Expressjet to start n/s service to/from OKC

[OUman]

This is the same Expressjet that operates the Continental Express RJ's at CO's hubs at CLE, EWR and IAH, but Expressjet Holdings Inc. has created its own airline, the name of which is Expressjet Airlines (like Mesa Airlines of NM). The new airline will be adding n/s point-topoint service between Oklahoma City and various cities, none of which have been disclosed as of yet. Here's the article from The Oklahoman:

A Houston-based airline soon will offer nonstop service from Oklahoma City to destinations not available without interruption.
ExpressJet Airlines Inc., which until recently operated as Continental Express, will begin flying out of Will Rogers World Airport in April, airline spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said.


The airline's goal is to offer nonstop service to cities that currently do not have nonstop flights from Oklahoma City.
"We feel like Oklahoma City is the right size market for ExpressJet,” Nicholas said.
Nicholas said she could not comment on what cities ExpressJet will offer nonstop service to, but she said the airline will start selling tickets Thursday.
She said ticket prices will compete with current market prices.
Mark Kranenburg, director of Will Rogers World Airport, said ExpressJet Airlines contacted the airport several months ago about introducing nonstop service.
"We are always talking to airlines about additional service in Oklahoma City,” Kranenburg said.
Will Rogers' latest nonstop addition was in September when United Airlines began its nonstop service to Los Angeles.
Other cities that have nonstop service from Oklahoma City are Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Las Vegas, Memphis, Tenn., Minneapolis, Orlando, Fla., Phoenix, Salt Lake City and St. Louis.
Oklahoma City is one of 24 cities where ExpressJet is adding service.
Other cities include New Orleans, Omaha, Neb., and San Diego. ExpressJet will have daily flights and will operate a fleet of 50-seat Embraer jets.
The company plans to buy 69 aircraft later in the year.
ExpressJet will provide travelers with convenience, Nicholas said.
She said layovers cost travelers time and can turn a trip to a destination two hours away into a five-hour journey.
ExpressJet wants to do the exact opposite.
"What ExpressJet is hoping to do is to decrease some of the elapsed time and give travelers some of their time back,” Nicholas said.
"We feel like
Oklahoma City is the right size market for ExpressJet.” Airline spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas

True, it's all RJ service, but if Expresjet does it right, this is the best time to start nonstop service at OKC. Pax numbers have been rising while air service is trimmed down. Expressjet has a good track record as Continental Express, so I'm pretty excited about this.

The first aircraft painted in the airline's livery: Airliners.net Photos: ExpressJet Airlines Embraer EMB-145XR (ERJ-145XR)

[mranderson]

Yet another airline to fold within a year or two. Or for American to buy and retire the name.

I wonder why they would not release the city pairs. Especially since ticket sales start Thursday, which I presume means tomorrow.

At least it is more service. However, I am sick of these puddlejumper jets. We need 757 and larger.

I Know. You so called experts, especially those who refuse to reveal why you think you are an expert will claim lack of passagers. That theory is crap.

[Karried]

I Know. You so called experts, especially those who refuse to reveal why you think you are an expert will claim lack of passagers. That theory is crap.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a discussion without fighting with everyone?

Okay, I'll bite.

Can you please reveal why you are an expert on air travel?

[BDP]

I Know. You so called experts, especially those who refuse to reveal why you think you are an expert will claim lack of passagers. That theory is crap.

Yeah, it's strange that any company would base their supply on any kind of real demand. I know that everytime someone wants to buy 2 things from me I go ahead and invest in 10, just to be bigger.



Then again, maybe you're right. Airlines do love losing money. Why not lose some more in Oklahoma City, too.

[metro]

Good one BDP, perhaps mranderson should be the new director at Will Rogers and land us all these hubs.

[OUman]

Says in this article that Expressjet will pursue a "Goldilocks Strategy." Meaning it will fly routes that are good fits for its RJ's:

Source: Smaller cities on radar of new airline : National-World : Albuquerque Tribune

Should be interesting to see how this works. A couple of things going for Expressjet are that it has a proven track record as a profitable feeder as Continental Express and it is not a low cost airline, its fares will be pretty much similar to other airlines. In The Oklahoman article it was stated that it has done market research before setting these new routes up. Also, it will have free XM satellite radio in all aircraft and free snacks. The route announcements will be on the coming Monday.

[venture]

ExpressJet will operate nonstop to Tulsa, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Diego, Ontario, and Sacramento.

[venture]

Yet another airline to fold within a year or two. Or for American to buy and retire the name.

I wonder why they would not release the city pairs. Especially since ticket sales start Thursday, which I presume means tomorrow.

At least it is more service. However, I am sick of these puddlejumper jets. We need 757 and larger.

I Know. You so called experts, especially those who refuse to reveal why you think you are an expert will claim lack of passagers. That theory is crap.

What would we do on this board without you? LOL Anyway...

The pairs are released, see my post above.

ExpressJet has been around for decades, starting as Britt Airways in the midwest. Why would American buy them? Did you miss the part this airline has been married to Continental for years?

Anyways...this is an interesting concept, and one that really needed to be attempted. Indy Air tried, but with a hub-and-spoke concept. Many believe the RJ was meant for a role like this...connecting a bunch of O&D markets that are too thin for any other level of service.

757s or larger would be a waste on these routes. Sure we would all love the fly larger jets, but lets be honest...there is no way a 757 is getting filled daily to San Antonio or to Sacramento. The break even on these RJs will probably be around 35 pax.

I don't think any of us aviation buffs have refused anything.

[venture]

Figured I would throw the rest of cities getting service up here...

Spokane, Boise, Sacramento, Fresno, Monterey, Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, Tucson, El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Omaha, Kansas City, Louisville, New Orleans, Birmingham, Raleigh/Durham, and Jacksonville.

Out of just these cities...I can see a weekend trip to Corpus, resumption of previous UAX service to New Orleans, and also flights to Jacksonville. Colorado Springs is another possiblity as WestPac and Great Plains both operated it from OKC with some success.

This will be interesting. Other markets I see them going, not specifically from OKC, would be Portland (OR), Reno, Little Rock, Des Moines, Duluth, Madison, Springfield (IL), Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Toledo, Dayton, Tri-Cities, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Sanford, St. Pete, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Washington Dulles, Harrisburg, Syracuse, Rochester, and Newburgh.

Okay I'm done posting for a bit. I'll try to track down the flight schedules.

[writerranger]

ExpressJet will operate nonstop to Tulsa, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Diego, Ontario, and Sacramento.

San Diego -- non-stop! Great news. Thanks Venture.....

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[brianinok]

Wow! That's fantastic. I do wonder how Tulsa will do since it is so close. And Sacremento seems odd, but maybe we have more traffic to/from there than I think. It will be great to have service to all these cities. I guess with this, ExpressJet becomes the carrier with the most non-stop cities from WRWA.

Do you know if they will codeshare with anyone, or will the have their own rewards program?

[OUman]

ExpressJet will operate nonstop to Tulsa, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Diego, Ontario, and Sacramento.

Are you serious?!! Holy cow! All these cities from Oklahoma City nonstop? That's fantastic, I hope all do well. Though I dunno about Tulsa, the route is too short and doesn't have that many passengers and a lot of people drive anyway.

[brianinok]

venture, where did you get that information? (if you're willing to part with it.....)

[OUman]

^He got it here:

ExpressJet

If you browse the website you'll find the route map and the cities served, and also that it will launch its own FF program.

[chrisok]

Definitely not much O/D traffic to and from TUL.

Tulsa may be more of a connecting route. Kind of way Delta used to do it. Say you needed to get to some city, but couldn't get the earlier flight n/s from OKC. Just hop on the flight to Tulsa and go from there. (Or the other way around.)

[writerranger]

Tulsa is not listed as a non-stop from OKC. They have service with ExpressJet, but not to and from Oklahoma City. At least, that's according to this:

Destination List From OKC

Oklahoma City, OK (OKC)
Albuquerque, NM ------ April 16
Austin, TX ------------ April 23
Ontario, CA ----------- April 16
Sacramento, CA ------- May 7
San Antonio, TX ------- TBA
San Diego, CA --------- May 7

Venture, do you know if they had Tulsa on the route schedule, but removed it?

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[chrisok]

The interactive route map shows flights to/from TUL.

I agree CRP, MSY, and COS could be nice additions. I'd also like to see maybe BHM, and RDU, especially if US doesn't add CLT.

[jbrown84]

Big surprise. There is nothing about this on flyokc.com. This will be the updated list of non-stop destinations:

Albuquerque
Atlanta
Austin
Chicago O'Hare
Cincinnati
Dallas Love
D/FW
Denver
Detroit
Houston Hobby
Houston Bush
Kansas City
Las Vegas
LAX
Memphis
Minneapolis
Newark
Ontario, CA
Phoenix
Sacramento
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
St. Louis

[OUman]

^Well, the official press release hasn't been out yet, that will likely be on Monday when Expressjet officially discloses the routes and schedules. So let's wait and see what the airport does.

[Lauri101]

~~sigh~~

I was really hoping for a non-stop to DCA.

I am so tired of having to take a day to travel to Washington!

[metro]

Can you all talk in non-flight person lingo so us layfolks can understand you.

[mranderson]

Can you all talk in non-flight person lingo so us layfolks can understand you.

To whom are you addressing the request?

[writerranger]

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I think Metro is talking about this kind of talk, which means something if you're in the industry, but not much to the lay person........

I agree CRP, MSY, and COS could be nice additions. I'd also like to see maybe BHM, and RDU, especially if US doesn't add CLT.

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[mranderson]

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I think Metro is talking about this kind of talk, which means something if you're in the industry, but not much to the lay person........



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That may be the "what," however, the question was to whom. Not what.

[writerranger]

That may be the "what," however, the question was to whom. Not what.

Well, mranderson, I would guess to the posters who use their industry lingo. There's nobody upset here, chrisok didn't mean anything by the airport codes, etc. and metro didn't mean anything by asking for an interpretation. Just a plea for plain-talk (pardon the pun) about the airport stuff for those of us who don't know the airports by their codes and what certain industry lingo means. No biggie.

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