2023 Oklahoma City Aviation Thread

[BG918]

Kansas City's new airport opens Feb 28. From the pictures I've seen it looks really nice and will be a huge improvement over the current outdated airport. I'm hoping Southwest will build up more flights there and we will see OKC/TUL resume daily non-stops.

[Ward]

Just saw a Boeing 727, Kalitte Air, land at Will Rogers, looks like it parked by Atlantic Aviation/Skywest.

Surely this is not hauling passengers and is probably freight.

Any best guesses or actual in the know on this?

[Jeepnokc]

Just saw a Boeing 727, Kalitte Air, land at Will Rogers, looks like it parked by Atlantic Aviation/Skywest.

Surely this is not hauling passengers and is probably freight.

Any best guesses or actual in the know on this?

http://www.kalittaair.com/

[Dob Hooligan]

Just saw a Boeing 727, Kalitte Air, land at Will Rogers, looks like it parked by Atlantic Aviation/Skywest.

Surely this is not hauling passengers and is probably freight.

Any best guesses or actual in the know on this?

Kalitta Air! NHRA drag racing legends! IIRC Connie (Conrad) Kalitta was the founder in the 1960s-70s. He was a well known Top Fuel racer in the era and was most famous for being the boyfriend of Shirley Muldowney (portrayed by Beau Bridges in the movie "Heart Like A Wheel"). He was also a regular presence in the NHRA coverage on TNN of the 1980s. His son Scott Kalitta won a pair of NHRA Top Fuel annual championships before moving to Funny Car. He was killed in a Funny Car accident in 2008.

[damonsmuz]

Just received a notification from United this morning that my flight in June from OKC to Denver has been changed from an EMB-175 to United mainline A319.

Nice to see mainline returning to Denver.

[s00nr1]

Just received a notification from United this morning that my flight in June from OKC to Denver has been changed from an EMB-175 to United mainline A319.

Nice to see mainline returning to Denver.

Fantastic news for us United FFs.

[Richard at Remax]

Southwest adding back a decent amount of routes. Was hoping for DAL or KC again but nothing for OKC.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/southw...ch-california/

[BG918]

Southwest adding back a decent amount of routes. Was hoping for DAL or KC again but nothing for OKC.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/southw...ch-california/

I was hoping to see BWI. When does OKC-BNA start? I think BWI and BNA are the two most important adds for OKC/TUL from Southwest. I think OKC-DAL and MCI are long shots; MCI likely won’t happen until Southwest is up to 100+ daily departures from KC

[Celebrator]

I know, the loss of that BWI flight is a tough one for folks who want to get to the east coast easily. It has flights to all of their small east coast stations like ISP, ALB, PVD, and MHT. MDW has some of those, but not with the frequency BWI has, which just makes a northeastern journey tougher on WN. I am not sure we will ever see it come back though because they surely won't serve two airports in the same metro area (DCA and BWI) from our relatively small market. The Congressional delegation I am sure will make sure DCA remains on the route map from OKC. And one can make connections there, they just are far LESS in frequency and variety out of there because that is not a big WN fortress hub or anything. My wife connected there to MKE a few weeks ago and although out of the way, it was an easy connection with the small number of WN gates at DCA.

[Richard at Remax]

I was hoping to see BWI. When does OKC-BNA start? I think BWI and BNA are the two most important adds for OKC/TUL from Southwest. I think OKC-DAL and MCI are long shots; MCI likely won’t happen until Southwest is up to 100+ daily departures from KC

OKC-BNA has been around for a bit but as far as I can tell it's still only once a week on Saturday

[BG918]

OKC-BNA has been around for a bit but as far as I can tell it's still only once a week on Saturday

I meant daily to BNA, that was supposed to start already.

[Richard at Remax]

I honestly never heard that it was going to switch to daily. That'd be nice though

[amocore]

Good morning,

https://flyokc.com/sites/default/fil...nplanement.pdf

Good month as expected compared to January 22 which was still under covid limitations.
Southwest still holds the lead with AA close second.
Delta and United always together for third place.

[brianinok]

Flew Southwest for the non-stop to MCO this past week. While the non-stop was convenient, yikes I was reminded why I never fly them. What a (1) cattle car and (2) customer service nightmare. Paying for A boarding group gives no guarantee you won't be seated next to large people who should have purchased more than one seat. Sorry not sorry. At least on other airlines I can control that and book first class if I want. And Southwest so overuses their gates in Orlando on Saturdays (probably from all the cities they do once-weekly non-stops) that they have flights (SCHEDULED) coming in before the prior flight leaves the gate. Their terminal is a complete disaster when all flights are on time. And there is NO lounge to escape to. I can't imagine it when even just a few flights get delayed or canceled. I'm not sure the non-stop is worth it when you can have a quick layover in DFW (or some other place) and spending the layover in a nice, quiet lounge. Geez....

Also I remember the days when Southwest employees had fun while they worked. Now they just seemed mad and rude. How sad.

[scottk]

Flew Southwest for the non-stop to MCO this past week. While the non-stop was convenient, yikes I was reminded why I never fly them. What a (1) cattle car and (2) customer service nightmare. Paying for A boarding group gives no guarantee you won't be seated next to large people who should have purchased more than one seat. Sorry not sorry. At least on other airlines I can control that and book first class if I want. And Southwest so overuses their gates in Orlando on Saturdays (probably from all the cities they do once-weekly non-stops) that they have flights (SCHEDULED) coming in before the prior flight leaves the gate. Their terminal is a complete disaster when all flights are on time. And there is NO lounge to escape to. I can't imagine it when even just a few flights get delayed or canceled. I'm not sure the non-stop is worth it when you can have a quick layover in DFW (or some other place) and spending the layover in a nice, quiet lounge. Geez....

Also I remember the days when Southwest employees had fun while they worked. Now they just seemed mad and rude. How sad.

If you typically book first class, have access to airport lounges, etc, then Southwest probably isn't the airline for you. They are no frills, but at least don't have the nickel and dime model as other budget carriers that charge large fees for any type of baggage, seat selection, or in-flight snacks to offset the low fare.

As for the "cattle call", Southwest actually did a lot of research in how to turn their planes quickly and keep them in the air, the gate line up and boarding groups are part of the efficiency as planes methodically fill from front to back and window seats and aisle seats typically go first. Since Southwest doesn't technically use hubs, you run into the problem that you experienced in Orlando, unlike DFW, Denver, or Atlanta, Southwest doesn't have their planes all go to one airport that they basically control every gate, (Outside of Houston Hobby and Dallas Love, where they basically do) they try to use what gates they have at the airports they fly to as efficiently as possible to keep costs down instead of leasing out more gates. HOWEVER, if things don't run efficiently, it seems it's hard for them to regroup. without using a hub type model.

[BG918]

Opposite experience yesterday. Flew DEN-TUL on United which was on a E145. I would’ve much preferred the Southwest 737. United only flying mainline on 1 of its 4 daily nonstops to DEN.

[brianinok]

Opposite experience yesterday. Flew DEN-TUL on United which was on a E145. I would’ve much preferred the Southwest 737. United only flying mainline on 1 of its 4 daily nonstops to DEN.

Oh gosh. An E145?! Those are awful. When I see United flying that or a CRJ-200 I avoid them like the plague. And frankly, that's pretty often these days.

[BG918]

Oh gosh. An E145?! Those are awful. When I see United flying that or a CRJ-200 I avoid them like the plague. And frankly, that's pretty often these days.

Yeah and even worse is boarding from the stinger gates at DEN where you have to walk out to the plane…

[catch22]

Yeah and even worse is boarding from the stinger gates at DEN where you have to walk out to the plane…

There are only 4 UA gates at DEN with ground loading now, and those will be closed soon to be converted to mainline capable gates.

B57/59/61 and B81 which is only used for the Landline bus to Ft Collins and Breckenridge.

B83/85/87/89/91/93 were permanently closed with the new UA East Finger opening (B62-B71).

B88/90/92/94/95 are all closed for complete interior renovation. Once those open back up, B80/82/84/86 will be closed for renovation.

When fully complete B81 will be the only ground load gate left due to it being a bus gate. I don't know of any jetbridges which work with a motorcoach. Lol.

[BG918]

There are only 4 UA gates at DEN with ground loading now, and those will be closed soon to be converted to mainline capable gates.

B57/59/61 and B81 which is only used for the Landline bus to Ft Collins and Breckenridge.

B83/85/87/89/91/93 were permanently closed with the new UA East Finger opening (B62-B71).

B88/90/92/94/95 are all closed for complete interior renovation. Once those open back up, B80/82/84/86 will be closed for renovation.

When fully complete B81 will be the only ground load gate left due to it being a bus gate. I don't know of any jetbridges which work with a motorcoach. Lol.

Ha my gate was B57. The new gates at the west end are really nice though.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

If you typically book first class, have access to airport lounges, etc, then Southwest probably isn't the airline for you. They are no frills, but at least don't have the nickel and dime model as other budget carriers that charge large fees for any type of baggage, seat selection, or in-flight snacks to offset the low fare.

As for the "cattle call", Southwest actually did a lot of research in how to turn their planes quickly and keep them in the air, the gate line up and boarding groups are part of the efficiency as planes methodically fill from front to back and window seats and aisle seats typically go first. Since Southwest doesn't technically use hubs, you run into the problem that you experienced in Orlando, unlike DFW, Denver, or Atlanta, Southwest doesn't have their planes all go to one airport that they basically control every gate, (Outside of Houston Hobby and Dallas Love, where they basically do) they try to use what gates they have at the airports they fly to as efficiently as possible to keep costs down instead of leasing out more gates. HOWEVER, if things don't run efficiently, it seems it's hard for them to regroup. without using a hub type model.

What about an airline that gives you a discount for farting in the middle seat? That feels like Southwest.

[catch22]

Ha my gate was B57. The new gates at the west end are really nice though.

Unlucky! Out of our 85 gates we operate you were in one of the 4 for ground loading! Those gates are terrible to work, too. Overall just a terrible experience for everyone.

[brianinok]

I forgot to mention that our flights were completely full. On random non-holiday weekends in February with school in session. If Southwest wanted it seems the demand is there to expand OKC-MCO beyond once-weekly flights. They just announced a new round of expansion in their latest schedule extension but this wasn't on there. Too bad. They'd have a better shot at getting my return business to MCO if they had something besides a Saturday non-stop. I highly recommend everyone avoid the Southwest gates at MCO on Saturdays unless they want an airport experience like you expect at O'Hare when an unexpected blizzard rolls in. They should shift some of their Saturday-only flights to Fridays and Sundays to alleviate the pressure they are putting on their MCO gates AND THEIR CUSTOMERS.

[scottk]

I forgot to mention that our flights were completely full. On random non-holiday weekends in February with school in session. If Southwest wanted it seems the demand is there to expand OKC-MCO beyond once-weekly flights.

Well, from the parents I work with that have children in grade school, there seems to be no remorse or bad feelings on their part for taking their kid(s) out mid-semester for a week long trip to the Disney in Orlando. Supposedly the trip is cheaper, better weather, less crowds, etc compared to the peak travel season. Southwest is also preferred by families since they have the open seating and priority boarding for families to allow them to sit together.

As someone mentioned above a trip in a 747 on Southwest is more desireable than the smaller 2-1 configuration express jets.

[HOT ROD]

737