Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[legato9]

I fly all over the US and Europe. And I ADORE Epply. My European visitors do, too (some of them have taken to affectionately calling it the "Omaha Bus Stop," due to it's small size and easy navigability.)

You can't get lost in there. The security line often takes 15 seconds to get through. The baggage claim is so easy to find, and you don't even need to know what carousel your bag is coming out on, because you can look at all the screens within a few steps.

Once you're outside, it's either about a 30 second walk to your car in the parking garage, or it's incredibly easy for your Uber driver to find you.

And I HATE having to walk through a freaking shopping mall to make my connections at other airports.

It's not glamorous, but it accomplishes its job with the best of 'em in my view.

[Ryan Air]

We must be using two different airports.

Maybe my experience is so bad because I fly out in the mornings?

[Uffda]

Good news, Omaha-Ft Myers (RSW) is returning the middle of November.

Points of interest:
-Service is on Wednesday and Saturday
-Times are good
-Allegiant is not coming back to Punta Gordo as of right now this winter.
-Flights start mid-November vs end of October.
-Forward booking window is much longer than last year.

I saw the article in OWH and checked out the flight times --- and I wish Allegiant would go back to the flight days they had a couple of years ago when I used them to get to St. Pete. I could leave late Friday afternoon spend the weekend in Florida and come back Monday.

With the times they have listed for Punta Gordo - it is now Wed-Saturday and Ryan posted I can head out Wed after work BUT my flight back to O! is early Saturday morning -- missing the weekend down there altogether.

And unfortunately it looks like the flights to St Pete are being cut back to Saturdays only in January.

[Mr.Nuke]

Overall satisfaction scores
Timeliness of flights (flight delays and cancellations)
Ease of access to the city center (public transportation options, transportation costs, and time)
Airport amenities (lounge access and Wi-Fi).

Yeah I don't know, a survey that includes public transit options (not something I necessarily care about at an airport Omaha or elsewhere, especially Omaha though…) and lounges (something many airports lack) isn't going to get me worked up. Furthermore, I can understand why you’d include delay/cancellation information in a best/worst airport ranking, but at the same point, this is something entirely out of most airports control (again especially an outstation like Eppley).

I think some people complain for the sake of complaining.. Does Eppley need to step up on it’s amenities options?

But the fact remains, Eppley is one of the most user friendly, relatively hassle free airports in the US.. It’s ranking on that list (as is the case with all these best and worst of lists) is purely subjective.. the actual “truth” lies somewhere in the middle...

And I fully agree with you, but I think the first has something to do with the second. There are obviously post-security space limitations that limit things right now that a new terminal will fix; but amenity wise another part of it is what is the demand for food or shopping options at Eppley right now when I know I can show up an hour before my flight and be boarding my plane within 30 minutes?

[Mr.Nuke]

Yikes... there are now three publication this year ranking OMA among the worst. It’s not like we didn’t know these things. When you start playing in the big(er) leagues, you better look the part. Over 5 or 6 million passengers annually comes with standards beyond “its clean” and “the walk to the gate isn’t bad”. Those standards are gone and applicable to much smaller airports. Now we must have things like food and shops and space and lounges and excellent WiFi... which is fair. 15,000 pax a day requires bigger, better, more.

Well I mean yes and no. Everyone knows that Eppley in its current iteration is going on 30+ years, designed in a pre-9/11 environment and is at or above capacity be it waiting areas, the front drive, etc. That is why we’re in the middle of the process for redeveloping the entire terminal area. That said, it also isn’t a coincidence that Eppley is included in the bottom of the list when you look at the other airports.

Of the top 60 airports by passengers (large/medium “hub”) #60 Eppley is in the bottom 10. #59 Buffalo is in the bottom 10. #58 Burbank is in the bottom 10. #52 BDL is in the bottom 10. #50 Columbus is in the bottom 10. At some level these results are exactly what you’d expect them to be especially given where Eppley is at in the redevelopment process. Larger airports are going to have more/better amenities. The largest medium hub Dallas Love had 11.1 more million passengers than Eppley last year or 3.4 x. Atlanta, the largest large hub had 99.3 million more passengers than Eppley last year or 22.5 times more. Another way of looking at this is every 16 days last year Atlanta had more passengers than Eppley had the entire year. So this notion of playing with the big boys and needing to do better on surveys like this rings a bit hollow with me. It is ridiculous to be comparing amenities between Eppley and Atlanta, and again I’m not surprised that an airport that hasn’t seen any significant terminal work for 30+ years with a split terminal design to boot with the lowest passenger counts of any airport on the survey doesn’t score well for amenities.

And p.s. Eppley isn't getting a lounge anytime soon and that is a b.s. metric to include. Even when you start looking at "smaller" airports that have random lounges like Nashville you'll find Nashville was a failed AA hub in the late 80's early 90's or Milwaukee was a delta focus city for a brief time in the past. By and large they're in extremely high passenger and/or premium markets or hubs/competitor hubs.

I like to do things at the airport while I’m waiting.
I like fast WiFi and space to actually sit.
I like to have space to get my shoes back on
I like to have good coffee and food choices because I fly out in the morning.
High ceilings and a few good stores makes all the difference to me.

Ironically, Eppley scored well for free wifi on this study. I personally have no interest in shopping at an o/d airport. Again, I also think this is a medium part of the lack of offerings currently. People here and even out of town people are advised you can show up an hour before your flight and walk-on. A huge part of additional offerings at other airports are either you need to be there 2-3 hours before a flight, they have significantly more passengers, or they have a bunch of connecting passengers (likely to want to eat/shop in between flights).

Things like space to get shoes on will obviously be addressed with the new terminal. Additionally, I think you’ll probably see an increase in quality of food and potentially shopping with the terminal redevelopment. Right now, the situation obviously isn’t ideal. Roughly half of your passengers about 51% go to the North side and the other 49% to the south side. So you’ve immediately split your potential market. Beyond that, you’ve further limited your market in that a lot of the options are before security so assuming most people clear security immediately, you lose those potential customers. A joint terminal with options beyond security is going to have a much more captive audience.

The front drive needs to change.

No argument there. I'm still not optimistic based on the rental car design though.

Food and shop options need to be available in boarding areas (a requirement by some airlines for connections)

That is a chicken/egg argument. I don't envision many airlines ever connecting passengers at Eppley. There is currently 1 I know of that will do it occasionally and it is usually a same plane through flight. I personally think it is connecting passengers that drive the food options at larger connecting airports i.e. hubs. At Eppley, I can buy your argument for better coffee, but demand for eating there at any other time of the day seems questionable. Why even if I'm from out of down would I want to eat at the airport when I could eat at somewhere like M's and be at the airport within 10 minutes? That is part of the price for convenience.

[Bomaha]

All of that!!^^^^

[daveoma]

I think perception is everything when it comes to judging a place like an airport. I think Eppley's ubiquitous, stale, staid, brown interior hurts its reputation a lot. Also I've had trouble finding a charging port there, but every time I go I see more of them.

I think the other things that severely affects the perception of the airport is that grating buzzing sound at baggage claim. Can they not select a sound other than annoying alarm clock??? Everybody is waiting near the carousel, so there's no need to use that loud painful buzzing sound to tell everyone the baggage is coming. I'd think this would be a really easy fix.

I've always had good experiences with security lines at Eppley. No complaints there.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

That is a chicken/egg argument. I don't envision many airlines ever connecting passengers at Eppley. There is currently 1 I know of that will do it occasionally and it is usually a same plane through flight. I personally think it is connecting passengers that drive the food options at larger connecting airports i.e. hubs. At Eppley, I can buy your argument for better coffee, but demand for eating there at any other time of the day seems questionable. Why even if I'm from out of down would I want to eat at the airport when I could eat at somewhere like M's and be at the airport within 10 minutes? That is part of the price for convenience.

If I’m headed to the airport after work and haven’t yet eaten, my priority isn’t eating, but ensuring I can be at the gate on time. The security line wait can often be a crapshoot at airports. I don’t want to spend the time eating that I needed for the security line in order to not miss my flight. That’s why I always get to my gate first to make sure everything is good and then search for food. Granted this is a habit developed from flying out of Chicago airports rather than Eppley.

[Bob from Omaha]

Something just occurred to me. Omaha raised $75M in private money for the convention center/arena. Private money paid for the "String of Pearls" on abbott drive. Private money paid or partially paid for improvements to the Orpheum, the zoo, the Med Center, and on and on.

Eppley is on track to serve over 5 million passengers this year. It is the front door to the city in many ways. It is used by more Omahans than the Orpheum and the zoo. It is an economic engine of huge potential.

So, why not raise some private money in addition to the budgeted money for the expansion and enhance the terminal more than otherwise intended? The reason that it's named for Eugene Eppley is that the Eppley foundation gave money for the original airport. Private money could be used for better, fancier materials, more amenities, a water feature, and other things that otherwise might not be possible.

The airport could be a real diamond and Omaha is blessed with some very generous donors.

Just a thought.

[almighty_tuna]

I spent the last while trying to craft some thoughtful response about my recent trip to San Diego. However, I abandoned it (you can still read the fluff below) and will go with the full, tldr vitrol up here.

Eppley excels in the basics: get there, fast through TSA and onto your plane. Most everything else sucks. We have a full 70s cafeteria you can enjoy before you go to the gate area with small, crowded bathrooms and poor food options. Decent airport dining is not rocket science. Pick up Flagship Commons and drop it into Eppley behind TSA, connecting the south and north terminals while retaining the two efficient TSA entry points. Wifi was an endless, futile loop of authenticating with boingo. As far as looks go? Nope. It's one bellbottom away from wood paneling. Parking? Long term was great, shuttles were plentiful and efficient, but traffic was just dumb. Not in quantity but in organization. Can we get separated arrival and departure areas? Rail to downtown?

We have the space and proximity to downtown to really expand Eppley into something special as long as we don't Omaha this shyt up.






other |expletive| here:

Just recently flew out to San Diego and a few things stuck out. First off, Terminal 1 in SD reminded me a lot of Eppley - small-ish (18 gates) in the round and two mediocre food options in the area I was in. The TSA checkpoint looked like it was thrown together at the last minute, much like Omaha's. Overall though, heading back to Omaha was just like leaving Omaha - fast through TSA at 715am local, right to my gate and nothing good to eat for breakfast. We'll just stop there without mentioning Terminal 2.

However, the rental car experience was top notch and I hope that Omaha is able to successfully recreate that. All rentals went to a central garage, you parked on the correct level for your respective company, someone from that company whisks the car away and you take a quick jaunt down the escalator to the waiting shuttle for a 5min ride to Terminal 1. Arriving in San Diego was just as easy to get out of, elevated walkway over main traffic to the shuttle pickup to the rental area.

Now, here's my feedback in light of just having a recent trip through Eppley. Long term car park - great! Timely shuttles and great service. TSA check (1:00p)? Great! Staff I encountered? Friendly! Some of those must-haves, Eppley definitely checks the boxes on. But so does a yugo when you only have to drive a mile. It gets you there.

Before you say it, yes, it's freaking San Diego - perfect weather, huge coastal population along the Pacific, yadda yadda. But what I was really impressed with was what San Diego was able to do with the space they have, and I hope Omaha can have a greater design and vision as the terminal gets expanded and redone.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

However, the rental cat experience was top notch and I hope that Omaha is able to successfully recreate that.[...]

Well |expletive|. There's something else Eppley is in need of. Have they even thought of where to put a rental cat facility? How are we even getting all these national events without airport rental cats?!?!

[almighty_tuna]

However, the rental cat experience was top notch and I hope that Omaha is able to successfully recreate that.[...]

Well |expletive|. There's something else Eppley is in need of. Have they even thought of where to put a rental cat facility? How are we even getting all these national events without airport rental cats?!?!

yikes, i better fix that right meow

[Coyote]

However, the rental cat experience was top notch and I hope that Omaha is able to successfully recreate that.[...]

Well |expletive|. There's something else Eppley is in need of. Have they even thought of where to put a rental cat facility? How are we even getting all these national events without airport rental cats?!?!

They rent out Caterpillars? I could use a bulldozer going to work some mornings,

[Uffda]

other |expletive| here:

Just recently flew out to San Diego and a few things stuck out. First off, Terminal 1 in SD reminded me a lot of Eppley - small-ish (18 gates) in the round and two mediocre food options in the area I was in. The TSA checkpoint looked like it was thrown together at the last minute, much like Omaha's. Overall though, heading back to Omaha was just like leaving Omaha - fast through TSA at 715am local, right to my gate and nothing good to eat for breakfast. We'll just stop there without mentioning Terminal 2.

However, the rental car experience was top notch and I hope that Omaha is able to successfully recreate that. All rentals went to a central garage, you parked on the correct level for your respective company, someone from that company whisks the car away and you take a quick jaunt down the escalator to the waiting shuttle for a 5min ride to Terminal 1. Arriving in San Diego was just as easy to get out of, elevated walkway over main traffic to the shuttle pickup to the rental area.

I have never looked at the Epply car rental situation but have recently used the new and 'improved' car rental system at Tampa International. I am not sure it is an improvement. It use to be once you got off the plane you took the 2 min tram to the main building and then took an escalator down to baggage claim. Once you had your bag, you went out the door at the same level as the passenger pickup area- crossed that area and entered the car rental area --- found your company and then walked out and took the elevator to the correct area in the garage to get your car.

NOW The procedure is the same to get to your luggage BUT then you either take an elevator or escalator up 3 floors to where you then walk across a long indoor area to get to the train shuttle which then takes about a 10 minute ride to the rental car garage area. Once there you walk over to your rental car company counter (mine didn't have anyone there that night - sign said they were in area in garage --- so then you walked around a corner and take another escalator down 2 floors to where there was a check in and they send you to your car.

The drop off also use to be much closer and quicker -- drive in garage -- drop off and walk across a short bridge to the main building to airline check in ---- Now check in is about the reverse of getting to your car They even have their people standing at tram drop off to point people to the right escalators.

I love the SW concourse in Tampa -- clean, open, food options -- and it doesn't hurt that Cigar City Brewery has a mini tap room/brewery right in the concourse.

[nativeomahan]

I think perception is everything when it comes to judging a place like an airport. I think Eppley's ubiquitous, stale, staid, brown interior hurts its reputation a lot. Also I've had trouble finding a charging port there, but every time I go I see more of them.

I think the other things that severely affects the perception of the airport is that grating buzzing sound at baggage claim. Can they not select a sound other than annoying alarm clock??? Everybody is waiting near the carousel, so there's no need to use that loud painful buzzing sound to tell everyone the baggage is coming. I'd think this would be a really easy fix.

I've always had good experiences with security lines at Eppley. No complaints there.

Amen to the buzzer. It just grates on me. They do have updated monitors now, that occasionally provide correct information as to baggage.

The food and drink options just plain suck. I fly in and out of PVR airport constantly, and they have 2 Starbucks, a decent American style sit down restaurant, a seafood restaurant and about a dozen more casual eateries, plus several cocktail lounges. I believe their passenger count is about what Eppley has. They have just 15 or so gates.

As to the security lines, generally very quick, but when we flew out of the north terminal midweek in May they were 40 minutes long! Which means I cannot take the security lines being short for granted, and still must plan to arrive about 2 hours before my scheduled departure time.

[Bob from Omaha]

Sitting eating dinner on our deck. We're on one of the flight paths to Detroit metro airport & it must be the 7pm bank of flights landing. I was thinking that I just saw more planes coming in in 1/2 hour than Lincoln sees in a month.

By the way, we're about 20 miles from metro so they aren't that loud.

Also, Detroit metro Wayne county airport seems to get by without international in its name. Hmmmm

[Omababe]

Also, Detroit metro Wayne county airport seems to get by without international in its name. Hmmmm

So does Houston Intercontinental.

[Garrett]

Also, Detroit metro Wayne county airport seems to get by without international in its name. Hmmmm

So does Houston Intercontinental.

Don’t forget Hartsfield Latoya Jackson Intergalactic Spaceport and Nail Emporium

[damonhynes]

There's a Virgin America A320-series parked at a remote hardstand off the south terminal, near American's gates. I can't seem to find it on Flightaware going back a few days. All of Alaska's flights seem to be accounted for, too.

It wasn't Akron's aircraft, they went back Sat. PM from LNK on Allegiant.

[Ryan Air]

There's a Virgin America A320-series parked at a remote hardstand off the south terminal, near American's gates. I can't seem to find it on Flightaware going back a few days. All of Alaska's flights seem to be accounted for, too.

It wasn't Akron's aircraft, they went back Sat. PM from LNK on Allegiant.

It was in a diversion and developed mechanical issues. It landed early Tuesday morning I think (like between midnight and 2). I have pictures of them moving it to a gate and back on Tuesday evening.

[Mr.Nuke]

There's a Virgin America A320-series parked at a remote hardstand off the south terminal, near American's gates. I can't seem to find it on Flightaware going back a few days. All of Alaska's flights seem to be accounted for, too.

Virgin is Alaska now operationally even if the plane hasn't been painted yet.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA ... /KSFO/KOMA

Recovery flight.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA ... /KSFO/KOMA
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N63 ... /KOMA/KEWR

[damonhynes]

Thanks, y'all! It's still there Monday afternoon...

[Bob from Omaha]

Hey Eppley Lurkers! I know it's only the 17th and not the 20th but the geeks are curious about August numbers.

[Mr.Nuke]

August up 10.2% year over year, holds steady up 9.8% YTD
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

[Bob from Omaha]

Wow. That was quick

[Omaha Cowboy]

Another step closer to 5 million plus ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Erik]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

[Omaha Cowboy]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

My understanding is Eppley will begin terminal expansion to 28 gates once the 7 million passenger number is attained...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Erik]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

My understanding is Eppley will begin terminal expansion to 28 gates once the 7 million passenger number is attained...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Thank You

[Mr.Nuke]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

My understanding is Eppley will begin terminal expansion to 28 gates once the 7 million passenger number is attained...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Yes and no. Define new terminal? If the final 28 gate configuration, then yes it is 7 million at PAL 3. However, the bulk of the actual "new" terminal work is at PAL 2, which kicks in at 5.4 million. Pal 2 includes the renovation of the existing North and South terminals as well as the existing main terminal, and the expansion of the central terminal area into the new configuration. PAL 1 and 2 design work is being solicited right now. They'll hit PAL 1 this year triggering the first North terminal extension and relocation of the central utility plant.

[Omaha Cowboy]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

My understanding is Eppley will begin terminal expansion to 28 gates once the 7 million passenger number is attained...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Thank You

You’re welcome...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Ryan Air]

So what is the magic number for the new terminal?

My understanding is Eppley will begin terminal expansion to 28 gates once the 7 million passenger number is attained...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Yes and no. Define new terminal? If the final 28 gate configuration, then yes it is 7 million at PAL 3. However, the bulk of the actual "new" terminal work is at PAL 2, which kicks in at 5.4 million. Pal 2 includes the renovation of the existing North and South terminals as well as the existing main terminal, and the expansion of the central terminal area into the new configuration. PAL 1 and 2 design work is being solicited right now. They'll hit PAL 1 this year triggering the first North terminal extension and relocation of the central utility plant.

Exactly. I think it’s safe to say big noticeable changes and construction will be common starting next spring for the foreseeable future. Consultants and crews are in/ will be in offices.

[Bob from Omaha]

The big jump is from PAL 2 to PAL 3. 5.4 to 7M

https://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Eppleys-20-Year-Plan-to-be-Built-as-Needed-227896251.html

The links to the right of the story show the plan and timetable. If I were any of the Eppley geeks I'd download the data in the links as WOWT can remove them at any time. I'd guess the plans are fluid and not set in stone. What is being bid now is a four gate addition to the north satellite that will take the place of the northernmost 4 gates in that satellite that will ultimately be demolished when the main terminal is expanded, as well as a new central utilities plant. IF growth continues to 5.4M them you'll probably see the main terminal expansion.

As I say this plan is probably very fluid and subject to change.

It would be nice to hear from the Eppley lurkers a little bit about current plans and if the timetable is still as it has been, either here or on the Eppley facebook page. Hmmm?

[nativeomahan]

Quite a change to the airport’s footprint between 1996 and 2013. I presume that there have been continued changes since 2013.
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/ep ... 0)+(2).pdf

[Louie]

Quite a change to the airport’s footprint between 1996 and 2013. I presume that there have been continued changes since 2013.
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/ep ... 0)+(2).pdf

The massive new parking garages would damn near double the building sq footage.

[Mr.Nuke]

As I say this plan is probably very fluid and subject to change.
It would be nice to hear from the Eppley lurkers a little bit about current plans and if the timetable is still as it has been, either here or on the Eppley facebook page. Hmmm?

I'm a little confused here. We literally have a 68 page power point presentation from 3 months ago that has the most detailed timelines/current thinking that we've ever had. https://www.flyoma.com/incoming/061318- ... ev-Day.pdf And I'm not really sure why we need to go back to the WOWT story either at this point when everything in those documents* is either included in the power point and or updated from the WOWT docs.

The big jump is from PAL 2 to PAL 3. 5.4 to 7M

Like my response to Omaha Cowboy above, it kind of depends on how you want to quantify the big jump. The final terminal configuration? Certainly. But the bulk of what a customer uses i.e. check-in, baggage claim, centralized security lines, centralized post-security concessions, existing terminal renovation, central terminal expansion etc. That is all PAL 2. Pal 2 to PAL 3 is basically trading gates from the current North/South terminals (will have already been connected post security at this point) with a slight gate expansion to get into the final fully linear design. The end user is going to notice that a lot less than what happens PAL 1 to PAL 2.

What is being bid now is a four gate addition to the north satellite that will take the place of the northernmost 4 gates in that satellite that will ultimately be demolished when the main terminal is expanded, as well as a new central utilities plant. IF growth continues to 5.4M them you'll probably see the main terminal expansion.

They're also bidding the main terminal design work right now (makes sense to have everything cohesively done if you're preparing to build the first part of the final "new" terminal. That is all in the power point and we've known this since June. And Yes when 5.4 million is hit (PAL 2) that triggers PAL 2.

*Other than the funding breakdown and that is the only reason to refer back to them 4 or whatever years later

[Dundeemaha]

https://www.flyoma.com/incoming/061318- ... ev-Day.pdf

Thanks for this PDF. I had not seen it and it's great info very informative on the progress already made and future plans.

Very excited to see us pass PAL 1's trigger this year.

Crazy to think that if we maintain 9% growth this year then 1 more year of 8% growth in 2019 would trigger PAL 2, I think only a couple of years ago we didn't think PAL 2 would get hit until mid-2020s some doubted it would even happen.

[Bob from Omaha]

One thing that's nowhere in the powerpoint is a proposed south garage next to the current garage. I see that it's in the post pal 3 era.

I'm curious who bid for the design/build & what they have come up with. I'm still wrapping my head around the end product on the main floor with ticketing on one side and bag claim on the other. I guess that rules out an upper/lower road arrangement. Anyway, I know the final configuration will be larger/deeper but I just can't picture it. Could just be me.


I get what MrNuke is getting at and I appreciate your comments. Always have. I've been gone from Omaha for over 10 years now & in those 10 years I've been back maybe half a dozen times. On the other hand, I spent my first 50 years in Omaha & it's hard to take the Omaha out of the "new Michigander". I haven't been back since 2015 & that trip was for less than 3 days. I doubt I'd recognize a lot of the city.

[Mr.Nuke]

Crazy to think that if we maintain 9% growth this year then 1 more year of 8% growth in 2019 would trigger PAL 2, I think only a couple of years ago we didn't think PAL 2 would get hit until mid-2020s some doubted it would even happen.

Yeah the last two years have been crazy. I'd caution that it probably isn't sustainable. The average annual growth rate for the 5 years ending in 2017 was 2.67% and the last 10 years only 0.53%. We've also had negative growth within the past 5 years and anytime you do that you are basically setting the timeline back a year. Obviously the high growth rates the past two years have helped offset that, but...

The one really interesting thing that the WOWT documents provide is the original traffic forecast study from just before the master plan was issued. Even with the huge growth rates the past two years, they're hitting PAL 1 a year later than the lowest of their 3 growth cases (PAL 2 was 2020 in the base case).
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/ep ... 0)+(2).pdf

So it could obviously still happen sooner if the growth continues, but don't be surprised if it doesn't; and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

One thing that's nowhere in the powerpoint is a proposed south garage next to the current garage. I see that it's in the post pal 3 era.

It is still there. Page 21 of the PDF. Like you said though it is something the master plan identified as being necessary in the future beyond the planning horizon of said master plan.

[Bob from Omaha]

Crazy to think that if we maintain 9% growth this year then 1 more year of 8% growth in 2019 would trigger PAL 2, I think only a couple of years ago we didn't think PAL 2 would get hit until mid-2020s some doubted it would even happen.

Yeah the last two years have been crazy. I'd caution that it probably isn't sustainable. The average annual growth rate for the 5 years ending in 2017 was 2.67% and the last 10 years only 0.53%. We've also had negative growth within the past 5 years and anytime you do that you are basically setting the timeline back a year. Obviously the high growth rates the past two years have helped offset that, but...

So it could obviously still happen sooner if the growth continues, but don't be surprised if it doesn't; and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you consider what's happened in the past few years the matrix has changed. Ultra low cost carriers begat bag fees and other fees. Mergers "cleaned" up competition. The airlines, who prior to the past decade or so barely produced a profit, are now profitable and better able to deal with higher fuel costs if they occur. The industry is vastly different than it ever was.

I agree that continued growth in Eppley's numbers are not guaranteed but the bottom line is that Eppley flies to twice the number of destinations than it did not too many years ago. It's a chicken or egg situation. Did rising numbers bring on the new destinations or did new destinations bring the higher numbers?

Delta, United and American still carry 55.7% of Eppley's passengers. Southwest carries 33.8% That's 89.5% The ultra low cost and other minor carriers account for only 10.2% What they bring to the table is convenience and more non stop destinations. You could say "Wait a minute. That's the whole increase so far this year. However, of that 10% or so how many would have taken UA, DL, AA or SW? I'd say most.

Anyway, Mr Nuke is right. Is this growth sustainable? Lots of unknowns out there. Let's hope its long enough to bring on the needed changes to the terminal.