Oklahoma Commercial Aviation Discussion 2013

[HangryHippo]

Don't stop because people find it easy to just throw others under the bus on an internet forum instead of taking responsibility for their own comments.

Not enough industry insiders on this board as is.

+1. Forget the haters. I value your opinions and contributions and don't want to see your posts stop.

[OUman]

For the record, just to prevent any misunderstanding, I wasn't referring to catch22 or throwing anyone under the bus. I just come here to discuss things because I like Oklahoma City and aviation in general. We all can tend to agree/disagree, which is what is great about a discussion forum, but one or the other doesn't mean we are "haters" or intolerant of other people's opinions. I actually look forward to posts from the aviation professionals here.

[Plutonic Panda]

For me, I do agree that people in Oklahoma drive more than they fly. Dallas, Wichita, Austin, Amarillo, Little Rock, Kansas City, even Houston, New Orleans, Galveston. My dad owns a car rental agency and dealership in Moore and you'll be surprised the number of people who drive cross country. If I had to guess without looking at actual number, I'd say whoever suggested people drive more than they fly is right.

Edit: If Catch 22 was behind people driving more than flying, than that really makes me more confident about that notion, because he seems to really know his stuff.

[catch22]

For the record, just to prevent any misunderstanding, I wasn't referring to catch22 or throwing anyone under the bus. I just come here to discuss things because I like Oklahoma City and aviation in general. We all can tend to agree/disagree, which is what is great about a discussion forum, but one or the other doesn't mean we are "haters" or intolerant of other people's opinions. I actually look forward to posts from the aviation professionals here.

Disagreement is fine, I love a good argument. But saying my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt is fairly insulting for one who "lives" for this industry. I wake up at 3am every day for this industry. I have worked 41 of the past 42 days for this industry.

And, ljbab, I still stand by my statement made prior about Oklahoma having a large subset of people who do not fly. Of course you would be unfamiliar with them, because they never contact you or show up on the "Radar". The people who do fly contact you, the people who don't never will. I don't have any set of statistics to prove this, because it is impossible to prove because the people who do not fly...simply do not show up in any statistic.

But from my observations as a citizen over the years with friends and family across the state, I can say the amount of people who do not fly is quite striking. I have two sets of unrelated friends, who drive to LA every year for vacation respectively. I asked each why they don't fly, the answer was it was "cheaper to drive."

My brother's wife's parents, they make a considerable amount of money each year. They go to the lake for vacation. I run into people all of the time in there 20s from around here, who always mention to me when they find out what I do, "That's so cool, I have never been on an airplane before...what's it like?". My ex-girlfriend who I dated last year, had never flown on an airplane before she had met me. Her family wasn't poor, neither are a lot of the people I am referencing in this post.

I have a broad range of friends and acquaintances that I can confidently say is a decent cross-section of the OKC metro population. I can also confidently say, there is a larger than average subset of the OKC metro population who do not fly for vacation. Or do not fly often at all.

OKC has a 1.3 million metro, yet we are surpassed by many smaller metros on passenger totals. We have a booming economy, lots of extra expendable money in the pockets of the metro, yet travel is still flat. The amount of new shiny Ford F250 super crew pickups with a nice shiny 25 foot boat on a trailer, seems to be increasing.

The creative class tends to travel more, the more educated a population is, the more the population travels.

[OUman]

^Honestly speaking, I didn't remember that it was you who said that (I actually couldn't remember because it had been so long). I always check my posts before posting them since a forum environment is different from one-on-one talking. I do apologize, it wasn't meant to be insulting, it was just a plain reply. I will be more mindful in such situations.

You make some good points above, I too have always thought our passenger traffic growth rate for a 1.3 million metro seems to be on the slow side, but being just an "observer" as an enthusiast, I thought that was only me and my lack of knowledge or something. I think the "relative" low gas prices also lend to more of the lake trips like you mentioned.

[Plutonic Panda]

Vote likely means lights out for Lake Murray airport in Ardmore | News OK

[catch22]

United will start sending the 737-900 (config to 167 seats) to/from IAH in April and May, and will be daily for the June sked

[HangryHippo]

United will start sending the 737-900 (config to 167 seats) to/from IAH in April and May, and will be daily for the June sked

That's good news. Thanks for that update, Catch.

Any word on what the FAA is doing with the DCA routes? I'm a little surprised (but not much) that they haven't announced a decision... Of course, they could have and I just missed it.

[catch22]

Who knows. It's been close to 4 months now, they usually rule within 90 days. I bet all the crap with the budget in Washington is holding things up. Who knows.

[venture]

This is the link to the docket for the DCA application: Regulations.gov

There was a statement back on the 7th that they are still in the decision process. I would be shocked if it goes beyond the end of the month, but who knows. I think the US/AA merger is causing some issues with this.

[HangryHippo]

Is this decision ever going to be made? As venture said, I'm sure the merger is messing with things, but this has dragged on awhile now.

[venture]

Is this decision ever going to be made? As venture said, I'm sure the merger is messing with things, but this has dragged on awhile now.

At some point. LOL I looked this morning and no new updates except for a response from the Secretary's office that the process is still on going.

[catch22]

Legally I don't think the court can take into consideration future events yet to be approved into account. Theoretically the merger could be struck down, or the merger called off by the parties involved. They can only use present day facts in the decision.

[soonerguru]

I must have missed the announcement here but I was pleasantly surprised to find out United has direct service between OKC and San Fran. A relative just booked some flights there. I don't fly United regularly so this may explain my surprise. When did this service start?

[catch22]

August 2011.

[Snowman]

I must have missed the announcement here but I was pleasantly surprised to find out United has direct service between OKC and San Fran. A relative just booked some flights there. I don't fly United regularly so this may explain my surprise. When did this service start?

Near the end of 2011

[Mel]

I didn't like flying that much even when I worked for a airline and it was free. All the hoohaw they put you through now I would end up arrested or shot. For me the drive is as much fun as the destination. But, you can't drive to Hawaii. Yet.

[venture]

I didn't like flying that much even when I worked for a airline and it was free. All the hoohaw they put you through now I would end up arrested or shot. For me the drive is as much fun as the destination. But, you can't drive to Hawaii. Yet.

I don't think security is really that bad at all know. Doesn't take all that much time to get through, typically, and if you prepare ahead of time you go right through.

[soonerguru]

August 2011.

Doh. I feel like a dummy.

[Richard at Remax]

I flew on the direct MCO to OKC flight last Wednesday and it was about 85% full. Not bad for a Wednesday at 3:25pm

[Celebrator]

I flew WN n/s outbound to MCO on Thursday night and it seemed to me about 75% full. I flew the n/s back to OKC on Easter Sunday afternoon and the gate agent told me there were 101 booked...so just about the same. They were great flights. Makes the trip down there so fast and easy. I really hope they at least keep it around for Spring Break each year.

[Just the facts]

I came across this today and thought most of you would find it interesting and you probably wouldn't see it if I posted it in the Arts and Crafts section.

[catch22]

Some good news. Delta will add a 4th MD88 to OKCATL for the July schedule.

[venture]

Looks good. I'll take the T-tails as long as we can have them. Outside of the RJs, the Mad Dogs are all that are left since the 727 left the skies. *sniff*

[no1cub17]

Looks good. I'll take the T-tails as long as we can have them. Outside of the RJs, the Mad Dogs are all that are left since the 727 left the skies. *sniff*

Seriously! Thank goodness we live in OKC - I'm sure we'll be one of the last S80 stations to lose the MD as AA gets the airbii. Gonna miss the 2-3 seating for sure!