2018 Oklahoma City Aviation Thread
2018 will begin in a couple of hours.
2018 schedule changes so far:
January - United drops nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX)
March - ViaAir begins 4x weekly nonstop service to Austin, TX (AUS)
April - American begins 1x daily nonstop service to Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
April - Frontier begins 4x weekly nonstop service to San Diego, CA (SAN)
April - Southwest resumes 1x weekly nonstop service to Orlando, FL (MCO)
May - United resumes 1x daily nonstop service to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR)
What to watch for:
Alaska:
I am hopeful to see the Seattle flight upgraded to a larger aircraft. The route has been operating for more than 2 years at 85-90% average capacity. That said, their hands are full with the buyout of Virgin America and the feeling is they have bit off more than they can chew. They are not devoting the same attention to route development as they were before the merger. In fact, they have been retreating due to their mismanagement of the pilot shortage at Horizon Air.
Allegiant:
No one really knows with them. Currently they offer service to LAS and SFB (Orlando-Sanford) with seasonal service to LAX and VPS (Destin, FL). If the numbers looked good last year, the possibility of the same service returning looks good. Maybe some kind of wildcard addition with them is possible. MSY wouldn't be a crazy bet. Although I am not expecting that.
American:
Not expecting any major changes outside of what has been announced, but I wouldn't rule out the faint possibility of either PHL or MIA service being announced. Later in the year we may see some changes depending on how the addition of PHX affects their other flights.
Delta:
Not expecting any changes. Summer schedule might see some changes (upgauges or additional frequencies) to hubs other than ATL. A wildcard is with UA leaving the OKC-LAX market, they may look to that as an opportunity to grow west. Currently DL has practically no west presence out of OKC. 2 RJ flights to SLC are a drop in the bucket compared to AA, UA, and WN.
Frontier:
They fall in the same bucket as Allegiant, they are really all over the place. I could see them changing the DEN flight to daily (it is currently daily, but when SAN begins it goes to 4x weekly) for the summer. If the Orlando flight has done well for them thus far, the possibility of them adding some frequency to that market also wouldn't be a long shot. I doubt we will see new destinations from them.
Southwest:
Not expecting any changes from them either. With American entering the OKC-PHX market they might attempt another flight there to round out their offerings, but I am not expecting them to put up a fight with them. It's not an important market in the grand scheme of things.
United:
Not expecting any changes. With the drop of OKC-LAX the possibility of a second SFO flight does increase, but I don't think it is necessarily likely. If it does, it might just be a summer change.
Via Air:
They begin 4x weekly service to Austin, TX in March. I don't expect them to last long in the market, unfortunately. But I would be thrilled to be proven wrong.
Current route map (combined)
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Originally Posted by Plutonic Panda
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