2019 Oklahoma City Aviation Thread

[catch22]

2019 has begun.

Changes ahead:
AA adds OKC-DCA eff. 2/14
AA mainline OKC-PHX eff. 2/18
UA mainline OKC-IAH eff. 4/29


Things to watch for (my opinion):
Via Air will likely pull out of OKC or shut down operations.
Impacts to business travel with depressed oil prices. Could be a factor in slowing growth if prices remain slumped.
It wouldn’t be a huge shock to see AA attempt OKC-MIA, given their recent expansion at OKC.
United to resume mainline to DEN.
Things I’d like to see (realistic) but wouldn’t say are necessarily probable:

Alaska attempt mainline to SEA
Southwest make BNA a daily flight (their attention is on hawaii)

[s00nr1]

I'd be even happier if Alaska would just move the daily N/S to the morning to take advantage of an ever-increasing connection Network out of SEA.

[damonsmuz]

With cheap fuel, you would expect airlines to test newer routes into OKC. But with our economy tied to energy, maybe not. Unless our economy doesn't get hit that hard

[HangryHippo]

Any chance JetBlue gives OKC either BOS or JFK this year?

[BG918]

Any chance JetBlue gives OKC either BOS or JFK this year?

Highly unlikely they haven’t started expanding into the Heartland and would probably fly to MCI, STL, IND, etc before OKC

[s00nr1]

Any chance JetBlue gives OKC either BOS or JFK this year?

I'd think we might get a shot with JetBlue's new P2P "Moxy" airline utilizing Airbus A220's.

[BG918]

I'd think we might get a shot with JetBlue's new P2P "Moxy" airline utilizing Airbus A220's.

True we don’t fully know how the A220 will change the business as Delta is the main U.S. airline that has purchased them. Mainline JetBlue won’t be coming anytime soon but there may be an opportunity with Moxy. With a 3600 mi Range these could easily make NYC and BOS-OKC possible, if that’s even their plan.

With this aircraft, Moxy could introduce profitable city pairs in underserved regional and short to mid-haul markets, in the U.S. and beyond. The A220-300 would also be suitable to introduce new frequent shuttle services between cities with high business passenger demand, where schedule flexibility might be attractive to passengers.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisag...a220-aircraft/

[amocore]

True we don’t fully know how the A220 will change the business as Delta is the main U.S. airline that has purchased them. Mainline JetBlue won’t be coming anytime soon but there may be an opportunity with Moxy. With a 3600 mi Range these could easily make NYC and BOS-OKC possible, if that’s even their plan.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisag...a220-aircraft/

Interesting market development and very interesting plane which is perfect for OKC like market.
I have started to wonder if the growing gap between the regional 50 to 80 seaters and the newer A 320neo and B737 MAX 8 which all seat about 180 people would hurt us.
The A220 may come to the rescue after all the A319 smaller B737 and B 717 go away.

[gman11695]

It would appear Via Air has pulled out of OKC. It is no longer listed on the destinations section of their website.
https://www.flyviaair.com/destinations/

[catch22]

Moxy and JetBlue are not the same entities. David Neeleman started JetBlue, and he is starting Moxy. He also started Westjet and Azul and so far all of his airlines have remained separate. He’s a good fund raiser and ground work guy, but so far all of his ventures have remained separate. There’s no reason to believe these entities will be combined or even work alongside each other.

JetBlue also has a220’s of their own on order. They don’t need Moxy.

[PaddyShack]

So is there any reason why we don't see more Ultra-low cost carriers from OKC? I am thinking carriers like RyanAir or EasyJet that I could hope on for $30-$50 for one way without any luggage except for a small back pack. The reason I bring it up, is I have been looking at traveling to the away games for the Energy FC and most flights are $200+. I am just needing a flight there and back with no frills. Is there an airlines that operates as such in the US, but not to OKC or is there something else that doesn't allow for these type of carriers to be in business?

[OUman]

Spirit and Frontier are the types of airlines you're referring to (no-frills ULCCs). Frontier does operate at OKC but to a limited number of destinations. Little chance of Spirit starting ops here anytime soon.

[PaddyShack]

Spirit and Frontier are the types of airlines you're referring to (no-frills ULCCs). Frontier does operate at OKC but to a limited number of destinations. Little chance of Spirit starting ops here anytime soon.

Frontier doesn't even have daily flights out of OKC... I would like a carrier that is ULC but also has available flights throughout the weekend.

[whatitis]

Frontier doesn't even have daily flights out of OKC... I would like a carrier that is ULC but also has available flights throughout the weekend.

Allegiant is another ULCC that operates out of OKC.

[HOT ROD]

and to multiple destinations

[catch22]

United really just seems to struggle in OKC, or they just don’t seem to place much importance on OKC.

Omaha (which is a busier airport but similar sized city) used to have a somewhat comparable United schedule as OKC. However, this spring they will now have 4 mainline to DEN, 3 mainline to ORD, and 3 round trips to EWR. They also have 2x daily to SFO beginning soon. We have more seats to IAH and service to IAD which they don’t. However, the amount of mainline there is pretty dramatic compared to OKC.

United has the best network location out of OKC, and they could really capitalize on that if they wanted to. OKC is for all intents and purposes equidistant from DEN, ORD, and IAH. With a robust schedule to all 3 hubs, they could literally dominate the market and likely be the preferred carrier for any direction of travel out of OKC.

Just a random thought from 11F.

[mugofbeer]

In Denver, which is one of United's larger cities, I find it to be more expensive to nearly everywhere than other airlines. I think United wants to cater to the business traveler rather than the value traveler.

[catch22]

In Denver, which is one of United's larger cities, I find it to be more expensive to nearly everywhere than other airlines. I think United wants to cater to the business traveler rather than the value traveler.

That’s certainly true in some regards as we are spending a ton of money on premium cabin refits and elite amenities. However, basic economy does provide plenty of options that are beneficial to budget travelers while retaining customer loyalty. My point is, United can’t seem to make extra capacity at OKC work while it can at smaller cities such as Wichita, Tulsa, Cedar Rapids, Souix Falls, Omaha, and Des Moines. Other than Omaha, I can’t see any of those cities having greater business demand than OKC, and outside of TUL (AA) none have any local tendency to be loyal to a particular airline.

[HOT ROD]

very hard to believe that United has more capacity from those cities than OKC - which is much larger than any of them.

I know OKC has flights to all of the hubs as we'd expect to see but I agree with you that it's very difficult to understand what United is doing only sending regional planes and not so much mainline. ...

[Jeepnokc]

Not political....I have a 6 am flight tomorrow. Has our TSA lines gotten any slower or more backed up with the government shutdown? Trying to see if I need to plan on more time than usual.

[s00nr1]

I had no issues Tuesday. Breezed through TSA Pre as normal.

[DelCamino]

2018 year end numbers - 4.3m

https://flyokc.com/sites/default/fil...t%20Report.pdf

[damonsmuz]

How many seats did United have in December for sale vs previous months? Big change for them while other airlines saw a nice bump.

[catch22]

How many seats did United have in December for sale vs previous months? Big change for them while other airlines saw a nice bump.

I can look up an inventory report Sunday.

[HOT ROD]

wow, very nice. OKC is more than officially in the 4m club. 4.3m is very unexpected, a jump of 500K from last year. very nice!!