Oklahoma Commercial Aviation Discussion 2013

[OUman]

I guess I'm the odd one out here-I like it. It's a pretty good modernization of the eagle and the livery. But as they say, to each his own.

[CaptDave]

I actually liked the one with the large eagle on the blue tail. The pearlescent white reminds me of Northwest's livery before they were absorbed into the Delta matrix.....

[OUman]

It's actually silver mica, the paint that was used to give that reflective metallic look to the planes since the new 787s and 350s that have been ordered will have an all-composite fuselage. The 319s/320s/321s won't but if you're going to do a change on one/two might as well change it all around. By the way, here's a video how the new paint scheme was designed.

[venture]

I think AA would have a winner if the took the concept of the large eagle design for the tail and keep the rest of the new scheme. I really like the new logo and just about everything BUT the tail design. Flying through DFW or ORD will give me a headache just because of how busy it is. Hopefully someone comes to their senses and stops the tail design.

[damonsmuz]

So,any rumor if American Eagle will get a new look as well?

[Snowman]

Actually calling it a modern design makes sense, the Modern art period ended in the 70's, which is about where the tail design fells like it came from.

[venture]

So,any rumor if American Eagle will get a new look as well?

Yeah everything is getting redone. It'll probably look exactly like it just with "American Eagle" or "American Connection" on the side.

Edit...

And I just found a picture of it. LOL It actually doesn't look that terrible on the T-Tail design.

[catch22]

Official numbers are in.

OKC had a total of 3,683,051 passengers for the year of 2012 Jan 1 - Dec 31. A 3.41% gain over 2011. This places at around 2006 levels, about 100,000 shy of the 2007 levels which is still the record year. If the local and national economy holds up, 2013 looks promising to break that record, although the past 4-5 months have been bearish. I honestly think due to Chesapeake's reduction in spending, the trends occurred at roughly the same time. That is to say, the big Chesapeake shakedowns happened in sync with the pulling back of growth at WRWA. I don't know of any other local events that could explain it other than that.

[HangryHippo]

I've thought about this since the debut of their new livery, and I really think they're making a mistake by not putting the new logo on the tail in lieu of that bomb pop vomit tail they chose. Based on this picture, the new logo seems like a match made in heaven for the tail and would just look perfect.

[HangryHippo]

Official numbers are in.

OKC had a total of 3,683,051 passengers for the year of 2012 Jan 1 - Dec 31. A 3.41% gain over 2011. This places at around 2006 levels, about 100,000 shy of the 2007 levels which is still the record year. If the local and national economy holds up, 2013 looks promising to break that record, although the past 4-5 months have been bearish. I honestly think due to Chesapeake's reduction in spending, the trends occurred at roughly the same time. That is to say, the big Chesapeake shakedowns happened in sync with the pulling back of growth at WRWA. I don't know of any other local events that could explain it other than that.

At some point, I remember someone saying that if OKC could hit 4 million passengers per year, OKC would start to see some real changes in OKC service offerings, but they weren't much more specific than that. Will we reach 4 million next year?

[catch22]

I wouldn't plan on it. Anything is possible though.

[venture]

If passenger service does increase, there are a few areas it could happen.

American: Chicago - more CR7s or A319s when they come in. Dallas - Pretty flat but maybe some fluctuation as the MD-80s get retired. LAX - Already going to 3 flights this year, so that seems about as much as we'll see.

Delta: Atlanta - Maybe more mainline change over, but don't expect anything outside the 738/M88/M90 frame size. Detroit - Probably pretty flat. Memphis - Only further downsizing on the horizon here. We should escape the year before the route is closed. Minneapolis - Maybe some larger RJs but not much else. Salt Lake - No changes.

Frontier: A lot of people think they are on their last leg here. I personally would love to see them try a focus city operation here, but I don't think there is enough opportunity left.

Southwest: New seasonal MCO route should hopefully do well. Would like to see BNA, ATL, and maybe OAK.

United: I would like to see more to EWR, but I think we are pretty much capped out on them right now.

[catch22]

If passenger service does increase, there are a few areas it could happen.

American: Chicago - more CR7s or A319s when they come in. Dallas - Pretty flat but maybe some fluctuation as the MD-80s get retired. LAX - Already going to 3 flights this year, so that seems about as much as we'll see.

Delta: Atlanta - Maybe more mainline change over, but don't expect anything outside the 738/M88/M90 frame size. Detroit - Probably pretty flat. Memphis - Only further downsizing on the horizon here. We should escape the year before the route is closed. Minneapolis - Maybe some larger RJs but not much else. Salt Lake - No changes.

Frontier: A lot of people think they are on their last leg here. I personally would love to see them try a focus city operation here, but I don't think there is enough opportunity left.

Southwest: New seasonal MCO route should hopefully do well. Would like to see BNA, ATL, and maybe OAK.

United: I would like to see more to EWR, but I think we are pretty much capped out on them right now.

I agree with everything here. Going forward (maybe not this year but likely in the short term) I would say more EWR and SFO are likely. Both perform well, just not really enough large RJ's in the system to go around. As more 737's come online, it will free up more capacity systemwide to upguage some of the longer routes (EWR) or add frequency (SFO). Delta did attempt some mainline to SLC...so I wouldn't rule out something happening with that route either.

Also, PIT has put out an incentive program targeting several markets, OKC is among those listed. I also believe we will see US Airways in here or at least announced this year regardless of the outcome of the slot deal.

[catch22]

Pittsburgh International Airport offers incentives for nonstop destinations - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[HangryHippo]

Would be cool to have the option of visiting PIT nonstop, but is there that much traffic?

Also, in relation to my earlier question, what is special about the 4 million pax per year?

[catch22]

Nothing special. Just a 'milestone' that would place you in a higher tier. For example, OKC (proper) passing the "600k". There's no actual deal with it, just places you in a more prominent tier when compared to other cities. So OKC would be viewed by the scheduling, capacity, and yield management departments at airlines as a 4M+ city instead of a 3M+ city. Might allow for some larger types or such we'd be considered/perceived to be a larger city.

[no1cub17]

If passenger service does increase, there are a few areas it could happen.

American: Chicago - more CR7s or A319s when they come in. Dallas - Pretty flat but maybe some fluctuation as the MD-80s get retired. LAX - Already going to 3 flights this year, so that seems about as much as we'll see.

No kidding - 3x daily to LAX! Wow - way to go AA! I'm taking this flight next month (connecting to CX) so I'm excited to try it out. Just curious do you have a link a press release or something? Google came up empty...

[catch22]

No kidding - 3x daily to LAX! Wow - way to go AA! I'm taking this flight next month (connecting to CX) so I'm excited to try it out. Just curious do you have a link a press release or something? Google came up empty...

It's in the reservation systems -- airlines don't typically do press releases for capacity/schedule increases.

[venture]

This should help with the upgauging to Chicago and maybe even bringing in MIA.

http://www.embraer.com/en-US/Imprens...atos-E175.aspx

São José dos Campos, Brazil, January 24, 2013 – Embraer and Republic Airways Holdings Inc., operator of the largest E-Jets fleet in the world, announced today a contract for the sale of 47 EMBRAER 175 jets. The agreement also includes options for an additional 47 aircraft, providing a potential for 94 E175s, which could reach a total value of approximately USD 4 billion, in 2013 economic conditions, at list price.

The new aircraft will be operated by Republic Airlines, a Republic subsidiary, under American Eagle brand in the American Airlines’ regional network. The deal is subject to court approval which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2013. The E175 will be featured in a dual-class layout, seating up to 76 passengers and the first delivery is scheduled for mid-2013.

From everything I'm hearing is that the 175s are going to be based in Chicago and the CR7s are moving south of DFW and MIA.

[no1cub17]

It's in the reservation systems -- airlines don't typically do press releases for capacity/schedule increases.

Well often they're tied in with "service enhancements" and the like, so I'm surprised it's not at least mentioned somewhere (that I can find). AA/Eagle do a pretty good job of publicizing their new routes/frequencies.

[no1cub17]

This should help with the upgauging to Chicago and maybe even bringing in MIA.

http://www.embraer.com/en-US/Imprens...atos-E175.aspx



From everything I'm hearing is that the 175s are going to be based in Chicago and the CR7s are moving south of DFW and MIA.

Agreed - I'd be shocked if we don't see the Ejets on OKC-ORD. Not pure mainline but a major step up from what we have now! Although there are more CR7s on OKC-ORD now than I remember in the past which I suppose is a positive (given that they actually have a regional F cabin). I wonder how feasible MIA would be - or are yields too low? Or what about OKC-JFK - is there enough int'l traffic from OKC that AA might want to feed its international bank there?

[catch22]

I think OKC-ORD is starting to top-out a little bit. WN has added quite a few seats in the CHI market, I know it has hurt some of the loads on the OKC-ORD trips.

[ljbab728]

I think OKC-ORD is starting to top-out a little bit. WN has added quite a few seats in the CHI market, I know it has hurt some of the loads on the OKC-ORD trips.

True. Many people going to Chicago from here are going to conventions or other business interests and prefer Midway.

[catch22]

Hopefully not speaking prematurely, but appears the seasonal second daily on UA to LAX will come back JUN-AUG. (Haven't looked up exact dates)

With AA's 3 daily, that's a total of 5 (!!) daily roundtrips to LAX, and a total of 6 daily roundtrips to the state of California. Very, very impressive.

[ljbab728]

I didn't check all dates but UA recently cut back on Saturday nonstops.