OKC/Will Rogers Air Service Discussion

[OUman]

0_0 A Sooner/Oklahoma One? That would be awesome.

[venture]

0_0 A Sooner/Oklahoma One? That would be awesome.

Even though I hate Southwest...it would be about time for an Oklahoma One aircraft.

[venture]

Some talk on a.net from Mariner, probably the most connected person involved Frontier, that there is some talk of Frontier expanding a bit in the middle of the country from Omaha, Kansas City and Oklahoma City - possibly. Not sure exactly, but Republic will announce this coming week what they intend to do with Frontier and Midwest and how they'll merge the operations. Apparently any changes would come with the fall schedule.

If they were to do anything in OKC, I would probably guessing something like...
- New 2x daily service to Milwaukee
- Resumption of seasonal service to Orlando and Tampa
- New seasonal service to Cancun

Not sure if they really have any ability to do more than that. DCA would be nice (if they get more slots from the DL/US deal), LGA would be as well (same deal), LAX won't happen because of UA, SFO probably doesn't have the demand right now, BOS probably won't work either because of low demand.

[ljbab728]

Some talk on a.net from Mariner, probably the most connected person involved Frontier, that there is some talk of Frontier expanding a bit in the middle of the country from Omaha, Kansas City and Oklahoma City - possibly. Not sure exactly, but Republic will announce this coming week what they intend to do with Frontier and Midwest and how they'll merge the operations. Apparently any changes would come with the fall schedule.

If they were to do anything in OKC, I would probably guessing something like...
- New 2x daily service to Milwaukee
- Resumption of seasonal service to Orlando and Tampa
- New seasonal service to Cancun

Not sure if they really have any ability to do more than that. DCA would be nice (if they get more slots from the DL/US deal), LGA would be as well (same deal), LAX won't happen because of UA, SFO probably doesn't have the demand right now, BOS probably won't work either because of low demand.

I agree that the first two options you mentions are the most likely. Cancun is still questionable until we get permanent immigration and customs facilites at Will Rogers. With the UA nonstops to IAD, DCA isn't too likely for now and for the same reasons the CO nonstops to EWR make LGA unlikely.

[venture]

I agree that the first two options you mentions are the most likely. Cancun is still questionable until we get permanent immigration and customs facilites at Will Rogers. With the UA nonstops to IAD, DCA isn't too likely for now and for the same reasons the CO nonstops to EWR make LGA unlikely.

Yeah, the lack of customs here and pre-clearance in Cancun will hurt that. The only option would be to just have nonstop service going one way, or bring the flight back through Dallas, Austin, San Antonio or New Orleans...or simply require people to fly back through Denver. I think DCA service could work, as you can't get much closer in than National. If they would do LGA, CO would ax Newark service as there simply wouldn't be enough O&D to support their flights. I also doubt they get much connecting traffic on it...and its only 1 flight. However, who knows...maybe having a low fare carrier on those routes would generate new traffic.

[SkyWestOKC]

I think the Orlando and Tampa flights were trial runs to test the waters in the middle of the country to see how our city (and Omaha) deals with point to point flights to non-hub, no connection cities.

I think Omaha might get more than we'll get from Frontier - Omaha put butts in the seats at a profit. Not sure OKC did the same, there was too much conflicting data: Frontier employees have told me the flights are doing poorly most of the time, yet NewsOK comes out and states the flights are going out full everyday. Now, here will be a shocker: I have heard from a few employees out at the airport that Frontier might acquire Gate 1, currently they only have Gate 2. Personally, I think this rumor is bogus -- unless we're expecting to get more flights. I don't think a Milwaukee nonstop would be too far-fetched, Cancun wouldn't be too far off either. Other than that, I think our Florida performance, as reported by Frontier front-line employees directly involved, might have hurt expansion beyond that.

Venture, get my PM?

[venture]

Omaha already has the benefit of being a focus operation for Midwest too, so they'll be a step ahead of us...like Kansas City.

[OUman]

^Interesting stuff. Should be something to follow for sure.

Btw, going off-topic for a bit, I don't see Jetblue joining OneWorld anytime soon, just because it has teamed up with AA on a handful of north east flights doesn't mean anything much other than a smart move on B6's part. Remember that Lufthansa still has that 19% stake in B6, and has some code-sharing agreements as well. After all, LH didn't spend $300 million for nothing ;-)

[SkyWestOKC]

Tomorrow is the big Frontier/Midwest/Republic announcement. I am on the edge of my seat....

Delta is putting an Embraer 175 on Atlanta-OKC for July-Aug. The Embraer 175 is a 70 seat regional jet, but most people say it feels roomier like a mainline.

[z28james]

Just flew back on a United flight from LAX-OKC and it was packed with with 4-6 on standby, but on the way to LAX it was half full.

[ljbab728]

Just flew back on a United flight from LAX-OKC and it was packed with with 4-6 on standby, but on the way to LAX it was half full.

I guess that means that everyone in LA is moving to OKC then. LOL, you can't tell too much from that. I've been on those flights when it was full in both directions. It can certainly vary from day to day though.

[LakeEffect]

Tomorrow is the big Frontier/Midwest/Republic announcement. I am on the edge of my seat....

Delta is putting an Embraer 175 on Atlanta-OKC for July-Aug. The Embraer 175 is a 70 seat regional jet, but most people say it feels roomier like a mainline.

I agree with most people - the E175 really does feel a bit bigger. Flew into/out of OKC once or twice when NWA was still operating apart from Delta.

[SkyWestOKC]

About the LA flights, United has doubled capacity on the route effective last week, so some of the people will be split between the two flights. As the flights mature the flight back to LAX should begin to fill, especially with summer coming up.

[z28james]

Well I liked that canadair jet I flew on, it was a regional but it was a step up from the American RJ's in a consumers opinion.

[venture]

The Embraer 170/175/190/195 are amazing jets.

Interior on the Compass versions which fly for Delta.


Cabin is definitely more roomie than the CRJs and ERJ-135/140/145.

ERJ-145 of American Eagle.



CRJ-700 on Skyway flying for United.

[mugofbeer]

Just saw that the Frontier name will remain and Republic Airlines will become Frontier. The animal-theme will also remain.

[venture]

So the new airline will keep the name Frontier. Not unexpected and a good solid choice. The animal tails stay but the Midwest fresh chocolate chip cookies go to every flight!

Frontier and Midwest Airlines - We Are 1

Operations integrated by Nov 2010 and Midwest brand totally gone by Oct 2011.

Route Map where we can start guessing where to play connect the dots: http://www.frontiermidwest.com/weare...-Routemap.html



Q. What about the Midwest Airlines cookie?
A. Cookie lovers can breathe a sigh of relief because the chocolate chip cookie isn’t going anywhere. We are currently working to determine the best way to introduce the cookie on all of our flights (without Griz eating them all!). Until then, you’ll still enjoy a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie on our Embraer fleet and we’ll continue to provide updates as we work to introduce them across our entire Airbus fleet.

Q. Will all the planes be painted with animals on the tail?
A. Of course! The animals on our tail celebrate our vision of being different. Eventually, each plane across our fleet will be painted in Frontier livery with a unique animal on every tail. This isn’t something we can do overnight, but we will gradually convert the livery over the next 12 - 18 months and will provide you with updates on our additions.

Q. What animals will you be adding to the tails?
A. Much of that is yet to be decided, however, we are introducing our first new animal at the end of April. Our newest member of the Frontier “spokesanimal” family will be a badger, who will proudly represent the history of Midwest and our dedication to our second largest hub, Milwaukee. (The badger is the state animal of Wisconsin.)

Q. What is his or her name?
A. Our badger has not been named yet. We’re turning to the great Wisconsin community to help name our newest addition. Details of where and when to submit name suggestions will be announced in the coming weeks.

Q. What are your plans for in-flight entertainment? Will you keep the TVs?
A. The TVs installed in our Airbus fleet will stay. We are still exploring other in-flight entertainment options and plan to have some form available in each of our aircraft by 2011.

[SkyWestOKC]

Like the new commercial....

Since Lynx is going bye-bye, our Frontier flights to Denver will be served by Embraer 170/175/190's for the time being.

[BG918]

It would be nice to see OKC-Kansas City and Milwaukee on the new Frontier. Any possibility of OKC being a focus city someday? Not a hub like Denver, KC, or Milwaukee but similar to Omaha. Tulsa-Kansas City would be a good addition as well.

[venture]

Kansas City would be a blood bath with Southwest. So that won't happen. Milwaukee I would say we'll see it in the Fall or early next year. Possibly the return of Florida as well.

[BG918]

Kansas City would be a blood bath with Southwest. So that won't happen. Milwaukee I would say we'll see it in the Fall or early next year. Possibly the return of Florida as well.

I didn't realize Southwest still flew the OKC-KC route, do they fly TUL-KC as well?

[SkyWestOKC]

Last time I checked they do.

[NickFiggins]

I didn't realize Southwest still flew the OKC-KC route, do they fly TUL-KC as well?

No they don't fly TUL-MCI

[SkyWestOKC]

I stand corrected. I was thinking of St. Louis, they have managed to hold on to that flight.

[venture]

I didn't realize Southwest still flew the OKC-KC route, do they fly TUL-KC as well?

Twice daily on OKC-MCI (Kansas City). Down from the 4-5 they use to do.

Quick compare of Southwest in OKC and Tulsa since it has been awhile...this is the May schedule.

Oklahoma City - 20x daily
BWI (Baltimore) - 1x daily
DAL (Dallas Love) - 5x daily
DEN (Denver) - 3x daily
HOU (Houston Hobby) - 4x daily
MCI (Kansas City - 2x daily
LAS (Las Vegas) - 1x daily
PHX (Phoenix) - 2x daily
STL (St Louis) - 2x daily

Tulsa - 18x daily
DAL - 6x daily
DEN - 3x daily
HOU - 4x daily
LAS - 1x daily
PHX - 2x daily
STL - 2x daily