Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[joleo]

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

Southwest cuts were loaded for March because of the max. OMA lost 1 flight to STL and 1 flight to DEN. Now only 2x daily on those markets. They also lost several weekend frequencies to lots of different destinations including DEN, STL, SAN, PHX, MCO. Looks like about a 10% pullback in capacity from Omaha in March from what was previously loaded.

Southwest media said a 7%-7.5% pullback in flights nationwide or about 300 daily flights had to be cut. Omaha is on par with that at around 10% because some flights they really can't cut without losing the slots. ie LGA and DCA saw no cuts really which makes the other cities in the nation at closer to 8% cuts.

[Bob from Omaha]

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

Southwest cuts were loaded for March because of the max. OMA lost 1 flight to STL and 1 flight to DEN. Now only 2x daily on those markets. They also lost several weekend frequencies to lots of different destinations including DEN, STL, SAN, PHX, MCO. Looks like about a 10% pullback in capacity from Omaha in March from what was previously loaded.

Southwest media said a 7%-7.5% pullback in flights nationwide or about 300 daily flights had to be cut. Omaha is on par with that at around 10% because some flights they really can't cut without losing the slots. ie LGA and DCA saw no cuts really which makes the other cities in the nation at closer to 8% cuts.

The week of May 17 next year has OMA-STL with 3 and DEN with 4 non stops per day

[joleo]

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

Southwest cuts were loaded for March because of the max. OMA lost 1 flight to STL and 1 flight to DEN. Now only 2x daily on those markets. They also lost several weekend frequencies to lots of different destinations including DEN, STL, SAN, PHX, MCO. Looks like about a 10% pullback in capacity from Omaha in March from what was previously loaded.

Southwest media said a 7%-7.5% pullback in flights nationwide or about 300 daily flights had to be cut. Omaha is on par with that at around 10% because some flights they really can't cut without losing the slots. ie LGA and DCA saw no cuts really which makes the other cities in the nation at closer to 8% cuts.

The week of May 17 next year has OMA-STL with 3 and DEN with 4 non stops per day

That is correct, the southwest max cuts only go through Mid-April. I would guess by end of January, it will either be extended or we will have more info from the FAA and Boeing on their return. As time goes on, it becomes a larger part of Southwest's fleet. They were scheduled to have 100 Max planes by summer 2020 and if it continues, it won't be only a 7.5% cut of schedule but larger and larger cut. This is becoming a massive issue for Southwest real fast!

This just means less seats for March spring break where planes were full already so higher fares for customers for sure!

[Bearcat06]

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.

I ran the numbers and I'm predicting 4,997,041 pax for the year, just shy of the 5 million mark.

Delta was the only carrier in the black for pax load for the month...that hurts.

[Bearcat06]

United delaying MAX return until at least June 2020.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/uni ... h-june.amp

[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

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

Southwest cuts were loaded for March because of the max. OMA lost 1 flight to STL and 1 flight to DEN. Now only 2x daily on those markets. They also lost several weekend frequencies to lots of different destinations including DEN, STL, SAN, PHX, MCO. Looks like about a 10% pullback in capacity from Omaha in March from what was previously loaded.

Southwest media said a 7%-7.5% pullback in flights nationwide or about 300 daily flights had to be cut. Omaha is on par with that at around 10% because some flights they really can't cut without losing the slots. ie LGA and DCA saw no cuts really which makes the other cities in the nation at closer to 8% cuts.

The week of May 17 next year has OMA-STL with 3 and DEN with 4 non stops per day

That is correct, the southwest max cuts only go through Mid-April. I would guess by end of January, it will either be extended or we will have more info from the FAA and Boeing on their return. As time goes on, it becomes a larger part of Southwest's fleet. They were scheduled to have 100 Max planes by summer 2020 and if it continues, it won't be only a 7.5% cut of schedule but larger and larger cut. This is becoming a massive issue for Southwest real fast!

This just means less seats for March spring break where planes were full already so higher fares for customers for sure!

Massive issue for Southwest = massive issue for OMA growth in 2020. Even if the MAX is grounded only for the first quarter, it's not like Southwest (or any other carrier for that matter) will take in 100 new planes at once so it's going to be a ripple effect for months or maybe even quarters of the year. It would also appear that no other carriers are interested in jumping on WN's territory/growth/destinations or they would have done it already. UA could possibly add some flights or send bigger jets to DEN or ORD ( I know it's not MCO, but same city) if demand from WN flight loss is there since they are hubs for UA, but they could also just raise prices on their current flights instead.

If the MAX isn't flying by March, I think OMA will have another negative year. The saving grace *could* be the MLB draft, CWS and swim trials...but things are looking a bit dismal right now.

[damonhynes]

Eppley wishlist?

Glad you aksed:

AA mainline to CLT
DL to RDU
A legacy carrier doing LAS. Don't like WN's cattle-call.
DL year-round to BOS
UA mainline to IAH
Someone besides F9 to AUS
Soneone to BNA besides WN.

[Bob from Omaha]

Eppley wishlist? Well I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention this....redo Eppley exactly like OKC's airport. Ok, you can leave out Will Rogers' statue if you must. The rest is just commentary.

[Bob from Omaha]

Found another interesting web site that gives you the ability to see all non stop destinations from any airport around the world. You have to move the map & zoom in a bit but click on a city/airport & there you go.

https://www.flightconnections.com/

[nativeomahan]

Cool link. Thanks for sharing.
I checked and PVR has nonstop links to 44 airports in 4 countries. Not bad for a metro of 350,000.

[Uffda]

Allegiant just announced expansion to 3 cities and a bunch of new seasonal locations - not seeing anything for Omaha.

Allegiant Announces Largest Service Expansion In Company History With 3 New Cities And 44 Nonstop Routes

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 86129.html

[joleo]

Allegiant just announced expansion to 3 cities and a bunch of new seasonal locations - not seeing anything for Omaha.

Allegiant Announces Largest Service Expansion In Company History With 3 New Cities And 44 Nonstop Routes

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 86129.html

Allegiant hasn't caught on out of Omaha like Des Moines. Over here, it is a household name and people fly it all the time. Allegiant doesn't add service unless people fly them. If service at 2x weekly is getting the loads and fares they want, the next year they might make it 3x weekly instead etc. Doing lots of random searches comparing DSM to OMA, OMA is basically 1x weekly or 2x weekly to all Allegiant destinations. DSM to those same destinations are many times all the way up to daily service and fares are higher from DSM than they are from OMA.

An example, Omaha to Fort Walton Beach was 3x weekly last summer and Des Moines was 2x weekly. The planes from Des Moines were fuller and prices more expensive than Omaha so this summer, Omaha is reduced to 2x weekly while Des Moines was increased to 3x weekly.

I wonder why Allegiant really hasn't caught on from Omaha? Now that they got rid of their old MD-80's, they have one of the youngest most modern fleets in the industry and their prices are great!

They just announced Des Moines to Chicago Midway for next summer, $33 each way vs like $150 to $170 each way on Southwest from Omaha.

[Uffda]

Allegiant just announced expansion to 3 cities and a bunch of new seasonal locations - not seeing anything for Omaha.

Allegiant Announces Largest Service Expansion In Company History With 3 New Cities And 44 Nonstop Routes

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 86129.html

Allegiant hasn't caught on out of Omaha like Des Moines. Over here, it is a household name and people fly it all the time. Allegiant doesn't add service unless people fly them. If service at 2x weekly is getting the loads and fares they want, the next year they might make it 3x weekly instead etc. Doing lots of random searches comparing DSM to OMA, OMA is basically 1x weekly or 2x weekly to all Allegiant destinations. DSM to those same destinations are many times all the way up to daily service and fares are higher from DSM than they are from OMA.

An example, Omaha to Fort Walton Beach was 3x weekly last summer and Des Moines was 2x weekly. The planes from Des Moines were fuller and prices more expensive than Omaha so this summer, Omaha is reduced to 2x weekly while Des Moines was increased to 3x weekly.

I wonder why Allegiant really hasn't caught on from Omaha? Now that they got rid of their old MD-80's, they have one of the youngest most modern fleets in the industry and their prices are great!

They just announced Des Moines to Chicago Midway for next summer, $33 each way vs like $150 to $170 each way on Southwest from Omaha.

I use to fly Allegiant to St Pete a lot. This announcement has Sioux Falls to Nashville and there are lots of comments on Sioux Falls FB pages from people wanting to use it.

[Ryan Air]

As an aviation geek and frequent business traveler, Allegiant is not, nor will ever be considered by me. They are a ultra low cost carrier with very limited network for business travelers. Which is fine, it's not their targeted demographic. While their planes may be newer, their infamous maintenance division is basically unchanged and is still concerning to me, especially when compared to basically any other US airline. You buy a new car, you still have to service and maintain it.

I'm about loyalty/ rewards and schedule. I'm still cost- aware when it comes to travel, Delta, American, and Southwest - the majority of the time between them - get me everywhere I need to go at a reasonable price. Safely.

[Original]

Just flew OMA --> SFB (Sanford, smaller Orlando Airport), SFB --> OMA on Allegiant. First time I've been in Epply in a year or so.

Eppley's current design is just aggravating with the security theater that we have to submit to. I can't wait until either a new terminal is built or they figure out a way to reconfigure it so that there are not two separate secure areas. Also, I wish the screening area was about 40 feet back up the hallway (which I realize it probably cannot be due to the slope of the hallway) because that gate area is too small.

Allegiant was... fine. But boy are they budget. And is omitting seatback pockets that much of a weight savings? Wife and I flew with our 4 year old and 8 month old, and seatback pockets would have been a huge help. If we go to Orlando again we'd probably fly them if the schedule worked out like it did for this vacation, but I wouldn't seek them out. I hadn't read much about their maintenance division, but reading more, yeah, not sure I want to fly them.

[ScrattyB]

I wonder why Allegiant really hasn't caught on from Omaha?

As others have posted, it just doesn't work for business trips.

We have a pretty good selection of legacy carriers out of Omaha that have competitive fares to major airports for leisure.
For leisure, their schedule for Mesa (Phoenix) is just terrible. Also, Mesa specific, the public transportation is terrible compared to Sky Harbor and it is 15 minutes further away from town. I'd gladly pay more to fly into PHX, on a better day, with a better departure/arrival time and take the streetcar to my destination.

[Omababe]

I wonder why Allegiant really hasn't caught on from Omaha? Now that they got rid of their old MD-80's, they have one of the youngest most modern fleets in the industry and their prices are great!

Their schedules stink! And, as stated, we're lucky to have many options.

[Bearcat06]

I wonder why Allegiant really hasn't caught on from Omaha? Now that they got rid of their old MD-80's, they have one of the youngest most modern fleets in the industry and their prices are great!

Their schedules stink! And, as stated, we're lucky to have many options.

I was just looking at some flights for February/March. It appears they fly maybe once or at most twice a week from OMA to any of the destinations, 5 out of the 7 which are in FL. As others have noted, that isn't extremely travel friendly. I think Frontier out of OMA has had some issues with that as well going to DEN and LAS. UA, DL and WN all have several direct flights to those two destinations pretty much daily. It makes it a little more difficult to choose being handcuffed to a once or twice a week carrier to maybe save a few dollars. I did see an Allegiant commercial on a local news channel just last night though...maybe they'll change things at OMA. Maybe they are trying to get more business to DSM...

[Bearcat06]

WN announced the MAX will not fly until at least June. It's looking like it could be another down year in OMA. I'm sure the previous potential flight increases for WN noted previously will likely be put on hold if they aren't adding any other planes to their fleet.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

[joleo]

WN announced the MAX will not fly until at least June. It's looking like it could be another down year in OMA. I'm sure the previous potential flight increases for WN noted previously will likely be put on hold if they aren't adding any other planes to their fleet.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

So the Max cuts were extended for almost 2 months. Looking at the Max cuts in Omaha, it survived really well this time! From what I can tell, Omaha lost 3 flights on Sundays only and no weekday flights were cut this time! Looking at May weekdays, Omaha will have 6x daily to MDW and 4x daily to DEN and SAN doesn't get cut. Good news if you are looking for strong numbers.

Frontier just increased their March Las Vegas schedule to 6x weekly instead of 4x weekly. Not a huge increase but their flights are cheap so helps to attract people the otherwise couldn't afford to fly.

[Ryan Air]

WN announced the MAX will not fly until at least June. It's looking like it could be another down year in OMA. I'm sure the previous potential flight increases for WN noted previously will likely be put on hold if they aren't adding any other planes to their fleet.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

So the Max cuts were extended for almost 2 months. Looking at the Max cuts in Omaha, it survived really well this time! From what I can tell, Omaha lost 3 flights on Sundays only and no weekday flights were cut this time! Looking at May weekdays, Omaha will have 6x daily to MDW and 4x daily to DEN and SAN doesn't get cut. Good news if you are looking for strong numbers.

Frontier just increased their March Las Vegas schedule to 6x weekly instead of 4x weekly. Not a huge increase but their flights are cheap so helps to attract people the otherwise couldn't afford to fly.

That's some good news at least.

[Bob from Omaha]

Me to Eppley in a facebook messenger conversation: Today is the 20th of the month. Usually the statistics for the prior month get posted to the web site by then. Just wondering. Thanks

Reply from Eppley person: Hi Larry. Thanks for your question. As we mentioned in response to your question in October, traffic statistics get posted following the airport board meeting which occurs on the 3rd Tuesday each month. This month the board meeting is Tuesday, January 21 and they will be posted following the meeting tomorrow. Stats can be posted anywhere from the 15th to the 21st in a given month based upon how the calendar shakes out. Many times it will happen before the 20th of a month, but it is completely related to the timing of the board meeting. Moving forward it is best to disregard the 20th and look for the 3rd Tuesday.

Me: No problem. Thanks for the quick response!

Them: You're welcome!

Had I read the conversation from October I'd have known. They responded amazingly fast.

[Bearcat06]

WN announced the MAX will not fly until at least June. It's looking like it could be another down year in OMA. I'm sure the previous potential flight increases for WN noted previously will likely be put on hold if they aren't adding any other planes to their fleet.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

So the Max cuts were extended for almost 2 months. Looking at the Max cuts in Omaha, it survived really well this time! From what I can tell, Omaha lost 3 flights on Sundays only and no weekday flights were cut this time! Looking at May weekdays, Omaha will have 6x daily to MDW and 4x daily to DEN and SAN doesn't get cut. Good news if you are looking for strong numbers.

Frontier just increased their March Las Vegas schedule to 6x weekly instead of 4x weekly. Not a huge increase but their flights are cheap so helps to attract people the otherwise couldn't afford to fly.

Are you able to see if the proposed increase in flights to Phoenix survived? I thought there was something mentioned about WN increasing to 6 flights daily there?

[Bearcat06]

Me to Eppley in a facebook messenger conversation: Today is the 20th of the month. Usually the statistics for the prior month get posted to the web site by then. Just wondering. Thanks

Reply from Eppley person: Hi Larry. Thanks for your question. As we mentioned in response to your question in October, traffic statistics get posted following the airport board meeting which occurs on the 3rd Tuesday each month. This month the board meeting is Tuesday, January 21 and they will be posted following the meeting tomorrow. Stats can be posted anywhere from the 15th to the 21st in a given month based upon how the calendar shakes out. Many times it will happen before the 20th of a month, but it is completely related to the timing of the board meeting. Moving forward it is best to disregard the 20th and look for the 3rd Tuesday.

Me: No problem. Thanks for the quick response!

Them: You're welcome!

Had I read the conversation from October I'd have known. They responded amazingly fast.

Eppley has Facebook messenger AND responds? This changes everything...

[damonhynes]

Eppley wishlist?

Glad you aksed:

AA mainline to CLT

STL finally got AA mainline to CLT--A321!

I'd be happy with an A319...

[joleo]

WN announced the MAX will not fly until at least June. It's looking like it could be another down year in OMA. I'm sure the previous potential flight increases for WN noted previously will likely be put on hold if they aren't adding any other planes to their fleet.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/ ... ssion=true

So the Max cuts were extended for almost 2 months. Looking at the Max cuts in Omaha, it survived really well this time! From what I can tell, Omaha lost 3 flights on Sundays only and no weekday flights were cut this time! Looking at May weekdays, Omaha will have 6x daily to MDW and 4x daily to DEN and SAN doesn't get cut. Good news if you are looking for strong numbers.

Frontier just increased their March Las Vegas schedule to 6x weekly instead of 4x weekly. Not a huge increase but their flights are cheap so helps to attract people the otherwise couldn't afford to fly.

Are you able to see if the proposed increase in flights to Phoenix survived? I thought there was something mentioned about WN increasing to 6 flights daily there?

The 6x was only Saturdays in March and April was actually reduced to only 5x on the last schedule Max reduction. PHX is very seasonal and goes anywhere from only 1x daily flight to 4x daily flights + extra weekend flights on busy season.

[Bob from Omaha]

And as promised they delivered...

December 2019 numbers are out. December was up, probably as a result of the calendar anomaly, 5.4%. For the year Eppley finished down about 20,000 but still over 5 million.

American, Delta & United(to a lesser extent) appeared to have clawed back passengers from the smaller players and the Southwest effect (737Max).

Hopefully Eppley will continue to work on the Terminal Modernization Plan.

[damonhynes]

Eppley wishlist?

Glad you aksed:

AA mainline to CLT

STL finally got AA mainline to CLT--A321!

I'd be happy with an A319...

I was doing some dummy iteneraries and it appears that AA is putting an A320 OMA-CLT 1X beginning mid-Feb. So we got that going for us.

[Bob from Omaha]

[youtube][/youtube]

[ita]

Eppley wishlist?

Glad you aksed:

AA mainline to CLT

STL finally got AA mainline to CLT--A321!

I'd be happy with an A319...

I was doing some dummy iteneraries and it appears that AA is putting an A320 OMA-CLT 1X beginning mid-Feb. So we got that going for us.

I know a new direct flight to Charlotte isn't huge news, but Charlotte is a fast growing mid-tier City ala Nashville, home to several large corporations that we can do business with, including a couple large banks that I hope we could have some cross pollination with. I think it is a solid addition.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Charlotte is also a good sized international hub for AA for whatever reason. I kinda thought we already had a Charlotte route.

[Ryan Air]

Charlotte is also a good sized international hub for AA for whatever reason. I kinda thought we already had a Charlotte route.

We do. It's currently served by a CRJ-900. So the A320 is an upgrade.

[ProgKingHughesker]

Charlotte is also a good sized international hub for AA for whatever reason.

Used to be USAir's major eastern hub

[damonhynes]

Charlotte is also a good sized international hub for AA for whatever reason. I kinda thought we already had a Charlotte route.

We do. It's currently served by a CRJ-900. So the A320 is an upgrade.

I could have phrased that better, admittedly. I believe thay have two flights a day, one RJ and one mainline.

[damonhynes]

Charlotte is also a good sized international hub for AA for whatever reason.

Used to be USAir's major eastern hub

The international schedule has been rationalized somewhat since AA took over--a lot of the South America traffic that US had to run through CLT now goes through AA's fortress hub in MIA. PHL has also had an increase in European second-tier destinations that used to go through CLT.

Charlotte certainly isn't hurting, though. AA has big plans there.

[Mr.Nuke]

I’m getting caught up on the last 5 or so pages of this thread. I realize some (most) of these posts I’m replying to are months old. Sorry for being negligent in responding in a timely manner.

Why can’t Eppley be like every other airport in the world ... have a sign that says Arrivals and Departures.

Because Eppley’s configuration doesn’t necessitate the need to separate arrivals and departures. Most airports have Arrivals/Departures signs because they aren’t in the same place.

Saw “Terminal” and I thought it was an exit for sick people.

Now, there are international travelers coming here. And bi-coastal business travelers. And at every other airport they travel, they See “Arrivals” and/or “departures”. “Terminal” doesn’t tell you much, and it doesn’t translate well.

A simple sign, “Arrivals and Departures” moves Omaha one step closer to the 21st century (20 years late).

This is where you lose me, because nearly every airport that I’ve driven to will refer to the terminal or terminals at some point on the road approach as a way of telling the driver where to go in the same way as parking, cell phone waiting lots, rental car returns, general corporate aviation, etc. Hence why I fail to see how Eppley’s current sign configuration would confuse anyone or is really a departure from the industry norm.

I guess I've really never had an issue with this. "Terminal" to me means ticketing/gates/etc. If you fly through DFW the signage is based on terminals A, B, C, etc... I know DEN and ATL have arrivals and departures signage, but their set up is all the terminals in a straight line after you get through ticketing; you can't go straight to a specific terminal.

And both ATL and DEN reference “terminals” on the approach to terminals. There are multiple ways of doing this but in general you are going to have 1) a sign directing traffic for an airport at a specific exit 2) At multiple terminal airports on the road approaching the airport you’ll have signs listing the terminals and what airlines operate at each 3) Signs directing you towards the terminal/s versus say parking or a rental car return 4) Arrivals vs. Departure signs for a specific terminal or all of the terminals depending on the airport layout. Again, slight variations on the ordering there depending on the layout but the notion that “terminal” as a foreign concept to someone driving to an airport is odd.

The minor change that Eppley made at some point last fall that I like is that they tell people on the actual terminal drive to stay in the left lane for Southwest/United. Certainly a minor change, but I think that gentle reminder has improved traffic flow slightly the past few times I’ve picked/dropped off someone.

[Mr.Nuke]

I'm really hoping for the former, but with the estimated costs/budget around $500 million ( I believe that may be the latest figure I heard) it could be the latter. KCI is sinking $1.5 billion into a 39-gate terminal, OMA is looking at a third of that for a 28-gate terminal, a difference of $38.4 million to $17.8 million per gate.

The OMA project and MCI project are apples and oranges.
The layout of the OMA project is far less complicated with a significant portion of ramp space already complete- not to mention proper planning for years with infrastructure being added over the last 5 years in anticipation of this project. Also, about 1/10 of demo. You need to remember that 110 million had already been spent on new garage and upgrade of other parking. That's not included in OMA $500 million estimate. New parking structures and completely new access roads spanning over a mile are needed for MCI. The building of a massive new apron/ramp with new taxi access will cost a TON of money. Demo of terminal A isn't cheap either.

Yeah the more apples to apples comparison and this still isn’t perfect is to basically go back to Eppley’s 2013 masterplan estimates. Because Eppley has already spent a ton of money on the parking garage and reconstructing the ramp around the terminal to facilitate the actual terminal construction. They estimated on the 2013 master plan total expenditures of $1.2187 billion (2013 dollars + inflation). A lot closer to the $1.5 billion in Kansas City. This was broken down into $766 million for the full terminal expansion, just under $200 million for landside improvements (parking garage is included here), and about $260 million in airside/support facilities.
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/ep ... 282%29.pdf

It’s the incoming flights that need to be served.

By what metric are we basing this on though? I admittedly don’t have anything to base this off of other than personal observations, preferences, and how many airports actually function; but it doesn’t seem to me that there is actually any significant demand for food service on arrival at a spoke airport. The demand is there for departing passengers and at hub airports connecting passengers, which makes sense because in both cases people often “have” to be there an hour plus before their flight or next flight. But as Bob says, Eppley isn’t out there on an island in terms of things shutting down with the departures.

My experience is that with the exception of a lot of hubs the majority of the restaurants at the other airports close about 1/2 hour before the last scheduled departure.

I agree. It’s about demand for the supply. I’d suspect, if and when OMA nears the 7 million annual passenger threshold, more and diverse food options would be available at Eppley...

I don’t know that you necessarily need to put any specific number on it either because as Omaha Critic notes the supply/demand is essentially cut in half as it is right now as evidenced by multiple versions of the same restaurant in some cases at the food courts.

No doubt. Part of too is the way Eppley splits the incoming no between the two terminals then funnels them downstairs. That splits the volume in two.

Yeah passengers were pretty evenly split between airlines in the North and South concourses last year so even with zero passenger increases going forward having a unified terminal essentially doubles the number of customers for dining establishments. That alone should lead to an increase in options/quality of options. One thing I’d be doing if I were Eppley is evaluating the concession contracts going forward. Riegel who seemingly has almost/if not everything pre-security right now is pretty stagnant and there is some anecdotal evidence on the internet that makes me question if the company is anything near what it once was.

PVR handled but 4.6 million passengers last year, from 15 gates. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licenci ... al_Airport

I actually really like this comparison. I've been to both airports as well. They have similar pax numbers and they are not connecting hubs by any means.

I like it less because PVR is a huge leisure airport with a large portion of it being international (necessitating longer check-in times), both of which is going to skew the demand for food options higher than average.

[joleo]

Southwest extended their Max cuts for the summer, June-August.

From Omaha notable stuff:
1 less OMA-MDW - 4x vs 5x daily. 5am flight now and next isn't until 12:30pm leaving a big gap.
No weekday service to Houston this summer. Only weekend service with 2x Sunday and 1x Saturday.
Nashville stays in schedule
Phoenix is 1x daily at a 5am departure on weekdays. I think this was originally loaded as 2x daily but not 100% sure.
San Diego stays
Denver stays at 4x daily, that is 1 more flight than operated last summer.

So with max cuts loaded, looks like Omaha lost 3 daily flights and other flights went to smaller planes vs the Max8.

It is around a cut of 30,000 seats from Omaha per month I would estimate from what was previously loaded in their schedule. Pretty big cuts.

Remember, their previous schedule showed large increases over summer 2019 so when comparing year over year, it won't be nearly 30,000 seats, probably 10,000 seats less or maybe even net zero from last year.

[ScrattyB]

Southwest extended their Max cuts for the summer, June-August.
No weekday service to Houston this summer. Only weekend service with 2x Sunday and 1x Saturday.

How does this compare to United's/Express service to Houston? Did they/them upgauge at all?

[joleo]

Southwest extended their Max cuts for the summer, June-August.
No weekday service to Houston this summer. Only weekend service with 2x Sunday and 1x Saturday.

How does this compare to United's/Express service to Houston? Did they/them upgauge at all?

United is all over the board and never consistent. Sometime the 6am is mainline, sometimes not. Sometimes they use 76 seat E175's, sometimes 50-seat ERJ's. I'd have to look it up through the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Next June currently showing 1x mainline, 3x 50 seat ERJ's. So I'd say no upgrade would be my guess. Remember, United is short plans too because of the max.