Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[Padre]

Most of you are too young to remember, but one of the swankiest eateries in Omaha long ago was at Eppley. The Hayden House was a white table cloth restaurant in the 50's and it later morphed in to the Silver Lining in the 60's, but that was when air travel was a big deal, and expensive; everyone dressed up before boarding the plane. I believe it was where Godfathers is now.

From Hayden House to a Godfathers. If that isn’t a metaphor for how air travel has evolved in this country...

[Bob from Omaha]

October numbers are out.

Lost Air Canada...not a huge loss other than the international bragging rights.

Alaska up a little for the month

Allegiant & Frontier way down

Delta & American up, probably as a result of the above losses

United down

Southwest down

UA & SW could be a result of the 737 issues

I now don't see how Eppley finishes up over last year nor do I see it breaking 5M

Until the 737s come back online I don't see Eppley having the traffic that was....and Frontier's cutbacks loom large. I now question the extent of changes to the terminal in the relative short term.

[Bearcat06]

October numbers are out.

Lost Air Canada...not a huge loss other than the international bragging rights.

Alaska up a little for the month

Allegiant & Frontier way down

Delta & American up, probably as a result of the above losses

United down

Southwest down

UA & SW could be a result of the 737 issues

I now don't see how Eppley finishes up over last year nor do I see it breaking 5M

Until the 737s come back online I don't see Eppley having the traffic that was....and Frontier's cutbacks loom large. I now question the extent of changes to the terminal in the relative short term.

I'll run my numbers tomorrow based on the October figures... if pax loads stay above 400K each of the next two months...they should probably squeak past the 5 million mark again this year. Nov '18 was 413K and Dec '18 was 398k, so it is still possible.

SW was obviously hurt by the MAX grounding, they had 34 in the fleet (fleet size of approx 750) UA has 14 MAX jets (total size about 777) and AA has 24 (total size about 957), all per wiki. OMA has been hit hard by SW's struggle this year since they make up 32% of all pax traffic, but I wonder if other airports with similar share of SW traffic are seeing the same downturn. Despite UA's down month in Oct, they are still up 4.6% on the year at OMA, which is second only to AA.

I hope the down year doesn't delay too much with the terminal plan. Maybe new amenities would attract the airlines to offering some additional routes. If not, what does the authority do to entice the airlines to 1, not cut OMA out or their destinations and/or drop flights and 2, bring in new/exciting destinations or non-stop service.

[Uffda]

October numbers are out.

Allegiant & Frontier way down

Allegiant hasn't had any flights into Omaha for a couple of months. They resume flights next Saturday -- on a Saturday-Tuesday schedule.

[Bob from Omaha]

I hope the down year doesn't delay too much with the terminal plan. Maybe new amenities would attract the airlines to offering some additional routes. If not, what does the authority do to entice the airlines to 1, not cut OMA out or their destinations and/or drop flights and 2, bring in new/exciting destinations or non-stop service.

I doubt amenities do much for getting the airlines to do anything.

1) I assume it's all about the money. I've never understood Frontier's business plan. Eppley, probably like every other airport, is in contact with the airlines on a monthly basis, or was when I lived in Omaha.

2) Eppley does not and never has offered any kind of monetary inducement to airlines to get them to offer flights. Lincoln, Des Moines, Wichita and many others do. Absent that it's all about demand and weighing that against demand and profit from other cities.

What has happened to Eppley in the past few years is amazing in terms of doubling destinations...17 to 34. I never thought I'd see some of those cities. It now appears to be contracting and I hope it's temporary. I heard the other day that many if not most airlines now project March as a return time for the 737 Max....doubting Boeing's estimate of prior to this year end.

[Uffda]

From Hayden House to a Godfathers. If that isn’t a metaphor for how air travel has evolved in this country...

Yep

[Bearcat06]

October numbers are out.

Lost Air Canada...not a huge loss other than the international bragging rights.

Alaska up a little for the month

Allegiant & Frontier way down

Delta & American up, probably as a result of the above losses

United down

Southwest down

UA & SW could be a result of the 737 issues

I now don't see how Eppley finishes up over last year nor do I see it breaking 5M

Until the 737s come back online I don't see Eppley having the traffic that was....and Frontier's cutbacks loom large. I now question the extent of changes to the terminal in the relative short term.

With the Oct numbers my new projection is a decrease is .54% pax load compared to 2018 numbers and an estimated 5,015,793 pax on the year.

[Bearcat06]

I hope the down year doesn't delay too much with the terminal plan. Maybe new amenities would attract the airlines to offering some additional routes. If not, what does the authority do to entice the airlines to 1, not cut OMA out or their destinations and/or drop flights and 2, bring in new/exciting destinations or non-stop service.

I doubt amenities do much for getting the airlines to do anything.

1) I assume it's all about the money. I've never understood Frontier's business plan. Eppley, probably like every other airport, is in contact with the airlines on a monthly basis, or was when I lived in Omaha.

2) Eppley does not and never has offered any kind of monetary inducement to airlines to get them to offer flights. Lincoln, Des Moines, Wichita and many others do. Absent that it's all about demand and weighing that against demand and profit from other cities.

What has happened to Eppley in the past few years is amazing in terms of doubling destinations...17 to 34. I never thought I'd see some of those cities. It now appears to be contracting and I hope it's temporary. I heard the other day that many if not most airlines now project March as a return time for the 737 Max....doubting Boeing's estimate of prior to this year end.

I don't know how much the MAX grounding actually affects the OMA numbers, I mean they grounded 4.5% of their fleet and they were already in the hole the first three months of the year compared to 2018, which I believe was before they announced the grounding. I know the OMA-LAX route was suspended for a bit and the Newark-OMA route is kaput Jan 6, but that can't explain some of the numbers early in the year. An as other posters have noted...if they need to fly to LAX, they will find another carrier to get there...I know AA has increased their flights to LAX on a bigger plane.

Frontier is probably dead in the water down 42% on the year. There are some holes/routes that can be filled. Question is, is anyone else willing to take on the 200k passengers that booked Frontier last year?

[Omahacritic]

It isn’t 737 Max going in or out of Omaha. It’s scarcity of planes on more profitable routes. If you pull a plane out of service it has to be replaced with something.

[joleo]

I hope the down year doesn't delay too much with the terminal plan. Maybe new amenities would attract the airlines to offering some additional routes. If not, what does the authority do to entice the airlines to 1, not cut OMA out or their destinations and/or drop flights and 2, bring in new/exciting destinations or non-stop service.

I doubt amenities do much for getting the airlines to do anything.

1) I assume it's all about the money. I've never understood Frontier's business plan. Eppley, probably like every other airport, is in contact with the airlines on a monthly basis, or was when I lived in Omaha.

2) Eppley does not and never has offered any kind of monetary inducement to airlines to get them to offer flights. Lincoln, Des Moines, Wichita and many others do. Absent that it's all about demand and weighing that against demand and profit from other cities.

What has happened to Eppley in the past few years is amazing in terms of doubling destinations...17 to 34. I never thought I'd see some of those cities. It now appears to be contracting and I hope it's temporary. I heard the other day that many if not most airlines now project March as a return time for the 737 Max....doubting Boeing's estimate of prior to this year end.

I don't know how much the MAX grounding actually affects the OMA numbers, I mean they grounded 4.5% of their fleet and they were already in the hole the first three months of the year compared to 2018, which I believe was before they announced the grounding. I know the OMA-LAX route was suspended for a bit and the Newark-OMA route is kaput Jan 6, but that can't explain some of the numbers early in the year. An as other posters have noted...if they need to fly to LAX, they will find another carrier to get there...I know AA has increased their flights to LAX on a bigger plane.

Frontier is probably dead in the water down 42% on the year. There are some holes/routes that can be filled. Question is, is anyone else willing to take on the 200k passengers that booked Frontier last year?

The Max has affected OMA's numbers but probably not by too much....my guess 1% overall. United would have about 20 of them and American about 40 of them by now if this issued didn't existing. I don't think American would be any different in Omaha and I don't think United would be either. If united was any different just say maybe one more A319 per day instead of a Regional Jet so maybe 3,000 more seats a month? difficult to tell though.

Southwest on the other hand would have 85 of them by now. Their Max is back in the southwest schedule at 100 percent of them in March. This I don't think is possible and a pull back will happen again. This spring, March-May, Southwest has a large growth in Omaha, 23-24 flights a day at some points and up to 7 of the flights are on the larger capacity 737-800 or 737 Max8 which is 32 more seats per plane than the smaller planes. Last year typically only 1-2 flights per day from Eppley on the bigger plane. I'd say look for up to a 15% (maybe 20%) bump in passengers starting in march on southwest IF and only IF the 737 Max is fully flying. If not, look for minimal bump as southwest will need to pull schedules back. As a little comparison, OMA-PHX operates up to 6x daily this March with 2 of the 6 on the 175 seat 737-800. Last year, the biggest day was 4 flights in a day and most days only 3 on this route.

2020 OMA prediction based off trends and what schedules are like this far:
-United - Down in 2020, continue to trend downward with more and more 50 seat regional jets in place of mainline plans. Probably a 10% drop in 2020 unless something starts to change with the Max coming back in the addition of other small used A319 and 737-700 planes they have coming online in 2020.
-American - probably up 5% - maybe as much as 10%. LAX - A319 vs Regional jet, growth in Chicago (will mainline come back summer 2020 like it was in summer 2019?)
-Delta - up in 2020 - larger plans to ATL, additional of LAX flight. 5% increase.
-Frontier - up big in 2020. way more flights scheduled already. The big declines this fall have been because of the drop in the Austin and San Antonio flights that operated summer/ fall 2018. Those ended I think in early November 2018 so starting sooner, Frontier numbers will see big increases. OMA-Las Vegas is 6x Weekly November-February and some on the 220 seat A321. OMA-DEN this spring is terrible times so that could hurt.
Allegiant - Will be up this winter with a few more flights than last winter.

2020 I think will be a VERY strong year at Eppley if the Max returns - 10% growth I see in the cards in 2020, assuming people fill the extra seats?!?

[Bob from Omaha]

It's always refreshing to read something from someone who seems to have knowledge of the facts and not just opinions
Thanks

[joleo]

As an add to my earlier post from yesterday, Alaska is going 2x daily to Seattle starting Friday, May 22nd. Both on 737-900 (178 seat aircraft). Times are really good. Leaving Omaha at 7:30am and 4:50pm. Leaving Seattle at 10:30am and 5:50pm.

Not sure if Omaha can support 2x daily on such a large aircraft but I was really surprised by this! On the plus side, Omaha in June operates the flights basically all full and is OMA's strongest month with college world series and swim trials in 2020 so should be full for June! Assuming 80% full in June, that's 8,500 additional passengers or about 1.7% of Eppley's numbers for this addition alone!

That 10% growth or larger I stated above is even more realistic, all assuming people fill the additional seats and max starts flying.

Anybody have more info on Terminal expansion and when construction will start or design process? Last article in paper from May said preliminary designs should be this fall and final designs by end of 2019. Also, I would have thought there would have been some public sessions by now so that public could have some input and that information really getting people behind the expansion? I know I've seen that in other cities during the design process. Here in Des Moines, design is very preliminary for new terminal but the news and paper have been all over it several times a year for 5 years now! I think part of the publicity is a lobbying effort to get money from the State of Iowa for the project. Not sure why Eppley isn't trying to get money from Nebraska? It's the front door to the state!

[NEDodger]

As an add to my earlier post from yesterday, Alaska is going 2x daily to Seattle starting Friday, May 22nd. Both on 737-900 (178 seat aircraft). Times are really good. Leaving Omaha at 7:30am and 4:50pm. Leaving Seattle at 10:30am and 5:50pm.

Not sure if Omaha can support 2x daily on such a large aircraft but I was really surprised by this!

Possibly figuring this may be the best option for anyone wanting to go to Seattle/Vancouver/Portland? I have to think Portland and Vancouver have pretty routine connections from SeaTac?

[Bob from Omaha]

Anybody have more info on Terminal expansion and when construction will start or design process? Last article in paper from May said preliminary designs should be this fall and final designs by end of 2019. Also, I would have thought there would have been some public sessions by now so that public could have some input and that information really getting people behind the expansion? I know I've seen that in other cities during the design process. Here in Des Moines, design is very preliminary for new terminal but the news and paper have been all over it several times a year for 5 years now! I think part of the publicity is a lobbying effort to get money from the State of Iowa for the project. Not sure why Eppley isn't trying to get money from Nebraska? It's the front door to the state!

Funny you should ask about the terminal modernization plan. On the Eppley web site the tmp page has been updated.
https://www.flyoma.com/omaha-airport-au ... n-program/

Here's a comparison of the initial renderings and the newest ones.

https://ibb.co/1vGzFPH

[SunMan]

It looks like the main terminal and concourse A are staying put, albeit with renovations.

[damonhynes]

As an add to my earlier post from yesterday, Alaska is going 2x daily to Seattle starting Friday, May 22nd. Both on 737-900 (178 seat aircraft). Times are really good. Leaving Omaha at 7:30am and 4:50pm. Leaving Seattle at 10:30am and 5:50pm.

Not sure if Omaha can support 2x daily on such a large aircraft but I was really surprised by this!

Possibly figuring this may be the best option for anyone wanting to go to Seattle/Vancouver/Portland? I have to think Portland and Vancouver have pretty routine connections from SeaTac?

I'm waiting for DL to pull the trigger on this route. Those new A220s would be a great option.

[Bearcat06]

I hope the down year doesn't delay too much with the terminal plan. Maybe new amenities would attract the airlines to offering some additional routes. If not, what does the authority do to entice the airlines to 1, not cut OMA out or their destinations and/or drop flights and 2, bring in new/exciting destinations or non-stop service.

I doubt amenities do much for getting the airlines to do anything.

1) I assume it's all about the money. I've never understood Frontier's business plan. Eppley, probably like every other airport, is in contact with the airlines on a monthly basis, or was when I lived in Omaha.

2) Eppley does not and never has offered any kind of monetary inducement to airlines to get them to offer flights. Lincoln, Des Moines, Wichita and many others do. Absent that it's all about demand and weighing that against demand and profit from other cities.

What has happened to Eppley in the past few years is amazing in terms of doubling destinations...17 to 34. I never thought I'd see some of those cities. It now appears to be contracting and I hope it's temporary. I heard the other day that many if not most airlines now project March as a return time for the 737 Max....doubting Boeing's estimate of prior to this year end.

I don't know how much the MAX grounding actually affects the OMA numbers, I mean they grounded 4.5% of their fleet and they were already in the hole the first three months of the year compared to 2018, which I believe was before they announced the grounding. I know the OMA-LAX route was suspended for a bit and the Newark-OMA route is kaput Jan 6, but that can't explain some of the numbers early in the year. An as other posters have noted...if they need to fly to LAX, they will find another carrier to get there...I know AA has increased their flights to LAX on a bigger plane.

Frontier is probably dead in the water down 42% on the year. There are some holes/routes that can be filled. Question is, is anyone else willing to take on the 200k passengers that booked Frontier last year?

The Max has affected OMA's numbers but probably not by too much....my guess 1% overall. United would have about 20 of them and American about 40 of them by now if this issued didn't existing. I don't think American would be any different in Omaha and I don't think United would be either. If united was any different just say maybe one more A319 per day instead of a Regional Jet so maybe 3,000 more seats a month? difficult to tell though.

Southwest on the other hand would have 85 of them by now. Their Max is back in the southwest schedule at 100 percent of them in March. This I don't think is possible and a pull back will happen again. This spring, March-May, Southwest has a large growth in Omaha, 23-24 flights a day at some points and up to 7 of the flights are on the larger capacity 737-800 or 737 Max8 which is 32 more seats per plane than the smaller planes. Last year typically only 1-2 flights per day from Eppley on the bigger plane. I'd say look for up to a 15% (maybe 20%) bump in passengers starting in march on southwest IF and only IF the 737 Max is fully flying. If not, look for minimal bump as southwest will need to pull schedules back. As a little comparison, OMA-PHX operates up to 6x daily this March with 2 of the 6 on the 175 seat 737-800. Last year, the biggest day was 4 flights in a day and most days only 3 on this route.

2020 OMA prediction based off trends and what schedules are like this far:
-United - Down in 2020, continue to trend downward with more and more 50 seat regional jets in place of mainline plans. Probably a 10% drop in 2020 unless something starts to change with the Max coming back in the addition of other small used A319 and 737-700 planes they have coming online in 2020.
-American - probably up 5% - maybe as much as 10%. LAX - A319 vs Regional jet, growth in Chicago (will mainline come back summer 2020 like it was in summer 2019?)
-Delta - up in 2020 - larger plans to ATL, additional of LAX flight. 5% increase.
-Frontier - up big in 2020. way more flights scheduled already. The big declines this fall have been because of the drop in the Austin and San Antonio flights that operated summer/ fall 2018. Those ended I think in early November 2018 so starting sooner, Frontier numbers will see big increases. OMA-Las Vegas is 6x Weekly November-February and some on the 220 seat A321. OMA-DEN this spring is terrible times so that could hurt.
Allegiant - Will be up this winter with a few more flights than last winter.

2020 I think will be a VERY strong year at Eppley if the Max returns - 10% growth I see in the cards in 2020, assuming people fill the extra seats?!?

If the MAX doesn't return what do you think? Growth in the 1-5% range?

The MAX and WN are probably the wildcards here. If the MAX doesn't return before March do they push back the extra routes/flights?

AA has shown a willingness to send bigger jets to/from OMA. If they add to Chicago, I can't see that hurting much. Maybe that would boost UA to send bigger jets?

Is DL dropping the Mad Dogs to OMA? That seemed to be their bread and butter between OMA and ATL/DTW. I have read that they are pushing bigger jets and increasing amenities in general on their flights.

I'm curious about Frontier. The OMA/DEN schedule has not been great for quite some time. Much better flights on that route with UA and WN.

I know it wouldn't be a huge bump, but is there any further news on the Midwest flight from OMA-MKE? That could maybe fill the Air Canada hole.

[Bearcat06]

Anybody have more info on Terminal expansion and when construction will start or design process? Last article in paper from May said preliminary designs should be this fall and final designs by end of 2019. Also, I would have thought there would have been some public sessions by now so that public could have some input and that information really getting people behind the expansion? I know I've seen that in other cities during the design process. Here in Des Moines, design is very preliminary for new terminal but the news and paper have been all over it several times a year for 5 years now! I think part of the publicity is a lobbying effort to get money from the State of Iowa for the project. Not sure why Eppley isn't trying to get money from Nebraska? It's the front door to the state!

Funny you should ask about the terminal modernization plan. On the Eppley web site the tmp page has been updated.
https://www.flyoma.com/omaha-airport-au ... n-program/

Here's a comparison of the initial renderings and the newest ones.

https://ibb.co/1vGzFPH

I wish there was a little bit higher resolution on these...hard to parse some things out. Looks like 22 gates...wonder if the 28 gate potential is a thing of the past. South economy parking may be affected a bit. Main terminal maybe being pushed east just a bit to accommodate the extra traffic lanes? Possibly 7 baggage carousels? The purple on the first level reads concession support, so I'm guessing the purple in level two is concessions/gift shops... appears to be 10 spots for that.

[damonhynes]

Is DL dropping the Mad Dogs to OMA? That seemed to be their bread and butter between OMA and ATL/DTW. I have read that they are pushing bigger jets and increasing amenities in general on their flights.

Depends on what you call a MadDog :-) the 88s are being retired as I type, the 90s I believe will be around until 2022, and the 717s (Angry Puppys) will be around indefinitely. The 88s and 90s are based in Atlanta. Just like AA and the MD-80s, OMA will be in the last batch of routes to see those aircraft.

My last flight from Atlanta early September, the MD-90 that was scheduled went tech, they canceled a flight ATL-PHL and we used that plane (I asked the pilot if there were any A350s laying around...). The 88s and 90s are shop queens--hard to find spare parts. This is what killed AA's MD-80s.

[joleo]

Is DL dropping the Mad Dogs to OMA? That seemed to be their bread and butter between OMA and ATL/DTW. I have read that they are pushing bigger jets and increasing amenities in general on their flights.

Depends on what you call a MadDog :-) the 88s are being retired as I type, the 90s I believe will be around until 2022, and the 717s (Angry Puppys) will be around indefinitely. The 88s and 90s are based in Atlanta. Just like AA and the MD-80s, OMA will be in the last batch of routes to see those aircraft.

My last flight from Atlanta early September, the MD-90 that was scheduled went tech, they canceled a flight ATL-PHL and we used that plane (I asked the pilot if there were any A350s laying around...). The 88s and 90s are shop queens--hard to find spare parts. This is what killed AA's MD-80s.

Yes, Md-80's are being retired, MD-90's are taking their place on many of the OMA-ATL flights recently. That is 9 extra seats per plane at 5 flights per day although they are not all MD-90's depending on the month.

Max's will be back, just might take awhile to get all 85 back in the schedule and 50 of them still need to be delivered from Boeing to Southwest (I don't know how many are made of the 50 or so that were originally planed to be made by Boeing for southwest this year). I would guess next June they will be all be in service if I were a betting man. The FAA announced last week they are going to look at every plane nose to tail as the get back into service so the process will take awhile many months as there are hundreds of these planes across the globe.

Assuming the Max isn't flying all 2020, I would guess OMA might be in that -1% to 3% growth range for 2020. It is hard to tell how many planes airlines will rob from OMA to replace high margin max flights in other markets.

The Midwest Express MKE service will be small percentage, like 0.2% of total airport passengers.

[Bob from Omaha]

I'll really try to reserve final judgement here.

However, on the face of it it appears, and I'm just guessing, that somebody did a cost projection of the initial plan & that spooked someone else. This plan looks like they are looking at doing this on the cheap. Is there room for more gates? Hard to tell. Is there room for much in the way of food & other shopping? Again, doesn't look like much. No upper road.

I hate to sound like a broken record but go to flyokc.com & see what OKC is doing. AND doing it with less destinations, less passenger totals & less flights.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about all this.....but....

[riceweb]

I crunched a few numbers, comparing SFO and OMA, to see what a maximum capacity increase the extra gates could provide. These are obviously very rough numbers, but the increase in gates from 20 to 22 could still yield a very significant increase in passengers.

First things first, the airport is only currently using 18 of the 20 gates. 22 new gates / 19 currently used gates = 15.8% increase

Then, if I compare number of flights per day per gate between SFO and OMA, I see that SFO has 1,287 daily flights across 115 gates (11.19 flights / gate), whereas OMA has 156 daily flights across 19 gates (8.21 flights / gate). If we maximize the usage of our gates to the level of SFO (11.19 / 8.21), we would increase capacity by 36.3%

Finally, since SFO can't just add more flights, they've increased the size of the planes flying in. SFO has gone from an average plane capacity of 134 in 2011 to 158 in 2018. That represents an increase of 17.9%.

If you add those up, Eppley could presumably add 86% capacity despite only adding 2 gates. I would argue that more gates would mean more flexibility for adding new destinations and increase diversity of airlines, but the 2-gate increase probably won't hold us back substantially.


Sources:
Counted number of flights out of Eppley today: https://www.flyoma.com/flight-informati ... epartures/
Number of daily flights and gates for SFO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Franc ... al_Airport
Bigger planes at SFO: https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/ar ... 540852.php

[Ryan Air]

Looks stupid. 10 lanes? Why don't we run 880 through there while we are at it. SEND THEM BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, OAA. You hear me? We don't approve.

[Bearcat06]

Looks stupid. 10 lanes? Why don't we run 880 through there while we are at it. SEND THEM BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, OAA. You hear me? We don't approve.

I would have to say that DEN has at least six lanes in their each of their depart/arrival driveways on two sides of their building. I don't know that OMA would be afford a second level just for departures, I bet it would easily eat up 5-10% of the proposed budget.

[Bearcat06]

I crunched a few numbers, comparing SFO and OMA, to see what a maximum capacity increase the extra gates could provide. These are obviously very rough numbers, but the increase in gates from 20 to 22 could still yield a very significant increase in passengers.

First things first, the airport is only currently using 18 of the 20 gates. 22 new gates / 19 currently used gates = 15.8% increase

Then, if I compare number of flights per day per gate between SFO and OMA, I see that SFO has 1,287 daily flights across 115 gates (11.19 flights / gate), whereas OMA has 156 daily flights across 19 gates (8.21 flights / gate). If we maximize the usage of our gates to the level of SFO (11.19 / 8.21), we would increase capacity by 36.3%

Finally, since SFO can't just add more flights, they've increased the size of the planes flying in. SFO has gone from an average plane capacity of 134 in 2011 to 158 in 2018. That represents an increase of 17.9%.

If you add those up, Eppley could presumably add 86% capacity despite only adding 2 gates. I would argue that more gates would mean more flexibility for adding new destinations and increase diversity of airlines, but the 2-gate increase probably won't hold us back substantially.


Sources:
Counted number of flights out of Eppley today: https://www.flyoma.com/flight-informati ... epartures/
Number of daily flights and gates for SFO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Franc ... al_Airport
Bigger planes at SFO: https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/ar ... 540852.php

As much as I love stats, I don't know that this is a fair comparison as SFO runs about 10 times as many passengers a year as OMA. I'm not saying that OMA can't improve on the efficiency with more flights and gates, but maybe locations like MKE, BUF, BUR or JAX, would be more comparable based on pax volume, gate numbers and plane sizes. SFO isn't a top 10 airport by pax volume by being inefficient at the gates. Those trans-pacific flights aren't going to hurt their plane capacity figures either.

[damonhynes]

AA has announced their Berkshire meeting extra flights:

BOS OMA May 1 and May 3
DCA OMA May 1 and May 3
LGA OMA May 1 and May 3
MIA OMA April 30–May 3

Except for BOS (E175) equipment isn't mentioned. Doubt it'd be an A330 or B787, though.

[Bob from Omaha]

[youtube][/youtube]

[Ryan Air]

Ha!

[nativeomahan]

I flew in from Atlanta over the weekend on a MD90. The flight attendant apologized to the customers who were expecting better technology in the plane, by stating that the airline “would soon be retiring this model of plane”, and upgrading to equipment with more customer friendly tech.
The flight we flew from EYW to ATL had TV monitors on the back of all seats. With the MD90 you had to use your phone, which isn’t nearly as nice. Plus you are burning up your battery.
I will mention this as an aside. On our flight to ATL the pilot actually came through the plane and shook the hand of each willing passenger, thanking us for flying with Delta. And he seemed truly sincere in his comments. He was an older guy, probably in his 60s. I thought that was an extremely nice gesture. He actually got applause from the passengers for his gesture.

[damonhynes]

I flew in from Atlanta over the weekend on a MD90. The flight attendant apologized to the customers who were expecting better technology in the plane, by stating that the airline “would soon be retiring this model of plane”, and upgrading to equipment with more customer friendly tech.

That was nice of them. Honestly, I would have guessed that Omaha-based flyers were used to getting such antiquated aircraft, that any airline wouldn't have to apologize.

I will mention this as an aside. On our flight to ATL the pilot actually came through the plane and shook the hand of each willing passenger, thanking us for flying with Delta. And he seemed truly sincere in his comments. He was an older guy, probably in his 60s. I thought that was an extremely nice gesture. He actually got applause from the passengers for his gesture.

Delta is doing a lot of things right. That's why they've gotten my money four of the last five itineraries.

[Ryan Air]

I flew in from Atlanta over the weekend on a MD90. The flight attendant apologized to the customers who were expecting better technology in the plane, by stating that the airline “would soon be retiring this model of plane”, and upgrading to equipment with more customer friendly tech.

That was nice of them. Honestly, I would have guessed that Omaha-based flyers were used to getting such antiquated aircraft, that any airline wouldn't have to apologize.

I will mention this as an aside. On our flight to ATL the pilot actually came through the plane and shook the hand of each willing passenger, thanking us for flying with Delta. And he seemed truly sincere in his comments. He was an older guy, probably in his 60s. I thought that was an extremely nice gesture. He actually got applause from the passengers for his gesture.

Delta is doing a lot of things right. That's why they've gotten my money four of the last five itineraries.

They are doing so many things right.
They stole my business from Southwest. When I mentioned I was A-List preferred, the agent said to email customer service at Delta with an attachment of my Rapid Rewards statement and tell them how i have started using them as my preferred carrier and they would match some points. I got an email back saying it would be their pleasure to look into seeing if there was anything they would be willing to do. Even if they don't, the fact they are being proactive with service and acting like I matter makes me all the more confident in my decision to keep using them.

[damonhynes]

Delta is doing a lot of things right. That's why they've gotten my money four of the last five itineraries.

They are doing so many things right.
They stole my business from Southwest. When I mentioned I was A-List preferred, the agent said to email customer service at Delta with an attachment of my Rapid Rewards statement and tell them how i have started using them as my preferred carrier and they would match some points. I got an email back saying it would be their pleasure to look into seeing if there was anything they would be willing to do. Even if they don't, the fact they are being proactive with service and acting like I matter makes me all the more confident in my decision to keep using them.

Nice :-)

[joleo]

Omaha to Nashville goes daily on Southwest starting in June instead of Sunday only! Not sure if it will be seasonal or year-round daily. Been waiting to see if newspaper would pick it up this afternoon but haven’t seen anything yet.

[Bearcat06]

I flew in from Atlanta over the weekend on a MD90. The flight attendant apologized to the customers who were expecting better technology in the plane, by stating that the airline “would soon be retiring this model of plane”, and upgrading to equipment with more customer friendly tech.

That was nice of them. Honestly, I would have guessed that Omaha-based flyers were used to getting such antiquated aircraft, that any airline wouldn't have to apologize.

I will mention this as an aside. On our flight to ATL the pilot actually came through the plane and shook the hand of each willing passenger, thanking us for flying with Delta. And he seemed truly sincere in his comments. He was an older guy, probably in his 60s. I thought that was an extremely nice gesture. He actually got applause from the passengers for his gesture.

Delta is doing a lot of things right. That's why they've gotten my money four of the last five itineraries.

I have nothing but good things to say about Delta on my itineraries this year. Their service has been on point. As others mentioned, MD-90s will probably be going through OMA for a bit yet...the last article that I saw noted 2022 before they are fazed out. With all their improvements going on...maybe they would consider nonstop from OMA to BOS and SEA?

[Bearcat06]

Omaha to Nashville goes daily on Southwest starting in June instead of Sunday only! Not sure if it will be seasonal or year-round daily. Been waiting to see if newspaper would pick it up this afternoon but haven’t seen anything yet.

Looks like the nonstop flight into OMA leaves BNA at 11:15 am w/ a 1:05 pm arrival. The nonstop to BNA leaves at 1:40 pm with a 3:30 pm arrival.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Meh, Delta has been somewhat disappointing but to me in a couple ways. First, to get their most competitively prices flights always seems to require a layover in Atlanta. I flew to Calgary from St. Louis earlier this year and had to go through Atlanta. Second, their basic economy international flights have just enough of a layover to get to your next flight and they’ll always sit you in the back. So you’re gonna have to work for it. I about had to trample some people in MSP trying to make a flight to Amsterdam. There was no real delay on the arriving flight.

I do like the seat back screens though

[Bearcat06]

AA announced today they will not return the MAX to service until at least April 7, 2020.

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/4411185002 ... ssion=true

[Uffda]

AA announced today they will not return the MAX to service until at least April 7, 2020.

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/4411185002 ... ssion=true

Boeing announces suspension of 737 Max https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/16/business ... index.html

[Bob from Omaha]

Eppley just released November. Down 5.8% month over month. Now down .9% for the year. I'm guessing they get close to 5MM but it will be close.
I hear the matrix is a bit messed up because of the calendar relating to Thanksgiving. No matter. Close to 5 million this year without the 737Max & losing a couple of destinations and flights is still pretty good. Maybe if they bring back the max & some airlines add a bit next year will be better.

[riceweb]

As much as I love stats, I don't know that this is a fair comparison as SFO runs about 10 times as many passengers a year as OMA. I'm not saying that OMA can't improve on the efficiency with more flights and gates, but maybe locations like MKE, BUF, BUR or JAX, would be more comparable based on pax volume, gate numbers and plane sizes. SFO isn't a top 10 airport by pax volume by being inefficient at the gates. Those trans-pacific flights aren't going to hurt their plane capacity figures either.

I'm not sure I understand your points. Eppley airfield is served by lots of small planes--if demand for OMA to DEN increased, they wouldn't necessarily increase the number of daily flights, they might just use larger planes. And it doesn't matter if SFO serves 10x the number of passengers, I'm talking about relative numbers. We underutilize our gates compared to SFO, so operationally speaking we can probably get more out of each gate. Said another way, airlines don't need to utilize our gates very efficiently because there's not that much demand. Therefore it's not clear that we even need to add new gates at this time.