Will Rogers World Airport

[Celebrator]

As for NYC there is no non-stop to EWR or JFK...

But we have UA Ex to EWR.

[d-usa]

I frequently connect through MSP to head to Europe, and it’s always gone well for me.

[no1cub17]

I have never had great experiences connecting in a TX airport, thus I avoid them. That leaves Chicago, Atlanta, and NYC. Chicago is a cluster and the three times I have connected through there were always 3 to 4 hour layovers, not counting the weather delays. I have never flown Delta internationally so I can't comment on what Atlanta is like. As for NYC there is no non-stop to EWR or JFK, thus you spend an entire day flying from OKC to NYC, then the flight to Europe.

Like I said, I would fly more often to Europe if we had our own non-stop service. If i can keep all costs but the flight to Europe itself in OK rather than another state I am all for that. Those flights between NYC and Europe are amazing, since I have family up in the northeast I have often stayed a few days with them before and after my international flight and the trip is more relaxing just driving to one airport and flying non-stop to Europe.

The 2-4 days is accounting the return trip as well, if everything goes smoothly, no weather delays or equipment issues, then you spend 2 days flying (their and back), but should weather or equipment fail it tacks on another day or 2 if you are unlucky.

You've never had a great experience connecting in any TX airport? I find that hard to believe. How many times have you connected through DFW or IAH (just as examples) and what happened? Was there a weather/mechanical delay? Could you not find your connecting gate? I'm sorry but I find such a blanket statement somewhat bizarre, especially given that DFW and IAH are two of the best connected airports in the entire USA.

Chicago is a cluster? Sure, any airport can be a cluster on any given day. Look what happened at DEN last week. Look what happens to the entire NYC area anytime a thunderstorm or blizzard rolls through. I've connected through ORD multiple times and not had more than an hour or two layover, even flying internationally. I've connected through ORD countless times and the vast majority of flights are on time. Is it a cluster when there are IRROPs? Of course, but which hub isn't?

2-4 days - how? An extra flight from OKC to whichever hub you use doesn't add 2 days to your trip. That's not mathematically possible. Flying to Europe and back takes two days of travel regardless of if you have a nonstop or not.

If you said you'd fly to Europe more if Wow Air or Icelandair brought their low fares to OKC, that would be one thing - certainly lower fares incentivize price-conscious flyers to fly when they otherwise wouldn't. But to say that you don't fly to Europe more because it takes an extra 2-4 days to make one connection doesn't make any sense.

[no1cub17]

But we have UA Ex to EWR.

IAD too - UA serves quite a bit of Europe from IAD. Usually is a long layover given how early the OKC-IAD flight is, but it's still another viable option.

Not to mention OKC-PHL on AA too. Incredible to me that places like Prague and Budapest are now accessible from OKC via one connection.

[PaddyShack]

But we have UA Ex to EWR.

I guess I haven't checked with United enough, mainly because most flights route through IAH.

[PaddyShack]

You've never had a great experience connecting in any TX airport? I find that hard to believe. How many times have you connected through DFW or IAH (just as examples) and what happened? Was there a weather/mechanical delay? Could you not find your connecting gate? I'm sorry but I find such a blanket statement somewhat bizarre, especially given that DFW and IAH are two of the best connected airports in the entire USA.

Chicago is a cluster? Sure, any airport can be a cluster on any given day. Look what happened at DEN last week. Look what happens to the entire NYC area anytime a thunderstorm or blizzard rolls through. I've connected through ORD multiple times and not had more than an hour or two layover, even flying internationally. I've connected through ORD countless times and the vast majority of flights are on time. Is it a cluster when there are IRROPs? Of course, but which hub isn't?

2-4 days - how? An extra flight from OKC to whichever hub you use doesn't add 2 days to your trip. That's not mathematically possible. Flying to Europe and back takes two days of travel regardless of if you have a nonstop or not.

If you said you'd fly to Europe more if Wow Air or Icelandair brought their low fares to OKC, that would be one thing - certainly lower fares incentivize price-conscious flyers to fly when they otherwise wouldn't. But to say that you don't fly to Europe more because it takes an extra 2-4 days to make one connection doesn't make any sense.

I am fine with saying that my experiences with connections in TX, either way, have been unlucky. The past 7 or 8 connections in the past 3 years or so have each been affected by weather, with 3 or 4 also adding in mechanical issues. I just don't have great luck flying through any TX airport, with the excepting of AUS. I have not flown to or through AUS.

As far as the travel days, the 2-4 time frame is when there are delays and considering both the out trip and return trip.

I should disclose that the past 2 times I have flown to Europe, once to London and once to Barcelona have both been great experiences with no issues. Point being, both times I flew SWA non-stop to BWI. Stayed a day with family and then flew out of EWR/JFK.

I know the likelihood of WRWA ever getting European service is practically zero. I know that I will always need to plan for a layover somewhere in the U.S. before getting to Europe. All I was saying is that I would more often choose to fly to Europe if all I had to do was drive to WRWA, get on a plane, and in roughly 12 hours or so I am in Europe. I agree that the current way of getting to Europe is not terrible. I even agree that when all things go well, that the trip is smooth. But I am only speaking to the idea of making international travel from OKC simpler and quicker.

When my wife and I went to Belize last October it only took us 4 hours from OKC, including the layover in IAH. We left OKC at 8am and by noon we were walking on the beach on Ambergris Caye. However, it was a different story coming back due to massive weather delays around IAH and then mechanical issues when the plane finally got to BZE. Throw in the well overbooked flights between IAH and OKC on a Sunday and Monday and we were stuck waiting on stand-by, we waited on 4 different flights and finally made it on the 5th flight. All of this despite flying first class, we took the first two available seats, which were not together and in coach. However, if we had a flight directly to and from BZE, we wouldn't have had to deal with IAH.

[Downwind17]

Very glad to see that OKC's slowest-moving commission has decided the time is right to proceed with the expansion. With the consolidated security checkpoint, the journey from the current United and Alaska ticket counters...all the way to the far east end of the building...then back all the way to the west end of the building to board, will be quite long. Travelers with small children will particularly hate it. Might those airlines have the opportunity to move east after the construction is complete? Segments of moving sidewalks down the middle of the west concourse might be a nice addition, though it will never happen.

[shawnw]

In theory there'd be more room in the middle for ticket counters once the existing security checkpoints were gone...

[no1cub17]

I am fine with saying that my experiences with connections in TX, either way, have been unlucky. The past 7 or 8 connections in the past 3 years or so have each been affected by weather, with 3 or 4 also adding in mechanical issues. I just don't have great luck flying through any TX airport, with the excepting of AUS. I have not flown to or through AUS.

As far as the travel days, the 2-4 time frame is when there are delays and considering both the out trip and return trip.

I should disclose that the past 2 times I have flown to Europe, once to London and once to Barcelona have both been great experiences with no issues. Point being, both times I flew SWA non-stop to BWI. Stayed a day with family and then flew out of EWR/JFK.

I know the likelihood of WRWA ever getting European service is practically zero. I know that I will always need to plan for a layover somewhere in the U.S. before getting to Europe. All I was saying is that I would more often choose to fly to Europe if all I had to do was drive to WRWA, get on a plane, and in roughly 12 hours or so I am in Europe. I agree that the current way of getting to Europe is not terrible. I even agree that when all things go well, that the trip is smooth. But I am only speaking to the idea of making international travel from OKC simpler and quicker.

When my wife and I went to Belize last October it only took us 4 hours from OKC, including the layover in IAH. We left OKC at 8am and by noon we were walking on the beach on Ambergris Caye. However, it was a different story coming back due to massive weather delays around IAH and then mechanical issues when the plane finally got to BZE. Throw in the well overbooked flights between IAH and OKC on a Sunday and Monday and we were stuck waiting on stand-by, we waited on 4 different flights and finally made it on the 5th flight. All of this despite flying first class, we took the first two available seats, which were not together and in coach. However, if we had a flight directly to and from BZE, we wouldn't have had to deal with IAH.

I don't get it - on one hand you don't want to spend an extra 2-4 days going to/from Europe (which again is not mathematically true), but OTOH you'd rather spend an extra day flying to BWI first, before going to Europe? That's great if you want to visit family first, but it's simply inaccurate to say that you don't go to Europe more often because you can't get there in 12 hours. Look at Saturday August 11th as an example. There are at least 5 itineraries that will get you to London in less than 12 hours total travel time.

And I understand you've been hit with weather at DFW and IAH. It happens. Literally every airport in the country other than LAX deals with weather at some point (maybe SAN is also exempt). Even SNA deals with excessive heat and a short runway, which results in flights being delayed/overbooked.

And come on, you really expect OKC to have a nonstop flight to Belize?

We can just agree to disagree at the end of the day. My wife and I have been to Europe pretty much every year for the last 4 and it's never ever taken us an extra 2-4 days, just because we live in OKC.

[Celebrator]

Very glad to see that OKC's slowest-moving commission has decided the time is right to proceed with the expansion. With the consolidated security checkpoint, the journey from the current United and Alaska ticket counters...all the way to the far east end of the building...then back all the way to the west end of the building to board, will be quite long. Travelers with small children will particularly hate it. Might those airlines have the opportunity to move east after the construction is complete? Segments of moving sidewalks down the middle of the west concourse might be a nice addition, though it will never happen.

This was my concern when I looked at these plans yesterday. LOTS of walking will be required now. Surely they have thought about this for UA, AA, AS and G4 customers in the west concourse.

[jedicurt]

This was my concern when I looked at these plans yesterday. LOTS of walking will be required now. Surely they have thought about this for UA, AA, AS and G4 customers in the west concourse.

the distance for walking here is still so much better than most airports i have been to... if this discourages people from our airport because they have to walk a distance to get to the security checkpoint, then they won't be happy at any airport

[PaddyShack]

the distance for walking here is still so much better than most airports i have been to... if this discourages people from our airport because they have to walk a distance to get to the security checkpoint, then they won't be happy at any airport

This reminds me of BOS when walking from a SWA flight to baggage claim. It just kept going and going... I only remember taking escalators down, don't remember many moving sidewalks... It was the last flight in, so nothing was open and we were practically the only passengers in there.

[gopokes88]

This was my concern when I looked at these plans yesterday. LOTS of walking will be required now. Surely they have thought about this for UA, AA, AS and G4 customers in the west concourse.

God forbid the fattest state in the nation has to walk somewhere

[PaddyShack]

God forbid the fattest state in the nation has to walk somewhere

I thought we were #8... Mississippi is in 1st in that race.

[Dustin]

Lol! People are concerned about walking long distances at WRWA? You must not travel much. I've literally had to run to catch a connecting flight in Atlanta.

[gopokes88]

I thought we were #8... Mississippi is in 1st in that race.

God forbid the Oklahoma fats have to walk more than 75 feet

better?

[PaddyShack]

God forbid the Oklahoma fats have to walk more than 75 feet

better?

Haha, I was just making the issue more ridiculous...

As to the topic, I see no problem walking further if that means having a less congested checkpoint that keeps passengers flowing. Plus the new space does seem to be more visually pleasing!

[no1cub17]

This was my concern when I looked at these plans yesterday. LOTS of walking will be required now. Surely they have thought about this for UA, AA, AS and G4 customers in the west concourse.

Not sure what the problem is? If you have a medical condition of some sort that precludes you from walking, the airlines will be more than happy to get you wheelchair assistance. If not, try it sometime, it's good for you.

[no1cub17]

Lol! People are concerned about walking long distances at WRWA? You must not travel much. I've literally had to run to catch a connecting flight in Atlanta.

No joke. Hell, my wife and I will go out of our way to walk between concourses at DFW - great way to get a few thousand steps in! Plus then I don't feel as bad about pigging out in the Admirals Club.

[jerrywall]

Forget the wheelchair. I get them to drive me around between gates.

[Celebrator]

Not sure what the problem is? If you have a medical condition of some sort that precludes you from walking, the airlines will be more than happy to get you wheelchair assistance. If not, try it sometime, it's good for you.

Dude, I was thinking of others. I walk a few miles every night, but thanks. I have several friends and family members who don't want to use a wheel chair and find it rather tough to walk long distances because of particular challenges they have. Or perhaps there's someone traveling alone with little kids and there's all the gear you have to haul! And since there is no alternative to getting a wheelchair at OKC for the time being (moving sidewalks, cart shuttles, etc.), I was concerned for folks I know, with whom I have traveled and seen how hard it can be for them. Have a bit of compassion before you pounce. No need to be rude, man.

[jerrywall]

Club Cars!

[Celebrator]

God forbid the fattest state in the nation has to walk somewhere

I understand that. See post 1396, please.

[gopokes88]

I understand that. See post 1396, please.

I would tell your friends life’s tough and we aren’t redesigning an airport so they don’t have to walk as far. Traveling with kids is a pain no matter what you do. In any situation, no matter what, traveling with kids is hard.

[cjohnson.405]

$89 million expansion set to move forward at Will Rogers Airport

After setting all-time traveler records in 2017 and with summer numbers up more than 10% from the previous year, Will Rogers World Airport is set to move forward with an ambitious and sweeping expansion.

OKCTalk was first to report the plans back in 2015 and after a delay, the $89-million project is once again moving forward.

This week, the OKC Airport Trust will vote on a resolution to endorse pursuing $115 million in revenue bonds which will help fund a 5-year capital plan.

Airport spokesperson Karen Carney told OKCTalk that this was in aid of the terminal project which should start construction in early 2019 and last approximately 30 months.

Construction will involve expanding the terminal to the east on three levels and adding 4 new gates. A second expansion phase with an undetermined timeline would ultimately add 7 more gates as the airport continues to explore opportunities to increase the number of carriers and flights.

In addition to the new space and gates, a new single security checkpoint is to be constructed and the existing two security areas will be abandoned and the space reallocated in the 2nd level check-in and ticketing area.

The last major airport renovation was well underway when the tragedy of 9/11 struck, causing the airport to hurriedly accommodate new security that has proven to be less than optimum, especially with the continuing rise of passenger traffic.

The new consolidated screening area will be much larger and built to TSA specifications, with the resulting streamlining greatly increasing efficiency, Carney said.

The new construction would add also baggage claims on the lower level and a 3rd level observation gallery, which will be a suspended viewing deck in the heart of the terminal providing public access to airfield views and incorporating additional lounge space and exhibits.

OKC-based Frankfurt-Short-Bruza is partnering with Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum on design, architecture and engineering work.

In a press release, the design calls for “The intergration of public art installations and expansive windows and skylights allowing for more natural light. Interior enhancements of some existing spaces are also plannned included expanded greeter areas and more seating in baggage claim.”

As a very frequent traveler out of WRWA, this seems like a monumental waste of money. IMO, an observation tower and a new security checkpoint have to be number 100 and 101 on the list of improvements needed at WRWA.