OKC/Will Rogers Air Service Discussion

[SkyWestOKC]

For April, UA is at 1.5 per day. 1 flight to LAX, two flights coming back to OKC.

[dmoor82]

Ohhh.... how I wish there was a direct flight from OKC to Boston Logan,but I always have to be directed to TF Green airport which is The smallest airport I've ever been to!I travel to Metro Boston three times a year but I know there will neve be a direct flight from WWRA to Boston's Loagan airport!

[bluedogok]

Ohhh.... how I wish there was a direct flight from OKC to Boston Logan,but I always have to be directed to TF Green airport which is The smallest airport I've ever been to!I travel to Metro Boston three times a year but I know there will neve be a direct flight from WWRA to Boston's Loagan airport!

I like the JetBlue direct we have from Austin, it is a limited schedule but we do have it. We typically take JetBlue to Boston or NYC.

[dmoor82]

^^Bluedogok I might take a Austin to Logan trip next time,but have you ever tried to drive from TFGreen(Prov) to Boston in rush hour?That is THE MOST HECTIC RUSH HOUR DRIVE I'VE EVER SEEN and that's including DFW rush hour!

[bluedogok]

Nope, I have never driven in Boston, just flown in/out of Logan.

[dmoor82]

Nope, I have never driven in Boston, just flown in/out of Logan.

^^Well it makes DFW rush hour look like OKC's! IMO

[venture]

I like the JetBlue direct we have from Austin, it is a limited schedule but we do have it. We typically take JetBlue to Boston or NYC.

JetBlue would be so nice to have here, but they will not touch OKC with a 10-ft pole. They seem to avoid fly over country like the plague except for Austin and Houston.

[bluedogok]

JetBlue would be so nice to have here, but they will not touch OKC with a 10-ft pole. They seem to avoid fly over country like the plague except for Austin and Houston.

I don't understand it, I think the flight destinations we have out of here would work well for OKC...of course a JetBlue Austin to OKC direct would be great for me but I know that will never happen unless they decided to make Austin a regional hub for them, which isn't likely to happen either. It has become my favorite airline and wish they would fly out of OKC.

[SkyWestOKC]

One must remember Austin carries about 2 1/2 times more passengers per year than Oklahoma City....

However, I am not holding my breath, but the OKC Airport will be meeting with JetBlue in March

Airport staff members are working to increase those travel opportunities by attending the Network USA conference March 6-8 in Austin, Texas.

Carney said they are planning to meet with many airlines about adding service here.

Southwest, United, Republic/Frontier, American and Delta Air Lines, which all now serve the airport, and AirTran Airways and JetBlue, which would be new, are on the agenda.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-air-trave...#ixzz1ERZAhKBu

Again, not holding my breath, because Network USA, in a nutshell, is like a home and garden show that the airlines attend. You walk through it and every single booth is trying to sell you something. So it's not an isolated meeting, the airlines will be meeting with around 50 or so airports. All pitching why their city needs new or enhanced service, so I'm not expecting too much will come from it. But, a meeting is a meeting none-the-less. The recent good press about OKC, plus a face-to-face meeting might at least put us on jetBlue's radar, and some time in the future (probably a ways away) we may see the outcome of it.

Article also mentioned our traffic numbers were up by 10% in January versus January last year. Would like to see the detailed numbers from the airport though, whenever they post them on the web....

[OUman]

^Back when B6 (Jetblue) was in expansion mode, there was actually even some talk about STL being a possible mid-nation hub for B6. That was of course before the economic collapse and everything, but interesting nonetheless.

Keep in mind though that some B6 passengers can and probably do use AUS for connecting to the west coast.

Any increase is traffic is always a positive thing, and if the numbers continue to increase the airlines currently serving OKC would definitely look into increasing frequencies and/or aircraft sizes. AUS is a perfect example. Almost all airlines serving Austin have at least one mainline flight to/from AUS.

[SkyWestOKC]

Good way to start the year.

http://flyokc.com/releases/11-07%20J...nplanement.pdf

Southwest is killing it! 26% increase?!

[OUman]

So total for January is 249,738, not bad. Yeah, interesting to see WN's numbers, unfortunately I bet some of those came directly from Frontier's. I'm also beginning to doubt whether Frontier will be at OKC for much longer.

On the other hand, hopefully WN sees enough to add a nonstop to/from MDW.

[venture]

Yeah, it looks like WN is pretty close to finally finishing off F9 in OKC if we look at the numbers as they are. Would be nice to see the comparison on the seats offered between the two periods though.

[Chicken In The Rough]

Wn? F9?

[SkyWestOKC]

WN is Southwest. F9 is Frontier.

[SkyWestOKC]

We beat Tulsa by 50,000 pax in January.

[ChargerAg]

If frontier bailed and with continental moving over to United we will have a whole side of the ticket counter that is bare.

[venture]

If frontier bailed and with continental moving over to United we will have a whole side of the ticket counter that is bare.

Hopefully the area is fixed up a little so it doesn't look abandoned as most empty counters tend to look.

[SkyWestOKC]

New flyokc.com website should be up in the near future.

[ChargerAg]

Hopefully the area is fixed up a little so it doesn't look abandoned as most empty counters tend to look.

more then likely the sign will get pulled down but we will still be able to read it where the sign faded into the wall.

[taoseno]

Does anyone know whether Oklahoma City will ever get a direct flight to Albuquerque? Express Jet and Great Plains offered the service but we all know what happened to them.

[mugofbeer]

As someone who flew them to OKC often, Frontier's big mistake is flying against SW in props and small jets.

[SkyWestOKC]

Does anyone know whether Oklahoma City will ever get a direct flight to Albuquerque? Express Jet and Great Plains offered the service but we all know what happened to them.

Doubt it. There really is not much local traffic between Albuquerque and OKC, and not really many connection opportunities beyond, save for Southwest, which would have too large of aircraft for that market.

As someone who flew them to OKC often, Frontier's big mistake is flying against SW in props and small jets.

Frontier is extremely limited right now on aircraft, right now they just don't have much of a choice what aircraft they place on a route.

[mugofbeer]

Frontier is extremely limited right now on aircraft, right now they just don't have much of a choice what aircraft they place on a route.

I can understand that. Two other things I think is killing them out of Denver is that they still make you pay for bags while Southwest heavily advertises no fee baggage. The second 'other' thing is that Frontier makes it very, very hard to use your frequent flier miles. SW is simple.

[venture]

I can understand that. Two other things I think is killing them out of Denver is that they still make you pay for bags while Southwest heavily advertises no fee baggage. The second 'other' thing is that Frontier makes it very, very hard to use your frequent flier miles. SW is simple.

Personally I think the EJets are a much better product than the 737. Much more passenger room and additional on board services. With oil prices soaring, don't be shocked to see Southwest start charging for bags by the end of the year. They are losing out on a major source of revenue for the company and will eventually fall in line. They are also going to see costs increase some as the merger with AirTran progresses.

As far as using miles. I haven't got that far on either (medallion level on Delta for years) and not sure how the transition has worked for Southwest in leaving their old award system to the new more traditional model.

While those are two very good points in why Frontier is having problems, the biggest one is brand loyalty in OKC. This is very much a Southwest town and they make it hard for any new entrant to come in. Which is good and bad. They provide a decent level of service for the size of OKC, but they are also able to charge higher fares due to less competition. Hopefully once the merger with AirTran is over, we'll see additional services extended to Atlanta and Orlando. Maybe Milwaukee at some point, but I would rather see Chicago Midway first...which they seem to have no intention of ever offering in this market.