Re: Future airline service
GP as a regional hub should have been pursued but honestly I think Tulsa was trying to become the hub with GP, as they had more flights. I think OKC would have been a more natural fit though, because our Pax traffic is much greater than Tul.
I think Alaska and America West would be great additions to OKC that would probably result in a hub type op. US Air would also be nice, but they have a mini-hub in KC so kiss that goodbye. But service from them would be great. JetBlue would be nice as would many of the smaller airlines so let us keep our fingers crossed.
With our new terminal coming online, we have a big bargaining chip to offer to the airlines. If they (US AIR for instance) move the central hub to OKC, they would enjoy virtually free and uncongested airspace as well as numerous gates (and probably lower airport fees).
We need our Airport Trust to market OKC as the airport of the future, hopefully we can get Luther Trent off his _ss and get some flights in. So far the job has been positive, though.
After we get flights, we need to use them. This is a major reason for turning OKC into a hub, as many pax in OK either go to OKC to fly into a Hub, use OKC to get to a Hub (like DFW), or bypass OKC altogether and drive to the regional hub.
Here in Seattle, we are a hub because Washington State depends upon us. Vancouver is by far the largest International hub in the NW region, so Seattle gets the US domestics. We only have one hub (surprised?) which is Alaska Airlines. We have a International Gateway with Northwest and United. Other than that, we just have destination presence with the other airlines.
If OKC were to follow a similar model, get a small airline to start providing service from OKC to the big 5 cities in OK (TUL, LAW, END, MAC, Stillwtr) and on to major regional cities like ICT, LIT, DAL and DFW, DEN, and CLS - then OKCs traffic may further substantiate additional service.
Tulsa is in a little bit better shape because they are an easy drive for Mskogee (ok I know I spelled that wrong, but hey, that is a hard word), Mac, Joplin, Fayettville AR, and southern KS - but OKC still beats TUL in Pax. If towns like Lawton, Enid, perhaps Ardmore? would come to OKC then I would imagine we would see more presence. But those cities have limited service to DFW (damn DFW) which totally eliminates OKC for the time being.
Another thing OKC could have (and should have) done is implement bus service from those outlying towns to Will Rogers. I understand Greyhound has service to Will Rogers, as does Ft Sill Military Reservation but imagine if Enid, city of Lawton, and Ardmore did? I think that could easily amount to another 1 mil pax per year in total; bringing us above 5 mil a year.
It seems like 6 mil a year is the magic mark for airlines to really turn a city into a major destination (larger planes, more frequent flights especially if smaller planes). In total, we have just about the same number of flights as Tulsa (we have roughly 180 flights a day, then have roughly 160) but our planes are more full. Still, it meets the demand so there is no need right now to expand.
Another idea about turning OKC into a hub would be for Tul and OKC to feed each other. GP tried this (although I think they heavily skewed it in Tulsa's favor as flights would start here then go to Tul with it being the hub) but we should encourage Delta to increase theirs. Think about it, United and Delta could kill two birds with one stone by lumping the two of us more, it would give TUL and OKC more access, and it could help both airports!
I dont imagine this happening though, as OKC and TUL are clearly fighting each other for airline business and so far we are winning but it is not a runaway!
Oklahoma City, the RENAISSANCE CITY!
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