Will Rogers World Airport

[PhiAlpha]

Why do all of the businesses at Will Rogers WORLD Airport shutter at like 7 p.m.? Nothing is more depressing than arriving at OKC at like 8 p.m. to see nothing open in the airport. MESSAGE: "You have arrived in a tier-three city. Enjoy your stay."

I cannot believe not a single restaurant, lounge or shop stays open. It is a very negative first impression of our up and coming city.

It looks like they stagger out the restaurant closings with most closing between 7:30 and 8:00. There are usually only 5 flights that depart after 7:30 with the last flight being at 8:00. You are supposed to start boarding your plane 30 minutes before the departure time, so baring any delayed flights, 7:30 is really a pretty reasonable closing time. There are arrivals until around 1:00 AM but there really isn't much reason to keep restaurants and shops open for people who's main goal is getting out of the airport as fast as possible. For the restaurants to stay open, we need more flights with later departure times.

Now if there was some type of grab and go coffee shop or something on the way down to the baggage claim outside of the secure area, it wouldn't be bad to have something like that open a little later.

[catch22]

I believe in the lease agreement, the convenience stores in the airport are required to be open until the last departure. Just need later departures to justify late hours

[bradh]

It would be nice if they could keep a bar open if there are delays with later departures.

[soonerguru]

Impressions count. Our airport seems dead.

[gopokes88]

I'm pretty good friends with an uber driver, he takes business guys to the airport all the time. He told me the impression is always convenient easy little airport. No frills, but no hassles either. Half this board just wants the world order of cities to be Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, okc, and will complain about anything and everything until it's that way.

[soonerguru]

I'm pretty good friends with an uber driver, he takes business guys to the airport all the time. He told me the impression is always convenient easy little airport. No frills, but no hassles either. Half this board just wants the world order of cities to be Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, okc, and will complain about anything and everything until it's that way.

Come on. This is the kind of BS statement I thought we had rid from this board. I don't expect WRWA to morph into a major international city airport. It is reasonable to ask why there are no retail shops or restaurants, coffee shops or even a bar open to welcome arriving guests or to serve late departures. It makes us look like Minot, ND. I don't think we're currently in any danger of being mistaken for Charles de Gaulle.

[LakeEffect]

I don't think we're currently in any danger of being mistaken for Charles de Gaulle.

Indeed, we'd have to take a pretty hard fall downward to get to that level.

[Just the facts]

Soonerguru - I have beaten this horse to death, but welcome anyone else with a stick. JIA is my home airport and it is the pride of Jacksonville. Go on Yelp and look at airport reviews of the two airports. Same size cities and JIA has 2X the number of passengers despite a half-dozen alternatives with in an easy driving distance.

[Bellaboo]

Soonerguru - I have beaten this horse to death, but welcome anyone else with a stick. JIA is my home airport and it is the pride of Jacksonville. Go on Yelp and look at airport reviews of the two airports. Same size cities and JIA has 2X the number of passengers despite a half-dozen alternatives with in an easy driving distance.

Jacksonville has a beach.

[catch22]

I'm one of the OKC airport's harshest critics. I think the redesign was terrible. (However quite pleasing to the eye). But, I can't blame the operators for closing up shop after the last departure. Even places at PDX, which has 5 times the passenger traffic, and Transpacific and Transatlantic nonstop service, closes down after the last departure.

[no1cub17]

Why do all of the businesses at Will Rogers WORLD Airport shutter at like 7 p.m.? Nothing is more depressing than arriving at OKC at like 8 p.m. to see nothing open in the airport. MESSAGE: "You have arrived in a tier-three city. Enjoy your stay."

I cannot believe not a single restaurant, lounge or shop stays open. It is a very negative first impression of our up and coming city.

I know! I could've believe the time my ORD-OKC flight was delayed until 10:30 PM. It was a typical Chicago day so my inbound was also delayed and I barely made even my delayed connection, but I wanted to grab a late night snack before my flight and there was nothing open at all. No Tortas, no Burrito Beach, no Reggio's, no McDonald's. Must be because Chicago is dead and tier-3.

[no1cub17]

Now if there was some type of grab and go coffee shop or something on the way down to the baggage claim outside of the secure area, it wouldn't be bad to have something like that open a little later.

Absolutely 100% something like this would probably be appreciated by both business and leisure travelers. Always nice to be able to grab a snack/coffee on your way out of baggage claim - saves you the hassle of finding something outside the airport - which isn't always easy in an unfamiliar city!

[HOT ROD]

I agree, I wish 'something' should stay open until like 10 or 11; maybe a lounge or a bar just to give the airport (and city) a good impression. It 'could' be a money making opportunity for the airport, I don't know. ... In some respects, it really is hard to size up WRWA because although it is in a major city, WRWA is not a hub or even focus city for anybody - so the options you see/expect in other major cities likely don't work here since there's not ANY connecting pax (at least late night).

To me, even aside from late departure - I think connecting passengers is the key because THEY are the ones who will use those businesses since they are captive in the airport waiting for flight; not necessarily the normal OKC passenger who is just coming or going O/D for a single flight. Connecting pax also bump up your passenger counts since they are counted twice (arrival, then departure); perhaps this is something OKC could work on - becoming a focus or connection city.

But even without being a connection point yet, I still wish something -lit up- could be open until 11pm just to give an 'option' to those of us who want to unwind after a flight or check the sports scores, or are aviation buffs, etc. I think a creative offering could work and might be an income generator for the airport. As we move more into Tier II, OKC might have to bite the bullet on some of these things in order to compete and appearances DO matter (recall all of the bricktown discussions past years - no body there to now a constant 'busy' even on the canal).

[PhiAlpha]

Impressions count. Our airport seems dead.

Are you suggesting that they leave everything open until midnight for the purposes of appearance only?

Impressions may be count, but so do practicality and economics. There is no point in leaving all the restaurants and bars open an extra 4.5 hours for the purposes of appearance when there is no one there to use them(at least no one that isn't immediately leaving the airport upon arrival). That would be a very poor business decision unless later flights were added to justify it.

Though as I said earlier, I think a grab and go type coffee shop (love field has a Dunkin donuts outside the secure area) near the escalators or baggage claim would be a good idea to add as a later night option for arrivals. Maybe a gift shop of some sort as well.

[PhiAlpha]

Jacksonville has a beach.

^ This....you can't compare two airports based on flight stats when one has a major tourism advantage over the other...

[PhiAlpha]

It would be nice if they could keep a bar open if there are delays with later departures.

I agree...not sure why it would be difficult to extend closing times if flights get delayed until midnight...

[bradh]

^ This....you can't compare two airports based on flight stats when one has a major tourism advantage over the other...

and NFL, which I'm not sure how big the effect, but that's more of a draw than NBA as far as traveling to your team's road games.

[shawnw]

Businesses are going to do what makes business sense to the businesses. Meeting their contractual obligations makes sense. Staying open later may or may not make sense to them. Perhaps they tried it, saw that numbers wise it didn't make sense, and stopped. I don't have that context. While I, too, would like to see non-deadness when I get home, I can't really fault them for not going in the hole for me to see some extra lights on.

[catch22]

As I mentioned, I believe they are required by contract with the airport to stay open until the last flight leaves, that includes delays.

A long time ago I worked at the concession stand company (DNC) when I was in high school. I remember being forced to stay open when a flight ran late.

[PhiAlpha]

As I mentioned, I believe they are required by contract with the airport to stay open until the last flight leaves, that includes delays.

A long time ago I worked at the concession stand company (DNC) when I was in high school. I remember being forced to stay open when a flight ran late.

Thats good if they do stay open for delays. I've never really paid that much attention to it.

[Just the facts]

Jacksonville has a beach.

3 million people a year aren't flying to Jax for the beach. Alas, if you fight for your limitations you get to keep them.

[Just the facts]

Places like Celebration, FL require all downtown businesses to stay open 30 minutes AFTER the last movie gets out. Business factor it into their operating cost but it resulted in increased business. Not quite the same thing but pretty close. I usually get into WRWA around midnight and wouldn't mind grabbing something to eat, especially after making a tight connecting flight.

[Bellaboo]

3 million people a year aren't flying to Jax for the beach. Alas, if you fight for your limitations you get to keep them.

I bet they get a ton for the 500 and 400 in Daytona.

[Just the facts]

Even if they got every single one if them it would only be 250,000, but most drive or fly into Daytona Beach Intl, Sanford Intl, or Orlando Intl which are all closer.

[Just the facts]

For the love of Pete, why do so many of you fight to the death over your limitations? It's like you don't want to improve. I don't get it.