Omaha Eppley Airfield

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:39 am

Airline mergers FTW!

brick · Post by **brick** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:05 pm

nativeomahan wrote:It is wise for the Eppley administrators to plan for the future. But I don't see any significant reconfiguration of the airport occurring in the next ten years. In other words, don't get your hopes up on any of this, folks.

I would just be happy as a clam if they would improve their food options inside the terminal. How about a signature Omaha restaurant opening a branch? Many other cities have done this. Or high quality "grab and go" offerings. MSP does a superlative job in this regard.
Oh, and how about keeping the restaurants and news stands open past 8 pm! I fly in at 8 pm and everything is boarded up like you would expect in a two bit town. People who fly are often starving when they land.

One of the goals is to add food options, but passengers want options on the plane-side of the security checkpoint. Â With the current design of the gate area there is no room for them (barely enough for the "north hangar" or whatever that place is called. Â The new terminal design would allow for this.

One thing they could maybe do now for a lot less is combine the separate security checkpoints into a single one in the center of the existing main terminal. Â What is this area used for anyway? Â You never see anyone venture down the long corridor between the tops of the north and south escalators. Â Sure, it would cost money (construction, moving escalators, skywalks, etc.) but alot less than a new concourse and then there is a lot of space that you could use for restaurants and shops, that would be on the plane-side of the checkpoint.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:45 pm

This may sound silly but why not do it now, or at least start now? Oklahoma City built basically a new airport during a period of not much growth, and they still have less traffic than Eppley, and it is designed for more gates when the time comes. Check out their web site.

http://flyokc.com/Default.aspx

It's a great looking airport with better food options, upper and lower roads, better shopping options, etc. Why not rebuild Eppley with one area for airlines instead of two, one area for bag claim instead of two, one security checkpoint (large) instead of two, better food and shopping options on both sides of the security checkpoint, etc.? No they don't need more gates but why not improve the experience for travelers? Do it now when interest rates are historically low. Build a terminal with the ability to add on gates if necessary.

Just a thought..

S33 · Post by **S33** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:33 pm

mrsticka wrote:True, we're not. But Omaha is a big city rapidly growing. And the proposed expansion of the airport doesn't make it nearly as big as Las Vegas, Minneapolis, LA, O'Hare or Denver.

No, Omaha is not a big city, and it is not rapidly growing. Omaha is Omaha, and Eppley serves just right.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:34 pm

NovakOmaha wrote:This may sound silly but why not do it now, or at least start now? Oklahoma City built basically a new airport during a period of not much growth, and they still have less traffic than Eppley, and it is designed for more gates when the time comes. Check out their web site.

http://flyokc.com/Default.aspx

It's a great looking airport with better food options, upper and lower roads, better shopping options, etc. Why not rebuild Eppley with one area for airlines instead of two, one area for bag claim instead of two, one security checkpoint (large) instead of two, better food and shopping options on both sides of the security checkpoint, etc.? No they don't need more gates but why not improve the experience for travelers? Do it now when interest rates are historically low. Build a terminal with the ability to add on gates if necessary.

Just a thought..

Because that is the epitome of reckless spending. First, one must establish a need for spending, and if there is no need, a lock-tight business plan with solid ROI. Omaha, at this point, can provide neither.

Let's all get back to wishing for a 40 story condo tower.

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:30 pm

Wichita's doing the same thing as well. Â Expanding their terminal.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:47 am

S33 wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:This may sound silly but why not do it now, or at least start now? Oklahoma City built basically a new airport during a period of not much growth, and they still have less traffic than Eppley, and it is designed for more gates when the time comes. Check out their web site.

http://flyokc.com/Default.aspx

It's a great looking airport with better food options, upper and lower roads, better shopping options, etc. Why not rebuild Eppley with one area for airlines instead of two, one area for bag claim instead of two, one security checkpoint (large) instead of two, better food and shopping options on both sides of the security checkpoint, etc.? No they don't need more gates but why not improve the experience for travelers? Do it now when interest rates are historically low. Build a terminal with the ability to add on gates if necessary.

Just a thought..
Because that is the epitome of reckless spending. First, one must establish a need for spending, and if there is no need, a lock-tight business plan with solid ROI. Omaha, at this point, can provide neither.

Let's all get back to wishing for a 40 story condo tower.

I'll take condo tower over a bigger airport.

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 6:33 pm

S33 wrote:
mrsticka wrote:True, we're not. But Omaha is a big city rapidly growing. And the proposed expansion of the airport doesn't make it nearly as big as Las Vegas, Minneapolis, LA, O'Hare or Denver.
No, Omaha is not a big city, and it is not rapidly growing. Omaha is Omaha, and Eppley serves just right.

Believe whatever you want, but I'm not wrong.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:24 am

Just noodling around this morning. Â Service may or may not have to do with hubs. Â It is more about demand & profitability.

For example, OKC has the following service that Omaha does not: Â On United from OKC there is service to Cleveland, LAX, San Francisco, Dulles, on American there is service to LAX and on Southwest there is service to Atlanta and BWI.

Tulsa has service to Miami on American and Dulles on United.

Eppley serves more passengers than either OKC or TUL. Â I can't see a reason that Eppley shouldn't support service to LAX, BWI, MIA (or FLL) or Tampa...really any of the cities listed above. Â I also don't understand why OMA can successfully support daily year round service to Orlando.

As for expansion at OMA, I can see combining ticket counters and security. Â Not as sure about gates but as I have said before it seems to be a no brainer to expand the number of gates by simply adding on to the current concourses, either one or both.

With regard to amenities, both OKC and TUL have CNBC. Â TUL has Quiznos, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, TGI Fridays, Starbucks, Great American Bagel and others. Â OKC has Moe's Southwest Grille, Schlotzskys, Sonic and others.

Amenities wise, OMA could do much better. Â And no, neither OMA, OKC nor TUL is a hub so the bulk of the traffic is originating and not connecting. Â OMA draws from a larger area than either OKC or TUL, not just Lincoln. Â Those folks have to eat and maybe buy something. Â Time for OMA to step it up a few notches.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:20 am

NovakOmaha wrote:For example, OKC has the following service that Omaha does not: On United from OKC there is service to Cleveland, LAX, San Francisco, Dulles

Tulsa has service to Miami on American and Dulles on United.

Omaha has non stop to Regan on Frontier, which until DC gets their act together and gets the Metro out to Dulles, I don't see the point in going to Dulles when I can go to Regan and hop the train and get anywhere town. Â I have flown the Frontier non stop to DC twice this year and its been great.

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:27 am

Did Eppley used to have nonstop flights to Seattle?

S33 · Post by **S33** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:43 am

Anyone else notice how incredibly busy Eppley has been this week? Pretty much all evenings, there were low-flying flights lined up in a giant loop north and south of the airport waiting to land. You could get a really good view of it from I-29 south of Council Bluffs.

Regardless of time of year, I've never even seen it close to that busy.

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:12 am

mrsticka wrote:Did Eppley used to have nonstop flights to Seattle?

I don't recall any in the last 15 years. Â They have one now with Alaska Air.

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:20 am

NovakOmaha made a post while we were in hiatus about a new route coming to Omaha, anybody see that? Novak?

Post by **Brad** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:01 am

Sometime while the forum was down, Southwest added a non stop from Omaha to LAX that starts mid 2014

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:29 am

Southwest Airlines to add nonstop Omaha-Los Angeles flight

Steve Jordon / World-Herald staff writer wrote:Southwest Airlines said Monday it would begin Saturday-only nonstop flights between Omaha and Los Angeles International Airport on June 14.

ricko · Post by **ricko** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:58 am

mrsticka wrote:Did Eppley used to have nonstop flights to Seattle?

Yes. Eastern Airlines had a non-stop to Seattle---I think it was back in the 70's. Â I remember this because, for a short while, it was a large plane, bigger than a 737 (can't remember exactly, but it was the largest passenger plane that flew into Eppley. Â I think the flight originated in St. Louis. It didn't last long though.

Nosdoc · Post by **Nosdoc** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:57 am

S33 wrote:Anyone else notice how incredibly busy Eppley has been this week? Pretty much all evenings, there were low-flying flights lined up in a giant loop north and south of the airport waiting to land. You could get a really good view of it from I-29 south of Council Bluffs.

Regardless of time of year, I've never even seen it close to that busy.

It varies day to day but it's not odd for all the ConAgra, UP, Kiewet, Werner and other corporate jets to come home in the evening at the same time. Â Same goes for all the cargo planes from western Nebraska. Â Throw in some commercial traffic and it can get fairly busy at the airport. Â Aircraft lined up for final can reach 20+ miles out.

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:23 pm

Welcome to he forum Nosdoc!

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:47 pm

ricko wrote:
mrsticka wrote:Did Eppley used to have nonstop flights to Seattle?
Yes. Eastern Airlines had a non-stop to Seattle---I think it was back in the 70's. I remember this because, for a short while, it was a large plane, bigger than a 737 (can't remember exactly, but it was the largest passenger plane that flew into Eppley. I think the flight originated in St. Louis. It didn't last long though.

I figured as much. I remember shortly after my sister was born, she and my mother flew up to Seattle. I don't know what for. And I remember them flying from Eppley without any layovers and the same on the way back.

My dad, my brothers and I didn't go with them. It was a girls only trip. This was 1989. Â My sister was only a year old then.

Omababe · Post by **Omababe** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 6:44 am

Coyote wrote:Southwest Airlines said Monday it would begin Saturday-only nonstop flights between Omaha and Los Angeles

Saturday only?????!!!!

It would be very nice to skip that transfer in Denver!

I miss the old OMA to LAX with Midwest (Express). It was rarely full, so I do understand why they dropped it.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:59 am

I posted regarding a story in the OWH about Southwest's newly announced service from OMA to LAX. What I really wanted to emphasize was that at the end of the story was the following sentence: Southwest lists one-way fares as low as $158. The airline also has nonstop flights between Omaha and Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif., and Reno, Nev. .

Now, everyone makes mistakes and I count it a victory if I only make six mistakes before breakfast, but seriously? Someone wrote that and it got past everyone who saw it before it went live? In all fairness it was corrected later, possibly as a result of a comment I made. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and let's just say that maybe an intern actually wrote the story and not Steve Jordan, who was credited with the story. It just seemed ridiculous to me that no one fact checked the story.

There was also this little nugget. "Other airlines have routes to Los Angeles with connections through other cities", as if the unwashed masses needed to know that one can get to Los Angeles in other ways.

My journalism professor at Central High would have given the story a rejection because it appeared to be written by a sixth grader.

This may sound petty and it probably is but the local monopoly fishwrap passes itself off as serious journalism and the leading source for information in the "Heartland". To let this get through makes the entire operation look at best second rate. It also seems that the OWH regularly checks this board for info. I can only hope it's an intern and not a paid "professional".

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:33 pm

Yeah, I read the original article online and just rolled my eyes. I mean, ANYone who travels even occasionally through Eppley would have to know how ridiculously wrong that statement was. The writer had to be someone who never gets on a plane.

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:32 pm

Omaha used to have nonstop flights to Cincinnati until 2012. Cincinnati has 2 airports–Lunken Field, which is a very small airfield, much smaller than Eppley. And there's their primary one, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International. They were both served by Eppley. It was Delta that had them, but not anymore.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:54 am

I heard on the news this morning that Frontier and US Airways are dropping their non-stop to DC, but Delta is adding one.

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:42 am

Brad wrote:I heard on the news this morning that Frontier and US Airways are dropping their non-stop to DC, but Delta is adding one.

From this mornings OWH

http://www.omaha.com/article/20140115/AP05/301159790" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.omaha.com/article/20140115/MONEY/140119143" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

US Airways will cancel its daily nonstop flight between Omaha and Washington, D.C. in coming months as part of its merger with American Airlines.

The Wednesday afternoon announcement came hours after Eppley Airfield officials confirmed that Delta Airlines is picking up a nonstop afternoon flight between the two cities that Frontier Airlines is ending Jan. 31.

For a short time, there will continue to be two nonstop flights available between the two cities.

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:09 pm

i still remember a while ago that US air express used to have flights from the airport out here (Central Nebraska Regional Airport) to eppley....i understand why they got rid of them, it's cheaper to just drive 2 1/2 hour than it it to pay 200 bucks for a 30 minute flight.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:15 pm

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this but Eppley finished the year with a nice +8% pop in December. Still finished the year down around 2% but maybe a little turnaround? I'd still like to see flighs to Tampa, Orlando, Miami, BWI, Cleveland, LAX(year round daily), San Francisco, Boston, etc.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:55 pm

PASSENGERS 2013 2012 (Decr.) 2013 Share % 2012 Share % (Decr.)
Enplaned 170,611 157,520 8.3% 2,019,248 2,061,032 -2.0%
Deplaned 163,911 154,652 6.0% 2,023,085 2,066,312 -2.1%
Total 334,522 312,172 7.2% 4,042,333 4,127,344 -2.1%

Post by **Coyote** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:46 am

Boingo Launches Hotspot 2.0 at 21 Airports in US

WSJ wrote:Boingo Wireless (NASDAQ: WIFI), the leading DAS and Wi-Fi provider that serves consumers, carriers and advertisers worldwide, today announced it has launched Hotspot 2.0 networks at 21 airports in the United States, providing seamless access to a secure Wi-Fi network for monthly subscribers and roaming partners using the industry's latest technologies.

I believe PBA is going Boingo also.

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 6:48 pm

Does this mean that Eppley will no longer have free WiFi? I sure hope not. I have bought Boingo on flights, only to find that my one day pass won't work on the Boingo system on another connecting flight, or in an airport.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:50 am

I was booking a flight to OMA today & on the Eppley web site when you click the trip planning button it shows all the non stop destinations, including San Fransisco. It was United is flying non stop. Anyone know anything about this? A cursory check of the United web site doesn't show anything.

http://oma.innosked.com/%28S%28w14hkq55 ... fault.aspx

Just curious

lmdramos · Post by **lmdramos** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:15 pm

Flew out of the airport yesterday and the wifi was just the same as it has been, so I don't think it has been switched over to Boingo yet because nothing on the wifi resembles Boingo.

Also noticed on the map that there is a non-stop flight to LaGuardia operated by Delta. Have we had that before?

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:34 pm

What's Boingo?

Omaha_Gabe · Post by **Omaha_Gabe** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:38 pm

mrsticka wrote:What's Boingo?

It's a company that you pay a day pass or monthly pass to connect to wifi hot spots in certain areas. This is generally in airports, however, other places that charge for internet use boing as an option. I have seen some airports have boingo as well as a free option with slower speeds for free.

Post by **Coyote** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:55 pm

As I posted elsewhere, PBA is going Boingo.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:58 am

Coyote wrote:As I posted elsewhere, PBA is going Boingo.

What's PBA?

Pro Bowler's Association?

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:06 am

GetUrban wrote:
Coyote wrote:As I posted elsewhere, PBA is going Boingo.
What's PBA?

Pro Bowler's Association? :D

Pinnacle Bank Arena.

mrsticka · Post by **mrsticka** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:45 am

Omaha_Gabe wrote:
mrsticka wrote:What's Boingo?

It's a company that you pay a day pass or monthly pass to connect to wifi hot spots in certain areas. This is generally in airports, however, other places that charge for internet use boing as an option. I have seen some airports have boingo as well as a free option with slower speeds for free.

Never heard of it. I guess that shows how out of touch I am with airports these days. I just don't fly anymore because of all the stupid TSA/Security nonsense.

NovakOmaha · Post by **NovakOmaha** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:55 pm

Nice uptick at Eppley in Feb. 5.2% for the month and 2.7% for the year. And that's with cancellations. Looks like all the airlines were up but American which was down less than half a percent.

Still can't find anything about a United nonstop to Frisco and it's still on the map of nonstop destinations.

Omaha Forums

Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield