Omaha Eppley Airfield

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NovakOmaha
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

I tried to do this yesterday but didn't like how it looked. I made it into a jpg & hopefully it will look ok. The data is from the web site I posted the other day. Remember, it's departing numbers only. You can multiply by two and get roughly total numbers.
I took some liberties with the last three columns. For ave flights per day I took the total for the year and divided by 365. Same with pax per day. For seats per day I took flights per year times seats per flight and then divided that by 365.
Buffalo has been declining over the last few years and OMA may pass them, if they haven't already. I doubt OMA will catch ABQ. It's been growing.
As for DSM, GRR has been growing as well. I'm not saying DSM can't catch GRR but it will require quite a bit of growth.

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Ryan Air
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

NovakOmaha wrote:I tried to do this yesterday but didn't like how it looked. I made it into a jpg & hopefully it will look ok. The data is from the web site I posted the other day. Remember, it's departing numbers only. You can multiply by two and get roughly total numbers.
I took some liberties with the last three columns. For ave flights per day I took the total for the year and divided by 365. Same with pax per day. For seats per day I took flights per year times seats per flight and then divided that by 365.
Buffalo has been declining over the last few years and OMA may pass them, if they haven't already. I doubt OMA will catch ABQ. It's been growing.
As for DSM, GRR has been growing as well. I'm not saying DSM can't catch GRR but it will require quite a bit of growth.

Image
Good insight. I like seeing stats like this in one place. It’s what I do, too. It’s nice to not have to go to 4 or 5 sources to get the info.
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thenewguy
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by thenewguy »

Hey everyone, lookin for some insight: may have to take a flight to DC on very short notice and wondered which sites any of you may have used that had the cheapest fares. Looking to travel the 7th, potentially.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

thenewguy wrote:Hey everyone, lookin for some insight: may have to take a flight to DC on very short notice and wondered which sites any of you may have used that had the cheapest fares. Looking to travel the 7th, potentially.
DL flies direct
WN filed direct. You have to book on their website though.
It’s going to be expensive any way you book. Sorry

DCA isn’t cheap anyway- last minute isn’t helping
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by thenewguy »

Yeah, thats what im seeing. Thanks for the input!
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Mr.Nuke
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Mr.Nuke »

Expect a non-daily (Monday and Friday) Omaha to Austin Texas announcement on Frontier at some point this week.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by iamjacobm »

Mr.Nuke wrote:Expect a non-daily (Monday and Friday) Omaha to Austin Texas announcement on Frontier at some point this week.
Sounds like a schedule designed to fail, but nice to see a toe dip into Austin.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Louie »

Mr.Nuke wrote:Expect a non-daily (Monday and Friday) Omaha to Austin Texas announcement on Frontier at some point this week.
How soon do they start the flights after an announcement? I am going to Austin this spring and would rather not stop in houston or dallas for the puddlejumper.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Mr.Nuke »

Louie wrote:
Mr.Nuke wrote:Expect a non-daily (Monday and Friday) Omaha to Austin Texas announcement on Frontier at some point this week.
How soon do they start the flights after an announcement? I am going to Austin this spring and would rather not stop in houston or dallas for the puddlejumper.
In this case it looks like April 9th.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

Mr.Nuke wrote:
Louie wrote:
Mr.Nuke wrote:Expect a non-daily (Monday and Friday) Omaha to Austin Texas announcement on Frontier at some point this week.
How soon do they start the flights after an announcement? I am going to Austin this spring and would rather not stop in houston or dallas for the puddlejumper.
In this case it looks like April 9th.
From the W-H:

“The service, which will operate seasonally, will begin April 9 and will run twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays.

The flight will leave Austin at 1:14 p.m. and will land in Omaha at 3:24 p.m. It will leave Omaha at 4:09 p.m. and land in Austin at 6:25 p.m.”..

The complete story link-

http://www.omaha.com/money/eppley-airfi ... 94b9f.html

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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

And again, my list:

Boston
JFK
BWI
Dulles
Ft. Lauderdale
Memphis
New Orleans
Nashville
RDU
Norfolk, VA
San Antonio
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Albuquerque
Cabo San Lucas
Cancun
Puerto Vallarta

Discuss
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by buildomaha »

Although I'm not sure about the numbers, the Mexico vacation spots-Cancun and Cabo in specific- seem to be VERY popular for us Omahans. Maybe its because of dreadful winters like this one :? It would take some work with customs and such, but I think that they could be pretty viable options for a single airline to operate a route. The question of whether if anyone would pay up for this is another question since it would be entirely non-business families who are more worried about money than a large business sending a single employee would be.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

Saw this on the KCRag site. They actually announced a route to Omaha, put the name Omaha in the list, and moved Omaha to where Kansas City is on the map...whoever did the map doesn't fly the planes, does he/she?

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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by joleo »

buildomaha wrote:Although I'm not sure about the numbers, the Mexico vacation spots-Cancun and Cabo in specific- seem to be VERY popular for us Omahans. Maybe its because of dreadful winters like this one :? It would take some work with customs and such, but I think that they could be pretty viable options for a single airline to operate a route. The question of whether if anyone would pay up for this is another question since it would be entirely non-business families who are more worried about money than a large business sending a single employee would be.
Omaha would for sure have nonstops to Cancun on potentially multiple airlines on a seasonal basis if Eppley had customs facilities to handle it. In fact, Northwest Airlines announced OMA-CUN nonstop publicly about 10-15 years ago and then rescinded the announcement a few days later. Somebody didn't do their research when it was announced. Ha. Does anybody remember this?

I really hope the custom facility large enough for commercial flights is included in the 1st round of the terminal expansion. By then, I bet Allegiant will be flying to CUN and OMA-CUN would be on their list for sure.

As far as Cabo (SJD). Maybe could work Saturday only for a couple months of the year? This one is more of a stretch though. CUN is not a stretch at all.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

NovakOmaha wrote:Saw this on the KCRag site. They actually announced a route to Omaha, put the name Omaha in the list, and moved Omaha to where Kansas City is on the map...whoever did the map doesn't fly the planes, does he/she?

Image
LOL. That is hilarious...

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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by OmahaFan »

Omaha Cowboy wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:Saw this on the KCRag site. They actually announced a route to Omaha, put the name Omaha in the list, and moved Omaha to where Kansas City is on the map...whoever did the map doesn't fly the planes, does he/she?

Image
LOL. That is hilarious...

Ciao..LiO...Peace
I find that truly disturbing that they announce Omaha as their next hub but they can't even find it on the map. Nebraska and the City of Omaha need to look into strong marketing. As for Eppley I'm excited for the future of the Airport if this continues as this pace we might be seeing a another expansion pretty soon. Which would be quite nice!
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guy4omaha
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by guy4omaha »

Kansas City might want to up their marketing effort too! :D
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Mr.Nuke »

buildomaha wrote: It would take some work with customs and such
That is putting it mildly, because...
joleo wrote: Omaha would for sure have nonstops to Cancun on potentially multiple airlines on a seasonal basis if Eppley had customs facilities to handle it. In fact, Northwest Airlines announced OMA-CUN nonstop publicly about 10-15 years ago and then rescinded the announcement a few days later. Somebody didn't do their research when it was announced. Ha. Does anybody remember this?
The year was 2005. I'm not sure that is how it went down though. My hunch is that Eppley and Northwest were in on it together and basically using that announcement to signal to Customs and Border Patrol that Eppley had someone serious about international flights from the airport. It obviously backfired because as you note two weeks later Northwest rescinded citing:
Since that application was filed, Northwest has learned that Customs and Border Protection will not be able to commit the additional resources necessary to handle the passenger flows that Northwest’s new service would bring to Omaha. Accordingly, Northwest hereby withdraws its request for an exemption and designation to provide scheduled foreign air transportation between Omaha and Cancun.

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D= ... 21781-0004

This thread from this very site here a year later provides more insight based on a W-H article.
http://www.eomahaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4156

The summary was that not only was Northwest ready for the Cancun flight, but Frontier was prepared to fly to multiple Mexican destinations as well. Eppley was prepared to build an FIS facility fully funding the construction on their own. There were two big obstacles to overcome though. 1) Eppley was waiting for guidance from Customs and Border Patrol on what they actually needed to build. Guidelines hadn't been updated since Pre 9/11 and Pre Customs and Border Patrol being an agency under Homeland Security.

W-H 2006
Eppley officials would like to add a processing center, at the airport's expense, but they are waiting for a rewrite of government regulations for such operations, Smithey said. Without the regulations, the authority doesn't know what to build or what it would cost.

"We're certainly interested in creating the FIS, and we could do that pretty easily, but they have to tell us what they want."
2) Customs basically said even if you build it we aren't going to staff it and we won't be giving you permission to land international commercial flights.

From the W-H article
In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government.
So the question becomes has anything changed regarding that position? The premise of that article was that Ben Nelson was trying to set up something that would reimburse CBP for temporarily staffing Eppley. I'd say it didn't go through. We are obviously 12 years later and 2 different Presidential administrations, but...
joleo wrote: I really hope the custom facility large enough for commercial flights is included in the 1st round of the terminal expansion.
If nothing has changed it becomes a question of what to do if anything at all.
joleo wrote: By then, I bet Allegiant will be flying to CUN and OMA-CUN would be on their list for sure.
They obviously don't fly anywhere scheduled internationally right now, but I'd be willing to bet one or multiple of Frontier, Delta, United, Southwest or American would do weekend Winter/Spring flights. For reference, Kansas City this past week had 6 flights to Cancun on 3 different airlines.
joleo wrote: As far as Cabo (SJD). Maybe could work Saturday only for a couple months of the year? This one is more of a stretch though. CUN is not a stretch at all.
I think you'd see Puerto Vallarta before Cabo.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

"In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government."

What a load of c r a p. The best interests of the government? What country is this? I stupidly was under the impression that the best interests of the government took a back seat to the best interests of the citizens. Are we balancing the budget on the backs of the citizens of Omaha and environs? Those who live in cities with international flights are somehow more deserving of international flights than those who choose Eppley? And for what it's worth, every other line item in the budget is sacred but for Eppley having international flights? I just thought of something else. Omahans pay taxes, some of which goes toward essential flight service for smaller communities. I have no heard of Omahans taking pitchforks and demanding that those payments be stopped because of budget restraints. Omahans have no problem with a small part of their taxes going to subsidize air service for Grand Island, Kearney, etc.

That response was just stupid.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by nateshay »

OmahaFan wrote:
Omaha Cowboy wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:Saw this on the KCRag site. They actually announced a route to Omaha, put the name Omaha in the list, and moved Omaha to where Kansas City is on the map...whoever did the map doesn't fly the planes, does he/she?

Image
LOL. That is hilarious...

Ciao..LiO...Peace
I find that truly disturbing that they announce Omaha as their next hub but they can't even find it on the map. Nebraska and the City of Omaha need to look into strong marketing. As for Eppley I'm excited for the future of the Airport if this continues as this pace we might be seeing a another expansion pretty soon. Which would be quite nice!
Wait, when did they announce that Omaha will be their next hub? I tried looking it up, but I found nothing.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Garrett »

NovakOmaha wrote:"In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government."

What a load of c r a p. The best interests of the government? What country is this? I stupidly was under the impression that the best interests of the government took a back seat to the best interests of the citizens. Are we balancing the budget on the backs of the citizens of Omaha and environs? Those who live in cities with international flights are somehow more deserving of international flights than those who choose Eppley? And for what it's worth, every other line item in the budget is sacred but for Eppley having international flights? I just thought of something else. Omahans pay taxes, some of which goes toward essential flight service for smaller communities. I have no heard of Omahans taking pitchforks and demanding that those payments be stopped because of budget restraints. Omahans have no problem with a small part of their taxes going to subsidize air service for Grand Island, Kearney, etc.

That response was just stupid.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by bigredmed1 »

NovakOmaha wrote:"In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government."

What a load of c r a p. The best interests of the government? What country is this? I stupidly was under the impression that the best interests of the government took a back seat to the best interests of the citizens. Are we balancing the budget on the backs of the citizens of Omaha and environs? Those who live in cities with international flights are somehow more deserving of international flights than those who choose Eppley? And for what it's worth, every other line item in the budget is sacred but for Eppley having international flights? I just thought of something else. Omahans pay taxes, some of which goes toward essential flight service for smaller communities. I have no heard of Omahans taking pitchforks and demanding that those payments be stopped because of budget restraints. Omahans have no problem with a small part of their taxes going to subsidize air service for Grand Island, Kearney, etc.

That response was just stupid.
And now we breathe in the fetid gas of the swamp. Imbibe deeply of the flatulence of the deep state. Want to know why Trump won? Pustules like this being. Likely she is some Crystal City flunky who couldn't find Omaha on a labeled map and doesn't think any worse of herself because of it.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

bigredmed1 wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:"In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government."

What a load of c r a p. The best interests of the government? What country is this? I stupidly was under the impression that the best interests of the government took a back seat to the best interests of the citizens. Are we balancing the budget on the backs of the citizens of Omaha and environs? Those who live in cities with international flights are somehow more deserving of international flights than those who choose Eppley? And for what it's worth, every other line item in the budget is sacred but for Eppley having international flights? I just thought of something else. Omahans pay taxes, some of which goes toward essential flight service for smaller communities. I have no heard of Omahans taking pitchforks and demanding that those payments be stopped because of budget restraints. Omahans have no problem with a small part of their taxes going to subsidize air service for Grand Island, Kearney, etc.

That response was just stupid.
And now we breathe in the fetid gas of the swamp. Imbibe deeply of the flatulence of the deep state. Want to know why Trump won? Pustules like this being. Likely she is some Crystal City flunky who couldn't find Omaha on a labeled map and doesn't think any worse of herself because of it.

She?

Eppley is not a hub, nor a focus city, for F9. I don’t even see a benefit for them to do that.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

Mr.Nuke wrote:
buildomaha wrote: It would take some work with customs and such
That is putting it mildly, because...
joleo wrote: Omaha would for sure have nonstops to Cancun on potentially multiple airlines on a seasonal basis if Eppley had customs facilities to handle it. In fact, Northwest Airlines announced OMA-CUN nonstop publicly about 10-15 years ago and then rescinded the announcement a few days later. Somebody didn't do their research when it was announced. Ha. Does anybody remember this?
The year was 2005. I'm not sure that is how it went down though. My hunch is that Eppley and Northwest were in on it together and basically using that announcement to signal to Customs and Border Patrol that Eppley had someone serious about international flights from the airport. It obviously backfired because as you note two weeks later Northwest rescinded citing:
Since that application was filed, Northwest has learned that Customs and Border Protection will not be able to commit the additional resources necessary to handle the passenger flows that Northwest’s new service would bring to Omaha. Accordingly, Northwest hereby withdraws its request for an exemption and designation to provide scheduled foreign air transportation between Omaha and Cancun.

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D= ... 21781-0004

This thread from this very site here a year later provides more insight based on a W-H article.
http://www.eomahaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4156

The summary was that not only was Northwest ready for the Cancun flight, but Frontier was prepared to fly to multiple Mexican destinations as well. Eppley was prepared to build an FIS facility fully funding the construction on their own. There were two big obstacles to overcome though. 1) Eppley was waiting for guidance from Customs and Border Patrol on what they actually needed to build. Guidelines hadn't been updated since Pre 9/11 and Pre Customs and Border Patrol being an agency under Homeland Security.

W-H 2006
Eppley officials would like to add a processing center, at the airport's expense, but they are waiting for a rewrite of government regulations for such operations, Smithey said. Without the regulations, the authority doesn't know what to build or what it would cost.

"We're certainly interested in creating the FIS, and we could do that pretty easily, but they have to tell us what they want."
2) Customs basically said even if you build it we aren't going to staff it and we won't be giving you permission to land international commercial flights.

From the W-H article
In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government.
So the question becomes has anything changed regarding that position? The premise of that article was that Ben Nelson was trying to set up something that would reimburse CBP for temporarily staffing Eppley. I'd say it didn't go through. We are obviously 12 years later and 2 different Presidential administrations, but...
joleo wrote: I really hope the custom facility large enough for commercial flights is included in the 1st round of the terminal expansion.
If nothing has changed it becomes a question of what to do if anything at all.
joleo wrote: By then, I bet Allegiant will be flying to CUN and OMA-CUN would be on their list for sure.
They obviously don't fly anywhere scheduled internationally right now, but I'd be willing to bet one or multiple of Frontier, Delta, United, Southwest or American would do weekend Winter/Spring flights. For reference, Kansas City this past week had 6 flights to Cancun on 3 different airlines.
joleo wrote: As far as Cabo (SJD). Maybe could work Saturday only for a couple months of the year? This one is more of a stretch though. CUN is not a stretch at all.
I think you'd see Puerto Vallarta before Cabo.
I remember when Northwest announced this.

I agree Cancun would be served by at least two carriers at this point, one for sure being Frontier.

PS: I wouldn’t fly anywhere on Allegiant - even if you paid me to, which did almost happen once. So whenever they announce new service I just hope it creates more demand and competition so a real carrier starts flying the route.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by damonhynes »

Ryan Air wrote:
PS: I wouldn’t fly anywhere on Allegiant - even if you paid me to, which did almost happen once. So whenever they announce new service I just hope it creates more demand and competition so a real carrier starts flying the route.
One of their Des Moines-Phoenix(ish) flights recently was delayed about fifteen hours due to maint, and Allegiant was fairly unapologetic about it. Riots (what passes for a riot in Des Moines, lol) ensued.

http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopi ... &t=1386369
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by joleo »

Ryan Air wrote: PS: I wouldn’t fly anywhere on Allegiant - even if you paid me to, which did almost happen once. So whenever they announce new service I just hope it creates more demand and competition so a real carrier starts flying the route.
Not saying that I defend Allegiant because I've never flown them but 99% of their issues have been around their old MD-80 aircraft. They are working on getting brand new Airbus aircraft to replace them and by the end of 2017, 100% of their aircraft will be on the new Airbus and all the old MD-80's will be gone. They will have one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the industry. At this point, most of their flights are already on the new planes.

Their biggest issue is they don't have any aircraft bases close by Omaha so if there is a maintenance issue, getting a new plane in takes awhile. I believe they are building a maintenance base at Indianapolis, that will drastically fix the extreme delays I've been told. Also, they can't just put people on new connecting flights because they are not a hub and spoke airline.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

joleo wrote:
Ryan Air wrote: PS: I wouldn’t fly anywhere on Allegiant - even if you paid me to, which did almost happen once. So whenever they announce new service I just hope it creates more demand and competition so a real carrier starts flying the route.
Not saying that I defend Allegiant because I've never flown them but 99% of their issues have been around their old MD-80 aircraft. They are working on getting brand new Airbus aircraft to replace them and by the end of 2017, 100% of their aircraft will be on the new Airbus and all the old MD-80's will be gone. They will have one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the industry. At this point, most of their flights are already on the new planes.

Their biggest issue is they don't have any aircraft bases close by Omaha so if there is a maintenance issue, getting a new plane in takes awhile. I believe they are building a maintenance base at Indianapolis, that will drastically fix the extreme delays I've been told. Also, they can't just put people on new connecting flights because they are not a hub and spoke airline.
I get all that- but MD80 Family aircraft were super reliable and loved by pilots. I’m more concerned about the tenure (or lack thereof) of their pilots and their maintenance scheduling. And Ummm.... fuel calculations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

heck, a few years back there was an incredible amount of negative press in Tampa with pilots saying Allegiant has issues and they’d never let their family fly with Allegiant.

To their credit, the FAA did investigate them pretty extensively. While they’re not done yet, everything reviewed has been well within the rules.

I just don’t like em.
I guess more room on the planes for y’all...
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Uffda »

Ryan Air wrote: PS: I wouldn’t fly anywhere on Allegiant - even if you paid me to, which did almost happen once. So whenever they announce new service I just hope it creates more demand and competition so a real carrier starts flying the route.
I must have had good luck as I have used Allegiant several times over the past 3-4 yrs to fly from here to St Pete and never had any real problems. Although the first couple of times flying out the check in lines were a long wait but I think part of that was because a bunch of flights taking off at around same time.

Currently I don’t care for their Wed Saturday flight schedule as it use to be Fri-Mon so it was great for a quick weekend.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

This is the agenda of the January 2018 meeting. I am curious about items 4 and 6.

#4 Supplemental agreement #7 with Southwest....gates?

#6 Master Plan Implementation. Work on the North Satellite?


OMAHA AIRPORT AUTHORITY

MEETING NOTICE



DATE: January 9, 2018


This is to advise that there will be a meeting of the Omaha Airport Authority on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board Room located on the second level of the Terminal Building, Eppley Airfield, Omaha, Nebraska.

The purpose of the meeting is as follows:

1. Minutes of the Last Meeting

2. Annual Airline Affairs Review

3. Majestic Terminal Services – Lease of Premises

4. Southwest Airlines - Supplemental Agreement No. 7

5. Award Contract – Operational Vehicles

6. Master Plan Implementation

7. Briefing Items
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zedmib
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by zedmib »

bigredmed1 wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:"In a letter last year to Smithey, Anne Lombardi, a director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote: "Our current position is that, even if you do choose to build an FIS (federal inspection station) and a commercial airline does request landing rights for international clearance, we will not approve landing rights at Eppley Field."

The decision, her letter continued, was based on budget constraints, staff availability, existing regulations and the best interests of the government."

What a load of c r a p. The best interests of the government? What country is this? I stupidly was under the impression that the best interests of the government took a back seat to the best interests of the citizens. Are we balancing the budget on the backs of the citizens of Omaha and environs? Those who live in cities with international flights are somehow more deserving of international flights than those who choose Eppley? And for what it's worth, every other line item in the budget is sacred but for Eppley having international flights? I just thought of something else. Omahans pay taxes, some of which goes toward essential flight service for smaller communities. I have no heard of Omahans taking pitchforks and demanding that those payments be stopped because of budget restraints. Omahans have no problem with a small part of their taxes going to subsidize air service for Grand Island, Kearney, etc.

That response was just stupid.
And now we breathe in the fetid gas of the swamp. Imbibe deeply of the flatulence of the deep state. Want to know why Trump won? Pustules like this being. Likely she is some Crystal City flunky who couldn't find Omaha on a labeled map and doesn't think any worse of herself because of it.

Many years ago I heard of a rumor of a policy that would deny any true international traffic to Eppley due to SAC. I was a layer of cold war protection so that foreign agents would need to go through one stop before flying into Omaha. This may be the "interests of the government" that they speak of.
To Growth! When do we get a Supertall! :mrgreen:
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Mr.Nuke
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Mr.Nuke »

Southwest's previous seasonal LAX service is going year round per their schedule extension announced today.
http://www.omaha.com/money/southwest-wi ... 6f7f3.html
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Mr.Nuke »

NovakOmaha wrote: That response was just stupid.
It is what it is, but that is where we stand. I know Long Beach last year ultimately voted against building partially due to Nimby-ism, but they basically had JetBlue saying they wanted 10 international flights a day there and CBP still wouldn't guarantee staffing if they built it.
NovakOmaha wrote:This is the agenda of the January 2018 meeting. I am curious about items 4 and 6.

#4 Supplemental agreement #7 with Southwest....gates?

#6 Master Plan Implementation. Work on the North Satellite?
On the Southwest it very well could be; those pop up occasionally in the meeting notices. Obviously it has already been amended 6 times before. It could be gates, it could be changing the rate they're charged per square foot for counter space, they may have more movements now than the previous agreement allowed for, etc.

6. Probably somehow related to thinking about starting design work. PAL 1 is realistically possible this year at about 4% growth (not a given, but again realistically possible). The PFC was due to start being collected on 2/1.
Though construction of these projects won't take place this year, the Omaha Airport Authority Board, which operates Eppley, will begin the next layer of planning to expand the north concourse. It also will start working on plans to move the central utility plant and work on other smaller projects that will prepare the airport for future growth and major renovation of the terminal.

"We're in the right timing right now to start looking at this," Roth said of the renovations as passenger counts grow.
http://www.omaha.com/eedition/sunrise/a ... 896e1.html
Ryan Air
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Ryan Air »

It’s annoying when OAA takes so long to release stats!

Novak- you should annoy them via FB messenger again- they seemed to release like a day after you did last time.
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damonhynes
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by damonhynes »

Mr.Nuke wrote:Southwest's previous seasonal LAX service is going year round per their schedule extension announced today.
http://www.omaha.com/money/southwest-wi ... 6f7f3.html
It seems like AA is throwing in the towel on OMA-LAX. it went from 1x A319 to 2x RJ to 1x RJ in mid-afternoon.
NovakOmaha
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

They used to be like clockwork, every 20th of the month. Give them till next week. I sense they are starting to think me a pest.
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iamjacobm
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by iamjacobm »

NovakOmaha wrote:They used to be like clockwork, every 20th of the month. Give them till next week. I sense they are starting to think me a pest.
The 20th it is.

https://www.flyoma.com/images/pdfs/Janu ... istics.pdf

11.7% increase over January 2017. Growth continues.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by NovakOmaha »

I am going to do something this year that I thought about last year. DSM does it monthly with their statistics. I'm going to take, for example, the 2017 total, subtract January 2017 and add January 2018. That gives a running 12 month total. Next month I'll post March 2017-February 2018. And so on

Thus, the February 2017-January 2018 total is 4,648,469. An increase of 36,563 for the year. That is very impressive. Still, what is up with United? Did the mayor of Omaha spill her wine on the white shirt of the CEO of United? Somebody kick his dog? Call his kid ugly? What? Definite reduction in mainline service.

One thing in the story in the owh a while back from the director. He said it's about keeping the service Eppley has vs. concentrating on growing destinations. He's right. Eppley has been on an amazing growth trend. It's important to retain the flights they have instead of simply adding destinations. In a way it's like a restaurant that keeps adding entrees. The menu is huge but without a thought about quality and consistency, or in this case making sure the current stable of flights are utilized, you lose sight of your goal. Eppley's goal, in my opinion, should be to ensure that there are quality non stop flights to the destinations desired by customers of the airport. Of course, clean bathrooms are right up there as well.
Last edited by NovakOmaha on Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Omaha Cowboy
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

That is one impressive increase January 2018 compared to Jan/2017..

11.7%.. Wowzers :thumb: ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace
Go Cowboys!
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damonhynes
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by damonhynes »

NovakOmaha wrote:Still, what is up with United?
It is peculiar, to say the least. They're to airlines what CSX is to railroads.
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Re: Omaha Eppley Airfield

Post by joleo »

damonhynes wrote:
NovakOmaha wrote:Still, what is up with United?
It is peculiar, to say the least. They're to airlines what CSX is to railroads.
Yes, they killed their schedule!

2 examples, on a Wednesday in January, the 1st flight to Houston was at 11:30am, the 1st flight to Denver was at 940am and the 1st flight to Chicago was at 820am. Couldn't make any connections in Denver or Houston going to Cancun like normal when Des Moines still had their standard morning flights to Houston and Denver that day that allowed for all the Caribbean connections. The 940am Denver plane spent the night the night before, all they had to do was have it leave 1 hour earlier at 840am vs 940am and then they would have allowed for a ton more connections in Denver vs only sending out a plane that was barely half full that day.

Second example, on a recent search Denver to Omaha, the 1st flight was at 3:20pm! For a business traveler airlines, this doesn't work at all. They have just killed Omaha with their super inconsistent schedule.

Note they go back to a good acceptable schedule for the summer though at good times and mix of 4-6 mainline flights per day. In May they are even up to 8 mainline per day vs 0 or 1 on some of the days in January and February. The inconstancy makes the business traveler furious and Delta and American offer MUCH more consistent schedules month to month. The Eppley management needs to be pointing this out to United if they haven't been already.

On the increase, 11% is crazy! I was expecting only 5%-6%. Way to go!!

An interesting tidbit, Air Canada went to 2x daily for the 2 Berkshire Meeting days in May. I wasn't expecting this!
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