ExpressJet = WOW

[writerranger]

Anderson, To answer your question about it being the nearest major city west, so how could it NOT be non-stop....(The implication being that there's nowhere else to stop) flies in the face of our history with flights to Albuquerque. Many of us have flown to Dallas to get to Albuquerque, or Denver to Albuquerque or even Kansas City to Albuquerque. That's how.

-----

[Kerry]

OK - I'm putting an end to the maddness. There 3 types of flights; non-stop, direct, and connecting. Non-stop is from point A to point B without stoping in-between. Direct flight is from point A to point B with a stop in-between but no change of plane. Connecting is from A to B with one or more stops in-between and a change of plane.

Mr Anderson was just trying to point out that the flight to Albuquerque was non-stop, not direct. Can we move on now?

With some of the prices that have been stated on here I looked to see if I could get the family from JAX to OKC but they don't offer any connecting flights. I would have to buy two ticket for each person and have a long layover. To bad. BTW - I flew on one of the new Delta 757s last week and it was great. All leather seats and live Dish TV at every seat. Plus XM radio, free on-line CDs, and pay per view movies. Made the 45 minutes from ATL to JAX seem like 3 minutes.

[scotplum]

Actually, they DO have professional sports teams. The Isotopes for one.

Now. Back to topic.

You never disappoint.

[jbrown84]

Bait and switch.

[Jen at Airports]

Hello! It was great to visit okctalk.com and see discussion about ExpressJet's new services out of Will Rogers World Airport. The airline launches service to Sacramento and San Diego on Monday. Media are on both flights, so maybe we'll hear some more first-hand accounts of the new service. Also, more ExpressJet ads will be out soon - perhaps as early as Monday, May 7. There have been print ads in local papers and there is a billboard on Meridian near Airport Road. Stay tuned for some very cool changes to flyokc.com in the coming months, too.

By the way, there were two Elvis impersonators on the ExpressJet flight arriving from Albuquerque the other day. I wish I'd had my camera.

[brianinok]

Hi Jen! I assume you are the airport marketing director. If so, welcome. We're glad you've joined us at okctalk.com. I think most of us here think you are doing a great job in the short time you've been there. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to the website being updated and the changes you have planned.

[venture]

Jen...ditto what Brian said. WELCOME! You have definitely helped push things along from a public perspective.Just two things that I would throw out there now...America West is dead, I think it is time to replace it with US Airways finally on the site. The other...is there a plan to get the word out about XJet? Would hate to see it fail like Allegiant did...though I sill think we need them back with services to Florida that we dont have here.

[OUman]

The other...is there a plan to get the word out about XJet?

Also, more ExpressJet ads will be out soon - perhaps as early as Monday, May 7. There have been print ads in local papers and there is a billboard on Meridian near Airport Road. Stay tuned for some very cool changes to flyokc.com in the coming months, too.

------------
On another note, welcome to OKCTalk, it's great to have someone from our airport providing feedback and discussion, also, thank you for the great job you've been doing so far on the airport website with respect to the press releases and such. I noticed the terminal maps and a few other things need to be updated, but I'm assuming they'll be part of the changes you mentioned upcoming on flyokc.com.

[venture]

Wow I'm glad I can read. It was a long Friday. LOL

[Pete]

Yes, Jen is in fact the new PR & Marketing Director for the Department of Airports. And she's promised various website updates are on the way.

Here's a thread with more information:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...on-news-5.html

[HOT ROD]

Jenn, welcome to OKCTalk, as others have welcomed you.

I do hope that you stop by often as this group on this forum usually has excellent ideas and prospectives that will assist you in your position. You are one of the KEY representatives of Oklahoma City (visibility wise) and definitely I am elated to have you as a member of this forum.

Congratulations on you new job and I wish you the best because it will mean the best for Oklahoma City!!!! Keep up the good work, but yes...

We need to get the word out on this and ALL service from Oklahoma City. I think some dollars could be well spent in OKC/Tulsa/Lawton/Wichita/Little Rock/Amarillo/Falls/SW MO/NW AR about OKC's very nice and expanding selection of service; and also make it easy for them to get to/from the airport.

Hopefully - we can get our numbers up above 4m this year, and we should set additional goals out in future years as well.

Kudos!

[Doug Loudenback]

A friend who lives in San Antonio told me that ExpressJet might be planning an Okc/Corpus Christi direct flight.

Anyone know anything about that?

[Doug Loudenback]

Venture79, in this thread, http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...sjet#post83412 , you mentioned something about Corpus but I'm uncertain of the context. From ExpressJet's published routes, the only Corpus flight is Austin-Corpus.

As far as "trip reports" are concerned, I found this one at statesman.com | Guest blog: Lilly Rockwell Meanders | Anders Meanders , for what it's worth:

Guest blog: Lilly Rockwell Meanders
By Helen Anders | Saturday, May 26, 2007, 03:13 PM

Hello! This is Lilly Rockwell, a business reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. Travel writer Helen Anders was kind enough to let me guest-blog about my first trip on ExpressJet, a new airline in Austin.

I’m in a long-distance relationship, and my boyfriend lives in Florida. We try and visit each other about every six weeks. Needless to say, our trips to see each other often involve expensive airfare and unnecessary stops in cities like Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.

So when I heard about ExpressJet, a new airline that provides service from Austin to cities like Tucson, Ariz. and Jacksonville, Fla., I jumped at the chance to book my first flight.

I bought a ticket for about $270 round-trip from Austin to Jacksonville. I actually needed to get to Tallahassee, Fla., but at three hours away, Jacksonville didn’t seem so bad.

ExpresJet promises to be more than an ordinary airline. Borrowing a page from JetBlue, ExpressJet added a few amenities to make it stand out against competitors. It offers free XM satellite radio! Actual meals and snacks! And leather seats!

When I boarded my flight Friday night, I was surprised to see it was almost full. I got seat 1A, right next to the flight attendant’s pull-down seat and a step away from the cockpit. The leather felt great, although the seat didn’t feel especially roomy.

Right away I noticed the XM satellite radio in my armrest, but I wasn’t able to use it until the flight attendant passed out headphones after we were flying at a comfortable altitude. When I finally got ahold of some headphones, I found it was difficult to hear the music over the roar of the engine. I chose “Sounds of the ’90s” and could only faintly make out Sheryl Crow crooning about “wanting to have some fun.”

When meal time rolled around, about thirty minutes into the 2 1/2-hour flight, I was disappointed to learn ExpressJet only had turkey sandwiches. As a vegetarian, I declined and settled on some water and Oreo cookies.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. We landed right on time, and I found my bag easily after a 20-minute wait.

I have to say, the best part of the flight was that it was non-stop. Even though ExpressJet promises to be different from other airlines, it didn’t feel much different than if I were on Continental or Delta.

I’ll probably travel ExpressJet again, given the reasonable price and direct flights. But if you’re expecting a dazzling experience, you might be disappointed.

Although I could find nothing at either ExpressJet website ( ExpressJet or ExpressJet Holdings ) which posted detailed info about schedules and/or fares ... the websites need a LOT of work..., it does appear from other internet sources that with advance booking the pre-tax round-trip fare for 1 adult from Okc to Ontario, CA is just under $200, which is a heck of a deal. I tried to book a trip at ExpressJet's website where one should be able to do that ( ExpressJet ), so that I could see what the final cost would be ... but in the 5x that I tried to do that, an error was reported and so I got no better info. At least tonight, it appears impossible to book a flight at ExpressJet's websites on-line, at least out of Okc. (I also tried Okc to Austin and Okc to San Antonio, with the same results I got for Okc to Ontario, CA.)

This link at ExpressJet shows its present destinations, I think ... Destinations ... I'd paste them here but I didn't see anything new vis a vis Okc beyond what has already been stated in this Okc Talk thread: http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...rvice-okc.html . A pretty nice interactive "route" map is here: Route Map but the route map does not show whether flights to/from Okc are "direct" or, better, "non-stop" flights.

My wife and I are looking to visit her brohter in Camarillo, CA, in July (Camarillo is just a bit north of Los Angeles).

If you're like me, you have no clue as to where Ontario, CA, is ... the pic below shows the relative locations of Ontario, CA, and LAX, and my ultimate destination, Camarillo.



Trying to compare but with incomplete data, I had a look at United's non-stop service from Okc to LAX and back ...

United's non-stop flight 6442 leaves Okc at 4:24 and arrives at LAX at 5:22, a 2 hours 58 min flight, and it's return flight is similar. The cost, booking ahead to July, seems to be about $460 per person ... which I think includes taxes and other charges, while the JetExperess data, above at just under $200 per person, does not.

I have no clue about the variances between flying speed of a big jet compared to the smaller planes that JetExpress uses. But, in all of the above JetExpress cases but one, flight times are very comparable (I'm guessing, but the 1st Ontario-Okc flight is probably non-stop, maybe stopping in Albuquerque ... another guess).

If I've interpreted what I've read correctly (deparure time and arrival times = actual time in that city), the Okc-Ontario, CA schedules and time to/there are:

United's Non-Stop Service

From ... Depart ... Arrive
Okc...... 4:24 p....5:20 p (2 hours 58 min)
Ont...... 11:00 a..3:53 p (2 hours 53 min)

JetExpress

From ... Depart ... Arrive
Okc...... 7:30 a.....8:28 a (2 hours 58 min)
Okc...... 3:20 p.....5:24 p (2 hours 4 min)
Ont...... 8:00 a.....1:48 p (3 hours 48 min)
Ont...... 4:50 p.....9:43 p (2 hours 53 min)

As said above, United's non-stop flight 6442 leaves Okc at 4:24 and arrives at LAX at 5:22, a 2 hours 58 min flight. In all of the above JetExpress cases but one, flight times are very comparable if not better (I'm guessing, but the 1st Ontario-Okc flight above is probably not non-stop, maybe stopping in Albuquerque ... just another guess).

If my "research above is even reasonably correct, you'll save big bucks using JetExpress, regardless of other issues such as amenities and "engine noise" and you might even get to where you're going in a shorter amount of time using JetExpress.

Maybe I've got something wrong ... and Venture79 and/or others who are knowelegeable will hopefully step in and make any needed corrections.

[venture]

Doug,

The Corpus reference is just where I could see additional service be added to, should things work out well.

As far as the ExpressJet flights...the flight that departs at 320PM makes a stop in ABQ. Now with speed and comfort? It may be a toss up between the two. Now remember the United flight is operated by SkyWest - so its actually United Express using the CRJ-700...70 seater jet. Now I don't think the United flight is one of the birds outfitted with the first class section (like they are trying to do now on the larger regional jets)...so it may be the standard all coach config with the 31-32" seat pitch. ExpressJet will be about the same, but it is only 3 across setting 1 seat-aisle-2 seats. ExpressJet also has inflight entertainment, whereas United does not (Frontier would be the only other airline service OKC that does). Not to mention, ExpressJet will actually feed you on the flight too.

More likely than not you will save a good deal of money with them. As far as cabin noise...having been on both aircraft, it is a wash. They both have the rear-mounted jets which definitely helps keep the bulk of the noise to the back.

I really want to try them out fairly soon, I just need an excuse to fly somewhere.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, Venture.

From what you said, I also see that I counted flight-time wrong for the 3:20 Okc departure in my post. I said ...

United's Non-Stop Service

From ... Depart ... Arrive
Okc...... 4:24 p....5:20 p (2 hours 58 min)
Ont...... 11:00 a..3:53 p (2 hours 53 min)

ExpressJet (not what I originally said, "Jet Express" ... thanks for catching my error, OUman!)

From ... Depart ... Arrive
Okc...... 7:30 a.....8:28 a (2 hours 58 min)
Okc...... 3:20 p.....5:24 p (2 hours 4 min) [incorrect ... should be 4 hours 4 min]
Ont...... 8:00 a.....1:48 p (3 hours 48 min)
Ont...... 4:50 p.....9:43 p (2 hours 53 min)

Given the flight-time similarity with the Okc-Ont 3:20 pm flight, I'm guessing that the Ont-Okc 8 am flight also stopes in ABQ.

ExpressJet's website ( ExpressJet > ExpressJet Airlines > Fleet Information ) says that it uses the Embracer ERJ-145XR (seats 50, flight range of 2,000 nautical miles), ERJ-145 (seats 50, flight range of 1,550), and the Embracer ERJ-135 (a little "shorter" than the 145s and seats 37 with a range of 1,330 nautical miles).

Maybe it's already been mentioned here and I missed it, but I don't know which of these birds will be used here ... perhaps all of them.

Here's a pic of the Embracer ERJ-145XR ... I assume that the ERJ-145 looks the same ...



Interior of Embracer ERJ-145

[OUman]

Doug, it's Expressjet, not Jet Express. You might confuse someone because Jet Express is actually the commuter line of Frontier (Frontier Jet Express).

And as usual, the negative media-spin comes into play, but it being a reporter from a place like Austin, I'm not really surprised. Continental would be in comparison to Expressjet, being that you get free meals on all CO flights longer than 3 hours (even in Y) and all mainliners have some sort of in-flight entertainment, but DL? You kidding? There's no comparison at all, you'd be lucky to find a free meal in y-class on DL's domestic flights and sometimes even in Business "Elite" you don't get meals on 1/2-hr flights. And you have to purchase headphones if you want to hear something. You only get them free on international flights.

[Doug Loudenback]

By the way and on a related topic, when trying to locate schedules and fares for ExpressJet, I could not locate on the web (not on Will Rogers site or anywhere else), A SINGLE place where all such schedules and/or fares were listed. Maybe that's not feasible (esp. for fares), but schedules? That would seem both doable and desirable.

Did I miss this somewhere? Venture79?

[venture]

ExpressJet is using the ERJ-145XRs for their own branded venture. They are using the others for their Continental Express operation. The morning flight to ONT is nonstop.

Their timetable is here: Timetable


They don't have a table of fares that would be available from say Southwest or some of the other low cost airlines. Essentially XJet's site will display the lowest fare available until it is sold out.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, Venture,

Maybe I wasn't clear with my questions.

I'm talking about something more like a "table" which shows at a glance flight schedules by airline ... all of them that serve Okc ... not just ExpressJet ... the ExpressJet link you kindly gave doesn't do this, either ... you have to fish through drop down boxes to get individual destination cities, etc., from Okc.

I'm surprised that Will Rogers doesn't have such a thing at its website as it is the common denominator for Okc airline flights. Or maybe it does and I couldn't find it.

Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist, but it seems to me that it should! If it doesn't exist, maybe I'll take that on as a blog project. What do you think?

[OUman]

^The WRA website did have something like that a while back, it was in PDF format. Listed the latest schedules to/from OKC by airline (btw when I say "OKC" I mean the airport not the city).

[venture]

Doug...Yeah something like that doesn't really exist. I'm working on a new Oklahoma aviation enthusiasts site that should be ready to go in a month or so. There will be something like that on there.

[Kerry]

This does exist. Check out WRWA site under Airline Info. It appears the data comes froma service so you might have to play with some of the search options to get the data you want.

[Doug Loudenback]

This does exist. Check out WRWA site under Airline Info. It appears the data comes froma service so you might have to play with some of the search options to get the data you want.

Kerry, maybe (certainly!) I'm dense but I've not been able to produce a complete "list," "table," or similar "page" at WRWA of either all daily scheduled departures or arrivals.

Were you able to do such a thing, and, if so, how?

[Kerry]

All I can do is list them 20 arrivals/departures at a time. The data has to be coming from a database but it looks like it is fed from a service. You can copy each list into excel and generate a list.

[OUman]

^Kerry, what he meant by airline timetables was a listing by airline of all departures and arrivals including nonstop and direct service all at a glance, and the days of operation of all flights (daily, X Sat etc). Not the real-time flight info. That feature isn't there any longer.