKC-DFW through Wednesday. I have a flight connecting in DFW Thursday morning.

I have a feeling they will cancel the OKC-DFW portion to make space on the runways come Thursday and my final destination flight will be on schedule. It seems the weather in Dallas starts improving late Wednesday. Is my thinking out of line? Or does Thursday out of DFW look grim?

A massive gray plane heading SW just west of 150th and Western just went over my house about ~5 min ago. Anyone tell me what it was?

Italian Air Force KC-767 Tanker

My initial guess would be avionics work at Field Aero (former ARINC).

https://i.gyazo.com/5af2d784ae01a3e2d57941a183024e5c.png

https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/7/4/9/6076947-v4ba93926915-15.jpg

https://www.airliners.net/photo/Italy-Air-Force/Boeing-KC-767A-767-2EY-ER/6076947/L

Nice. Don't look up and see something like that so low that often

Nice. Don't look up and see something like that so low that often

Flightradar24 is a pretty useful app to have on your phone for things like that.

In unrelated news, looks like AA is going to make an attempt at resuming OKC-LAX beginning in April with 1 daily RT. We will see if that sticks in future updates. It is on the edge of the 60-day booking window so they have a few weeks to change their mind.

In unrelated news, looks like AA is going to make an attempt at resuming OKC-LAX beginning in April with 1 daily RT. We will see if that sticks in future updates. It is on the edge of the 60-day booking window so they have a few weeks to change their mind.Yay! I hope it sticks since I plan on that being my first flight since Covid in June.

Flightradar24 is a pretty useful app to have on your phone for things like that.

Will it also work for military aircraft? I have seen a few B-1 Lancers flying around but the other day I saw something that had a similar silhouette, but I thought the engines were different. It was flying extremely low and extremely quiet. Like I saw it before I heard it.

Will it also work for military aircraft? I have seen a few B-1 Lancers flying around but the other day I saw something that had a similar silhouette, but I thought the engines were different. It was flying extremely low and extremely quiet. Like I saw it before I heard it.

Not always. Sometimes I can ID a fly over and other times it doesn't show up at all.

I use ADSBExchange (https://globe.adsbexchange.com/) and they have a dedicated military filter (click the "U"), but yeah it doesn't capture B1s, B2s or any sort of fighter aircraft. Does a good job of capturing the tankers, E-6s, Sentries and trainers we see from Tinker and Vance though.

I use ADSBExchange (https://globe.adsbexchange.com/) and they have a dedicated military filter (click the "U"), but yeah it doesn't capture B1s, B2s or any sort of fighter aircraft. Does a good job of capturing the tankers, E-6s, Sentries and trainers we see from Tinker and Vance though.

Yes it does. I have seen many B-52's on ADSB. F16, F18, F35, A10,U2, F5, etc, and more. Some oddball stuff like old French Mirages, British Hawk Hunters, Israeli KFIR (these are all privately owned and operated), all the above flying over the USA. Did you know there are a few privately owned, not US Military owned, refueling jets on a DC10 and 707 airframes?

The trick is, they have to have their ADSB machine turned on and operating. I don't know how the laws and regulations work, but they, the military, can turn it ADSB off and on as they deem fit to do so.

If you go to ADSB RIGHT NOW, and click the "U" tab on the upper right area of the page, you will see a B-52 over the middle of Kansas, and you will see Two U-2's flying, one is in central Central California in the general area of Bakersfield, and another one flying in South Texas NW of Laredo. The one near Laredo keeps
turning his ADSB off and on, or something, it comes and goes on the screen, sometimes you can click the + and - keys to zoom in and out a bit to make it reappear.

Also you SAM 28000 and 29000 (Air Force One planes, when they want to identify as such) you can see them.

If you click on the icon of the U2 flying near Laredo, well that's interesting. Wonder if it's just a routine training flight, or he's looking for something specific. HMMM..

Yes it does. I have seen many B-52's on ADSB. F16, F18, F35, A10,U2, F5, etc, and more. Some oddball stuff like old French Mirages, British Hawk Hunters, Israeli KFIR (these are all privately owned and operated), all the above flying over the USA. Did you know there are a few privately owned, not US Military owned, refueling jets on a DC10 and 707 airframes?

The trick is, they have to have their ADSB machine turned on and operating. I don't know how the laws and regulations work, but they, the military, can turn it ADSB off and on as they deem fit to do so.

Yeah BUFFs they definitely capture, kinda interesting to follow those long-range missions they did from Minot to the middle east and back in one flight.

I haven't seen any fighters or B-1s B-2s before but maybe I'm just not looking in the right areas. Anyways, it's a fun tab to keep open in the background and check out occasionally, especially if DFW has to send diversions our way.

AA is bringing back OKC-LAX starting on April 4 .

Thank god!

Gonna be interesting to see how much of a rebound we see. I'd love to see summer 2022 matching or even exceeding our numbers from summer 2019

Gonna be interesting to see how much of a rebound we see. I'd love to see summer 2022 matching or even exceeding our numbers from summer 2019

That would be great. I think that depends on a lot of other countries vaccination progress. I really think the international travel is down the most.

Looks like the rebound is happening sooner rather than later... hopefully

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/airline-travel-demand-growing-locally-and-nationally/article_32246b42-85ac-11eb-955c-e375497bcc1d.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

Shoulda stopped by Concourse B, I feel like I am at work 24/7 right now!

Now that United has insourced the united express work in Denver, I moved over to work Express. I typically work B80 and B82. if anyone is coming through send me a message and say hello. Nice working the small planes again - reminds me of working in OKC. Just a lot more flights. lol.

I may be flying to Denver in a month. I'll definitely let you know and stop by!

~~~ gooood neewwss~~~

Not sure when it happened, but it looks like Alaska has resumed mainline service to SEA. 737 now, before COVID it was an Airbus.

Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also wonder why Feb numbers taking so long

Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also wonder why Feb numbers taking so long

I was really worried AS (in OKC) wouldn’t survive this. Glad to see they have rebounded on this market.

It was a fairly marginal market. Despite being full, they initial reluctance to upgrade the route to mainline (the route started in 2015 and was a regional route until 2019) tells us that the volume or margins were borderline despite the planes being full. It’s a long and thin route. I was certain COVID would have been the end of this route for a while.

Glad to see it has strengthened back to pre-COVID levels.

I was on the inaugural SEA-OKC and OKC-SEA flights back in July of 2015. Can’t believe it has been 6 years now. Where does the time go?

I was really worried AS (in OKC) wouldn’t survive this. Glad to see they have rebounded on this market.

It was a fairly marginal market. Despite being full, they initial reluctance to upgrade the route to mainline (the route started in 2015 and was a regional route until 2019) tells us that the volume or margins were borderline despite the planes being full. It’s a long and thin route. I was certain COVID would have been the end of this route for a while.

Glad to see it has strengthened back to pre-COVID levels.

I was on the inaugural SEA-OKC and OKC-SEA flights back in July of 2015. Can’t believe it has been 6 years now. Where does the time go?Does Alaska joining Oneworld and strengthening partnership with American at SEA help this route further? For instance, would people wanting to book an AA ticket from OKC to SEA see this route pop up? Or someone wanting to fly OKC-SEA-Bangalore in the future when that AA route launches?

It doesn’t hurt. Codeshares aren’t automatic, I am not sure if AA/AS have a codeshare approved on OKC-SEA.

Interline/OAL travel is a different beast, and most airlines have interline agreements with each other, even fierce competitors. For example, When availability is nil on a route you are searching, UA may sell you an AA ticket through their booking engine just to keep you from going to AA’s website.

I saw today that AA was flying DCA-OKC and noticed the flight had been operating for a while. Someone refresh my memory, did that flight get suspended last year and when did it return?

Looks like it began operating 4/2/21, at least under PSA. It is a 700 now, used to be a Republic E175. That is good news. AA has been by far the most aggressive legacy carrier during the pandemic.

Not sure when it was suspended but probably early March or April last year.

I apologize for not keeping up with this thread as much, I feel myself distancing further and further from OKC as my life moves further and further away from Oklahoma.