2020 Oklahoma City Aviation Thread

[Zorba]

OKC-MAF was my primary route. SW used to even have a flight that continued onto MAF out of Dallas. 40 people from okc would be on it.

It’s now go to Houston then to MAF. It arrives an hour later and leaves an hour earlier than the comparable American flight.

I fly some OKC-LBB as well. Same story.

I fly lots of OKC-ABQ. Southwest is still good going out okc/den/abq but coming home I liked going through Dallas, if I get stuck in Dallas I’m only 3 hours from home.

Just by eyesight and flying 3X a month, southwest gates are way down. Americans are up.

I don’t know if it was more the Hawaii expansion, or if the max straining them, but I hope those flights come back at some point.

American is sub par in every way, except route network which is becoming a monster.

Yeah, losing DAL on those routes is a killer. I agree about connecting near home coming back, nice to have the driving option if needed. The flip side of that is DAL can't handle mass delays from weather well and you get a lot of cancels.

The Max being out is a big deal, that is like 50 -8 aircraft they currently don't have access to, while expanding their operation, so they have to move aircraft around to cover the most profitable routes. They have also been quicker to cancel than normal because they have less spares.

I have a feeling once the Max comes back, basically everything at DAL will be upgauged to an -800 or -8 to increase capacity without increasing flight ops.

[damonsmuz]

Not OKC: Allegiant has announced 2x/weekly service Tulsa to San Diego.

I hope it works. I believe Frontier tried San Diego out of OKC a few summers ago and it didn't last long.

[BG918]

Not OKC: Allegiant has announced 2x/weekly service Tulsa to San Diego.

I hope it works. I believe Frontier tried San Diego out of OKC a few summers ago and it didn't last long.

2x/week could possibly work. Allegiant has recently built up a number of routes from TUL: SAN, LAX, LAS, BNA, VPS, PIE & SFB. They tried MSY a couple years ago but it didn't stick. I think they could do 5x/week AUS and SAT from both TUL and OKC with an A319.

[PaddyShack]

Has Allegiant improved their service? I feel they have a bad rap for stranding passengers for a couple extra days.

[Richard at Remax]

I've flown them a few time over the past couple of years and had zero issues

[LakeEffect]

Has Allegiant improved their service? I feel they have a bad rap for stranding passengers for a couple extra days.

In short, yep. https://skift.com/2019/12/04/the-rei...allegiant-air/

[midtownokcer]

I've flown them a few time over the past couple of years and had zero issues

Same here. Flew the OKC-LAX route a few times. The aisle felt massive and the flight was quick. If you don't have a personal item at your feet, the leg room felt decent.

[amocore]

Hop,

https://flyokc.com/sites/default/fil...nplanement.pdf

[shawnw]

I might try them again if they've truly improved, but when I was stranded it was "hey we know it's Thursday but we don't have another flight for you until Sunday". That's beyond inconvenient. It's been nearly three years since that, so, again, open to the idea that they've fixed something.

[Jeepnokc]

I might try them again if they've truly improved, but when I was stranded it was "hey we know it's Thursday but we don't have another flight for you until Sunday". That's beyond inconvenient. It's been nearly three years since that, so, again, open to the idea that they've fixed something.

Same past experience but may try them again now,

[no1cub17]

I might try them again if they've truly improved, but when I was stranded it was "hey we know it's Thursday but we don't have another flight for you until Sunday". That's beyond inconvenient. It's been nearly three years since that, so, again, open to the idea that they've fixed something.

As long as they don't interline with other carriers, that's always going to be the case with Allegiant. A newer fleet has translated to better operations, but even new planes break down. The legacy airlines all interline with each other so if AA cancels on you they can rebook you on UA or DL. WN also doesn't interline but they have a much different operation than G4.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

As long as they don't interline with other carriers, that's always going to be the case with Allegiant. A newer fleet has translated to better operations, but even new planes break down. The legacy airlines all interline with each other so if AA cancels on you they can rebook you on UA or DL. WN also doesn't interline but they have a much different operation than G4.

This.
Flying Allegiant is like flying a charter. Miss your window and you are trapped in Tierra del Fuego til next Sunday.

[brianinok]

Hop,

https://flyokc.com/sites/default/fil...nplanement.pdf

American continues to grow. They are within striking distance of Southwest.

Big news today that AA and AS are re-tying the knot, and AS will be joining Oneworld. It would be nice to codeshare that AS flight to SEA, not only as a nonstop but onward to Hawaii and Alaska on some vacations.

[gopokes88]

American is crushing it. Adding even more capacity with LGA, plus we might see some routes upgraded to mainline when the max gets in the air in Q3/4.

[no1cub17]

American continues to grow. They are within striking distance of Southwest.

Big news today that AA and AS are re-tying the knot, and AS will be joining Oneworld. It would be nice to codeshare that AS flight to SEA, not only as a nonstop but onward to Hawaii and Alaska on some vacations.

I wonder if eventually SEA-OKC goes up to 2x daily with one flight operated by AA? That would be awesome.

[jdizzle]

I wonder if eventually SEA-OKC goes up to 2x daily with one flight operated by AA? That would be awesome.

Eh, AA is nowhere near a hub there. Delta is more a hub there than AA. But 2x on Alaska is doable (or have a 1x PDX flight).

[BG918]

Eh, AA is nowhere near a hub there. Delta is more a hub there than AA. But 2x on Alaska is doable (or have a 1x PDX flight).

AA is adding some international flights from SEA like BGL (Bangalore India) and LHR, and could add more as part of the alliance with Alaska.

[damonsmuz]

Good news out of Stillwater Regional Airport. Passenger count was up 8% in 2019 vs 2018. Stilly only has service to DFW on AA, but the fact that AA is increasing service out of OKC and 58,000 passengers flew out of SWO last year on AA shows that the love for AA in Oklahoma is strong. I wonder who is flying out of Stillwater,though. People that would've flown out of OKC or TUL?

[gopokes88]

Good news out of Stillwater Regional Airport. Passenger count was up 8% in 2019 vs 2018. Stilly only has service to DFW on AA, but the fact that AA is increasing service out of OKC and 58,000 passengers flew out of SWO last year on AA shows that the love for AA in Oklahoma is strong. I wonder who is flying out of Stillwater,though. People that would've flown out of OKC or TUL?

The surrounding area has 150k people closer to Stillwater than okc or Tulsa. Plus osu mandates all travel to Dallas is by air.

[Fletch]

Is American still restricted with amount of mainline flights in OKC it can have? Seems like I had heard that before since they contracted out below wing services years ago.

[damonsmuz]

So, those people that are flying out of SWO. If SWO didn't have AA, then would they have flown out of TUL or OKC?

[gopokes88]

So, those people that are flying out of SWO. If SWO didn't have AA, then would they have flown out of TUL or OKC?

Pretty much yeah.

You have to figure some pure growth as well.

Weekend Dallas trip.
Previously rather than drive to okc to fly to Dallas, people would just drive the entire distance.
Now some will jump on a flight and be there in 40 mins + 50min for security and boarding.

I imagine kids from Dallas at osu is a big draw.

[BG918]

Pretty much yeah.

You have to figure some pure growth as well.

Weekend Dallas trip.
Previously rather than drive to okc to fly to Dallas, people would just drive the entire distance.
Now some will jump on a flight and be there in 40 mins + 50min for security and boarding.

I imagine kids from Dallas at osu is a big draw.

I would imagine the number of people flying to Dallas for a weekend from OKC or Tulsa (or Stillwater) is pretty small. It’s a 3.5 hour drive from OKC and 4.5 hours from Stillwater/Tulsa plus you have your car. There is definitely business traffic during the week. Most are still likely flying to DFW for connections.

[sooner333]

If OSU requires employees to fly to Dallas if on work-related trips, my guess is that in the past there would have been some employees driving to Dallas instead of flying out of OKC or TUL.

[Zorba]

If OSU requires employees to fly to Dallas if on work-related trips, my guess is that in the past there would have been some employees driving to Dallas instead of flying out of OKC or TUL.

When I was grad student I did a business trip to Dallas and my prof and I both drove. That was in 2006. My in-laws live in SWO and they tend to split TUL vs OKC, they almost always fly WN, so haven't ever flown out of SWO.