OKC/Will Rogers Air Service Discussion

[okclee]

Here's the article in todays DOK, flights up in Okc down a little in Tulsa.

http://newsok.com/air-travel-up-in-o...ad_story_title

[SkyWestOKC]

Tulsa's loss is 2% down versus last year's losses....which were a significant decline as that is when the industry fell apart. So, they are in a bad situation of being down on top of being down. OKC is just gaining back the losses we took last year. Which is a much better spot to be in. Good news for Lawton, too.

[ljbab728]

Tulsa's loss is 2% down versus last year's losses....which were a significant decline as that is when the industry fell apart. So, they are in a bad situation of being down on top of being down. OKC is just gaining back the losses we took last year. Which is a much better spot to be in. Good news for Lawton, too.

I have to wonder if part of Tulsa's problem isn't the rise of Northwest Arkansas Regional. I'm sure that takes away a lot of traffic that used to go out of Tulsa.

[Richard at Remax]

American & American Eagle annouce new nonstop service from OKC to LAX next spring.

http://aa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=3044

[okclee]

^^ That is excellent news!!

Especially for all of the California residents that are reported to be moving here.

[BG918]

I have to wonder if part of Tulsa's problem isn't the rise of Northwest Arkansas Regional. I'm sure that takes away a lot of traffic that used to go out of Tulsa.

I think so. Very similar to if Lawton all of sudden had flights to Houston, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Memphis, Los Angeles, New York, etc. That would suck a lot of traffic from SW Oklahoma that now uses Will Rogers. Same thing for NWA and the far northeastern counties in Oklahoma, whereas many people there used to fly out of Tulsa before they built the new airport. Interesting that XNA has non-stops to both New York LaGuardia and Charlotte while OKC and TUL do not. They also have the Comair non-stop to Cincinnati that TUL and OKC used to have but lost when Delta downgraded their hub there.

[SkyWestOKC]

Hopefully this will not affect United too much. It would be excellent if we could support 3x daily to LAX (2x UA 1x AA)

Great news, nonetheless!

[Pete]

Really happy to see AA add a nonstop to LAX!

I took the United flight back to LAX yesterday and it was only about half full, but it was a Tuesday.

[metro]

I think so. Very similar to if Lawton all of sudden had flights to Houston, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Memphis, Los Angeles, New York, etc. That would suck a lot of traffic from SW Oklahoma that now uses Will Rogers. Same thing for NWA and the far northeastern counties in Oklahoma, whereas many people there used to fly out of Tulsa before they built the new airport. Interesting that XNA has non-stops to both New York LaGuardia and Charlotte while OKC and TUL do not. They also have the Comair non-stop to Cincinnati that TUL and OKC used to have but lost when Delta downgraded their hub there.

There is a good reason for that in NWAR unlike Lawton. The largest retailer in the world is based there and require anyone that does business with Walmart to have a regional office there. Lots of executive, white collar flights coming out of there. I'm confident Walmart probably has some high level offices in NYC as well. Charlotte is a financial city so again good reason. People that haven't been are really underestimating the rapid growth of NWAR. Lawton doesn't have much going for it other than Ft. Sill.

[BG918]

There is a good reason for that in NWAR unlike Lawton. The largest retailer in the world is based there and require anyone that does business with Walmart to have a regional office there. Lots of executive, white collar flights coming out of there. I'm confident Walmart probably has some high level offices in NYC as well. Charlotte is a financial city so again good reason. People that haven't been are really underestimating the rapid growth of NWAR. Lawton doesn't have much going for it other than Ft. Sill.

I wasn't comparing Lawton to NWA. I was saying having NWA develop an airport with numerous non-stop flights rivaling those at OKC and TUL less than 2 hours from Tulsa draws people away from Tulsa that OKC doesn't experience. OKC is the only major airport for all of central, western, and south-central Oklahoma.

[OUman]

^"Numerous" is probably not the term I would use, espcially when XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional) has about 45 daily departures. More destinations than OKC, yes, but nowhere near the frequencies. And from what I know, there's not much to choose from in the terminal if you want to eat or drink something.

[SkyWestOKC]

Really happy to see AA add a nonstop to LAX!

I took the United flight back to LAX yesterday and it was only about half full, but it was a Tuesday.

During the spring and summer our LAX flights were oversold in both cabins, for most every day from March/April-ish through September. September and October are dead months for travel. So, that would explain the weak loads yesterday.

I think if timed properly (not head-to-head against UA), all 3 flights will work fine.

[HOT ROD]

I hope so. it is wonderful for OKC to have great options - and excellent access to/from LA is a big bonus.

I wish United would give OKC a UAX from SFO and SEA - then United's network to OKC would be complete. ...

If AA gave OKC a flight to MIA and LGA/JFK, then AA would be complete too.

It does appear OKC is moving back towards 'normal' capacity.

[ljbab728]

I hope so. it is wonderful for OKC to have great options - and excellent access to/from LA is a big bonus.

I wish United would give OKC a UAX from SFO and SEA - then United's network to OKC would be complete. ...

If AA gave OKC a flight to MIA and LGA/JFK, then AA would be complete too.

It does appear OKC is moving back towards 'normal' capacity.

I have doubts that OKC to MIA would be that successful since that would mainly for leisure travelers and would be seasonal. OKC to LGA would be a very good option though to compete with the current OKC to EWR operated by Continental (soon to be United).

[HOT ROD]

I was mainly thinking a 50 seat option to MIA, to at least give us a presence. Even if it was only a few days a week (probably not daily), that would -again- give us nonstop options. And would pretty much complete OKC's roster of nonstop flights to the major hub airports.

[SkyWestOKC]

Looks like UA is adding IAD-TUL.

[SkyWestOKC]

Beginning in January, OKC-IAH (Houston) on United (Continental and United merging) will upgrade from 8x ERJ-145 1x B73x to 7x ERJ-145 (50 seater) 1x CRJ-700 (66 seater w/ First Class) 1x B73x (Boeing 737, depending on type 114-180~ seats)

No change to EWR (Newark), yet. No changes for Tulsa yet.

Not a huge change, but it does show there is some interest on adding more capacity to OKC.

[ouespana]

SkyWest, any word on when the updated Will Rogers website will be in place?

[HOT ROD]

Speaking of the new United, anybody have an idea of their gate configuration at WRWA? IIRC, United is at 3 and 5; no idea where CO is; will they just use United's gates or will they take over an end or a side of one of the concourses?

[SkyWestOKC]

UA is 3,5 CO is 9,11. They can run their combined operation on 3 gates if they had to. I think it would be wiser to keep a 4th gate, for the morning and evening rushes.

[ljbab728]

The airlines aren't fond of schedules using just a few days a week except on some international destinations. It makes it much more difficult to coordinate all of their schedules to use the planes in the most efficient manner.

[SkyWestOKC]

We lose mainline to Atlanta on Delta effective January 3rd, 2011.

[SkyWestOKC]

Here's the times for the new AA LAX service beginning April 5th.

flt num....dep city.....dep. time.....arr. city.....arr time....frequency....equipment

AA3799.... LAX........ 750pm.......... OKC......... 1235am (+1).... Daily... CRJ-700

AA3798.... OKC....... 700am........... LAX .........0805am........... Daily... CR7-700

The morning flight to LAX should do well, the late evening arrival...we'll see. Available for booking on AA.com.

[ljbab728]

Here's the times for the new AA LAX service beginning April 5th.

flt num....dep city.....dep. time.....arr. city.....arr time....frequency....equipment

AA3799.... LAX........ 750pm.......... OKC......... 1235am (+1).... Daily... CRJ-700

AA3798.... OKC....... 700am........... LAX .........0805am........... Daily... CR7-700

The morning flight to LAX should do well, the late evening arrival...we'll see. Available for booking on AA.com.

I agree that it's a very late return flight. It works well for business travelers who want a full day there before returning though. I get requests from my customers all of the time for evening return flights from California and there just aren't many options for that. As for booking, it can be booked through any normal channels, not just at AA.com.

[SkyWestOKC]

I meant, available as in it's ready to sell. Not just announced and not in the booking engine yet -- which happens a lot. Of course you can book it just about anywhere, sorry for the confusion, I wasn't clear. There really isn't much choice, they need that aircraft to RON (Remain over night) in OKC and by having it sit here in OKC longer than it needs to would be counterproductive to making a profit.