There are many airlines in this country expanding and ripe for expansion. If you could convince airlines to serve Oklahoma City, which one(s) would you choose?

As for me. America West (no central US hub), USAir, JetBlue (no central US hub), Hooters (just for kicks), plus after researching it, it looks like Independence Air looks nice.

What cities should be served out of Oklahoma City? Connection, direct, and non stop?

Non stop: LA, Las Vegas (we apparantly lost service), San Francisco, Portland, OR, Seattle, Nashville, Milwaukee, Boston, Orlando, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC.

Connect. I think we are fine. Direct. ? :)

I could see America West or jetBlue making OKC their south-central hub someday. Once the OKC airport is finished with their renovation I'm sure they will be looked at. But the airlines are still recovering financially from 9/11 and won't be majorly expanding anytime soon.

Future service OKC needs:

United - San Francisco, Washington Dulles
American - Los Angeles, Miami
jetBlue - New York JFK
America West - Las Vegas
Northwest - Detroit
Delta - Orlando
US Airways - Philadelphia, Charlotte
Southwest - San Antonio, Albuquerque, Wichita, Austin, San Diego, New Orleans
Air Canada - Toronto
Mexicana - Mexico City

With Great Plains gone, does OKC still have non-stop service to Tulsa?

Northwest already has a non stop to Detroit. Jet Blue could also have a flight to Long Beach.

It also occured to me that Alaska Airlines may already be considering Oklahoma City. ARA has a major maintanace contract with them at Will Rogers.

Alaska would be a good airline to start OKC-Seattle service someday. I checked and Delta, of all airlines, has a non-stop OKC-Tulsa flight.

Do you think OKC would ever become a regional hub, with flights to smaller towns around Oklahoma and Kansas? I always thought that would've been a good fit for Great Plains, offering service to cities like Lawton and Guymon.

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!

Hot Rod, do you really think there would be that many passengers flying on those routes to these western and central Oklahoman communities?

I'm with you on that question floater! I just really don't think there would be enough people to support regional air service within the state of Oklahoma itself! I mean come on....I'm surprised a Tulsa/OKC flight even survives! Why would someone want to fly from OKC to Tulsa??? By the time you check in and go through security and all, you're faster going 80 mph down the Turner Turnpike! Awhile back I made Tulsa in an hour (don't ask how fast I was going!!!!!). Anyways, you figure the time it take to get to the airport, check in and all, it's quicker driving most places in the state.

I doubt OKC will ever become a major hub for any airline, but with an improved airport I do think we have a shot at a mini hub, with some of the airlines mentioned, especially American West and Jet Blue. I just hope our airport trust goes ahead and completes the enture master plan though. There have been talks of not completing the east wing. But I talked to Karen Carney recently and she said it was still planned, but wouldn't be developed until possibly 2010. Once the center main terminal gates are completed, that will bring us back up to 16 gates. The east wing would being us up to 25. At least now with out airport terminal in its new configuration, it's easily espandable for future growth....that is if Luther Trent ever gets off his _ss.

I heard a news report on KWTV this morning talking about a new airline serving Oklahoma City and possibly Tulsa as well.

If anyone heard this story and caught the name of the airline and their potential routes, let us know, please. :confused:

I looked at every local news site I could find and couldn't find any info on this! If I hear anything about it, I'll post it here!

I may have heard something about Great Plains and their chapter 11. I had my head buried in the computer and did not pay close attention.

All I know I heard airline, routes, and the cities of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. I hope I heard correctly, however.

Guys, the air traffic may not currently be there in OK, but trust me it could be.

And while you may think it is easier to drive to Tulsa than fly, not everybody can drive. Plus there is business to take care so people may need to fly. If flights were offered, I am sure someone would use it. It owuld not need to be a 737, regional prop is fine (which is what we do here in Wa state).

Let me assure you that there are MANY people in OK who drive to Dallas for a flight due to not having local service. Why go to OKC when you would have to connect to DFW anyways, is the mentality.

Well, if a flight or two were available from the major stategic airports around the state to OKC daily, then OKC would become a state hub that could feed traffic into the national system. Especially if we want coast to coast service without going to a hub, then OKC needs to justify this and a state feeder system could do just that.

Many states have them, and OK is not a small state not to have one.

While it is true that DFW is the major hub, SEA and PDX (Portland Int'l) are the same distance and PDX does not sit there crying that SEA is the domestic hub. Nor does SEA sit and cry that YVR - Vancouver International Airport is the international gateway. These three airports compete with (if not complement) each other, and there is frequent shuttle type service between SEA and YVR, SEA and PDX, and PDX and YVR! (even though Vancouver BC is only 140 miles from Seattle and Portland is only 160 miles from Seattle).

It is sort of a triangle that, if someone needs an overseas flight, they could fly into YVR, if someone in Vancouver, BC needs to go somewhere in the US (and such a flight does not exist), then they would fly to SEA. And smaller cities feed into PDX and SEA, and YVR is the second largest and busiest airport in Canada.

Well, those cities are the same size as ours (ok, OKC and Dallas), why dont we form a triangle? OKC could also go after nonstops to ICT, LIT, ABQ, and other popular regional cities. We used to have ICT nonstop! I remember as a kid, it was my first flight!

The hub and spoke system killed that, but I see many airlines recognizing the problems with hub and spoke and forsee more direct point-to-point Southwest style service for the future! OKC needs to be ready for it!

I hope you were right Rob, about the announcement of another airline. I hope it would provide nonstop service to LAX, SFO, and/or SEA (badly needed)!

I wish we could convince Southwest to make routes that went like

SEA - OKC - DCA
SFO - OKC - EWR
LAX - OKC - LGA or MIA

then rotate the cities around such that OKC would have flights (at least one daily) to each of the six coastal cities. Wouldn't that be great? Especially since airlines at Dallas Love Field are restricted by the fAA from having more than a regional hub (TX border states only). Bypass PHX and MCI and instead go to OKC! With Southwest using only 737s, OKC would be PERFECT for those routes as each one would be well within a 737's range.

Trust me, there would be people on those planes! Maybe that is in the plan, as WRWA expands. It is the last major airport in a major city without hub service!

We need to find an airline that doesn't have a hub or mini hub close to hear. Unfortunately Southwest has their hub in Dallas at Love Field.

I've heard though that airlines are planning on slowly going away from the hub system, so maybe this will be good news for us!

Southwest and other airlines using Dallas Luv Field are restricted by the FAA to flights to states that border TX. Love Field received this restriction in concession for DFW back when it was built. So, SW can ONLY fly to OKC, LIT, MSY, ABQ, and of course TX from Love Field!

We could capitalize on this (I am surprised we did not already), especially since airlines are moving away from the hub concept. Wake up Luther!

Actually, the Wright amendment, which is the grease that restricted airline traffic in to and out of Love Field, was amended about ten years ago, maybe a couple less. Flights can now go into Birmingham, Alabama and a couple of other citys beyond the ajoining states. I think it is a milage restriction.

Either way, this is an example of constraint of trade and one of the less than a handfull of areas I sympathize with the people of Texas.

All the Wright amendment was, was grease to build DFW.

Yes. Will Rogers should become the central hub since it has no grease gun resticting trade.

Remember the Oklahoma City airport DIStrust? Guess who the chairman of the city's aviation comittee is... Jerry Foshee. Need I say more?

This is the airline service I would like to see out of OKC by 2015. By then the entire airport would be complete and a further expansion of the concourses could even be in the works. I see Southwest increasing its flights, becoming a regional hub.

Airline - Destinations (* already served from OKC)

Domestic Airlines
AMERICAN/AMERICAN EAGLE - DFW*, Chicago O'Hare*, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis*
UNITED/UNITED EXPRESS - Denver*, Chicago O'Hare*, San Francisco, Washington Dulles
DELTA - Atlanta*, Orlando
DELTA CONNECTION - Salt Lake City*, Cincinnati*, DFW*
SOUTHWEST- Dallas Love*, Houston Hobby*, St. Louis*, Chicago Midway, Albuquerque, Phoenix*, Las Vegas, San Diego, Tulsa, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita, Little Rock, Fayetteville/NW Arkansas, Nashville, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore (BWI)
CONTINENTAL - Houston Bush*, Newark*
JETBLUE - New York JFK, Long Beach
US AIRWAYS - Charlotte, Philadelphia
NORTHWEST - Memphis*, Minneapolis*, Detroit*
VANGUARD - Kansas City
MIDWEST EXPRESS - Milwaukee, Omaha
FRONTIER - Denver*
ALASKA - Seattle
AIRTRAN - Atlanta
CHAMPION AIR - Las Vegas*

International Airlines
AIR CANADA - Toronto
MEXICANA - Mexico City
CHAMPION AIR - Cancun (seasonal)*