Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[strangerthings]

Where is the new terminal thing

[Bob from Omaha]

October stats posted. Bottom line: Numbers are up. I'll let you look for yourselves. Flyoma.com

And now, back to Nuke in the studio for insight.

[Mr.Nuke]

October stats posted. Bottom line: Numbers are up. I'll let you look for yourselves. Flyoma.com

And now, back to Nuke in the studio for insight.

Up 105.2% year-over-year, 68.3% YTD
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

[BobbiDon]

I have a question about airport passenger statistics. If a passenger has a layover at a given airport would that count for both a deplaned and enplaned passenger for that airport? Also, do records differ for passenger layovers where they actually stay on the same flight for the plane’s next destination?

Thanks!

[Mr.Nuke]

I have a question about airport passenger statistics. If a passenger has a layover at a given airport would that count for both a deplaned and enplaned passenger for that airport? Also, do records differ for passenger layovers where they actually stay on the same flight for the plane’s next destination?

Thanks!

Correct. Enplaned and deplaned are pretty much literally what they sound like. You got on a plane at that airport and or you got off. And to your second question, yes as well. Passengers that remain on a plane, commonly called "through" passengers, are not counted in enplaned/deplaned statistics at the connecting airport as they didn't get off the plane. Southwest is pretty known for their through practices.

[BobbiDon]

Thanks, Mr Nuke!

[Bob from Omaha]

November numbers are out. Numbers are up. Check it out. Nuke to follow. Announcement about an international airport between Omaha & Lincoln in 60-90 days

[Mr.Nuke]

Up 126.4% for the month and up 73% YTD. The month was down only 7.6% versus 2019, and Eppley is down 26.1% YTD versus 2019, so things are slowly getting close to being near pre-pandemic levels.
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

[Garrett]

I’m sure December and January will be the ultimate tests between holiday travel and omicron.

[jjjjhskr]

November numbers are out. Numbers are up. Check it out. Nuke to follow. Announcement about an international airport between Omaha & Lincoln in 60-90 days

right. If only. (even though I do like the location of Eppley)

[Bob from Omaha]

November numbers are out. Numbers are up. Check it out. Nuke to follow. Announcement about an international airport between Omaha & Lincoln in 60-90 days

right. If only. (even though I do like the location of Eppley)

I may have spoken about it before. In the 70s a UNL grad project was ENSET, the Eastern Nebraska Sports, Entertainment & Transportation Center. Big A S S airport, domed stadium, performing arts complex and more. Housing, commercial development, etc.
Of course nothing came of it. It was an exercise. It was pretty cool to sit in on the brainstorming sessions though. Crazy designs, unlimited budget, the works. Even had a lake.

[Mr.Nuke]

I’m sure December and January will be the ultimate tests between holiday travel and omicron.

We are already getting a little preview due to news stories about holiday travel, but December looks like it should be pretty good.

The Omaha Airport Authority says that they expect around 166,000 passengers to come through Omaha between Wednesday and Sunday.

That’s a major difference from last year when travel numbers were historically low, only 73,000.

This year, travel numbers more reflect those of pre-pandemic levels — they were reportedly 172,000 passengers that traveled through Omaha in 2019.

https://www.wowt.com/2021/11/25/eppley- ... travelers/

The winter holiday traveling period stretches from December 17th to January 3rd.

In this time Eppley Airfield expects around 232,000 arriving and departing passengers in Omaha.

For reference, there were approximately 103,000 in 2020.

https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-new ... day-season

[Garrett]

$7.2 million from the infrastructure bill in 2022 to help with modernization.

Eppley Airfield to receive $7.2 million from infrastructure bill

[skinzfan23]

Wish this story actually had some details. The only thing it states is that they are getting funding, but no mention of how any of that will be used other than "modernization".

[Garrett]

Wish this story actually had some details. The only thing it states is that they are getting funding, but no mention of how any of that will be used other than "modernization".

It’s just Bacon saying things so I guess we’ll have to wait to see what the airport authorities say

[OmahaFan]

I’m sure once the money has been obtained they will start making announcements on where that money will go. This investment will significantly speed up the modernization process currently underway at Eppley. I fully believe after the road construction that the terminal project will finally get started.

[Mr.Nuke]

Wish this story actually had some details. The only thing it states is that they are getting funding, but no mention of how any of that will be used other than "modernization".

Like Garrett says it is a release from a congressman who has no idea where the funds are actually going to go. That said, in the near-term, they are still in the middle of two projects that roughly total $28 million where they had an existing federal grant for $12 million. I'd assume at the very least this 2022 money likely goes to offset what the airport would have had to pay out of their own funds there.

This investment will significantly speed up the modernization process currently underway at Eppley. I fully believe after the road construction that the terminal project will finally get started.

I don't know about that... The 2022 $7 million is roughly 1.5% of the $500 million terminal project, literally a drop in the bucket. The fact that they're seemingly getting money over 5 years from this, and that there is another $5 billion pot of money in this bill that they may get access to may change the equation slightly; but the airport is still going to end up well off of PAL 1 numbers this year much less PAL 2 i.e. the original trigger for redoing the terminal.

[Mr.Nuke]

A couple of interesting agenda items for next Tuesday's board meeting.

4. Terminal Modernization Program Update and Program Management Support Contracts
5. Authorize Chief Executive Officer to Approve Individual Personnel Contracts for Terminal
Modernization Program

https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... -18-22.pdf

[Bob from Omaha]

Also on the January 2022 agenda is item 7. If the name is correct I'm curious where they will fly from OMA.

[Mr.Nuke]

Also on the January 2022 agenda is item 7. If the name is correct I'm curious where they will fly from OMA.

It is going to be cargo for Amazon from Forth Worth.

[Bearcat06]

Saw this article on ABC News tonight about planes changing the way they descend from cruising altitude to landing. Interesting bit is that the FAA implemented it at some major airports last year, but it's being implemented at Laguardia, Kansas City and Omaha this year.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/faa-cha ... _abcn&s=09

[Bob from Omaha]

I could wait til Flyoma.com posts the stats or I could ask Eppley on Facebook but Nuke seems to be just as quick.

So Nuke, how did OMA finish 2021?

[daveoma]

Saw this article on ABC News tonight about planes changing the way they descend from cruising altitude to landing. Interesting bit is that the FAA implemented it at some major airports last year, but it's being implemented at Laguardia, Kansas City and Omaha this year.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/faa-cha ... _abcn&s=09

Sorry to ask an ignorant question, but under this proposal, the engines of the jet would still be activated, right--they're not completely turned off? The article says that the plane would be in idle, but in actuality the engines are powered down. For those of you familiar with this, can you enlighten this nervous flyer?

[strangerthings]

Saw this article on ABC News tonight about planes changing the way they descend from cruising altitude to landing. Interesting bit is that the FAA implemented it at some major airports last year, but it's being implemented at Laguardia, Kansas City and Omaha this year.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/faa-cha ... _abcn&s=09

Sorry to ask an ignorant question, but under this proposal, the engines of the jet would still be activated, right--they're not completely turned off? The article says that the plane would be in idle, but in actuality the engines are powered down. For those of you familiar with this, can you enlighten this nervous flyer?

Idle = Engine is on but producing thrust. Like when sitting at a stop light in your car.

[Mr.Nuke]

December ends up 99.8% over December 2020. Eppley ended the year up 75.2% with a total of 3,749,337 passengers.
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

[Bearcat06]

December ends up 99.8% over December 2020. Eppley ended the year up 75.2% with a total of 3,749,337 passengers.
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

Totals from the prior three years:

2020 - 2,140,016
2019 - 5,023,668
2018 - 5,043, 194

Obviously the pandemic destroyed 2020 and didn't help 2021. Reports suggest the airlines think numbers will rebound in 2022, though they said the same thing last year, so we'll see. My guess is at least another 2-3 years out from 5 million again. Wonder if the airport authority pulls the trigger on the terminal modernization if they see rebounding numbers in '21, '22 and '23 or if they still hold to the metrics that have been established?

[Bob from Omaha]

Flyoma.com doesn't post minutes from board meetings, only agendas. Some other airports do post minutes. Anyway, there are two agenda items from January of this year that have something to do with the terminal modernization program. I'd be curious to know what transpired at the meeting. Perhaps Nuke can clue us in? For what it's worth I don't think there is a concrete plan yet though I could be wrong. On the website the renderings are radically different than they were a few years ago. I liked the original ones better but truthfully I think the overall goal of one security checkpoint and an expansion of the terminal are of prime concern.

Here are the two items:

4. Terminal Modernization Program Update and Program Management Support Contracts
5. Authorize Chief Executive Officer to Approve Individual Personnel Contracts for Terminal
Modernization Program

[ita]

Cause we all like to compare Omaha to our friendly rival, Des Moines.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.desmoi ... 9188002002

[Quote]Passenger traffic at the Des Moines International Airport in 2021 grew 67% from 2020 but still remains short of its record-setting pre-pandemic years.

New data released Wednesday shows 2,167,510 passengers moved through the airport last year. While it was an improvement over 2020, when airline travel dramatically slowed as COVID-19 spread worldwide, traffic remained 752,000 passengers short of 2019's record-setting 2.9 million.

With the exception of 2020, the airport had not handled fewer than 2.2 million passengers since 2012, when 2,080,162 people combined passed through its arrival and departure gates.[/quotes]

[Mr.Nuke]

Wonder if the airport authority pulls the trigger on the terminal modernization if they see rebounding numbers in '21, '22 and '23 or if they still hold to the metrics that have been established?

The agenda items basically hint that they might be pulling the trigger now (or soon). Pending the actual design, the one thing they could also potential do is move the central utility plant, and extend the North terminal which is basically what they had originally intended to to as PAL 1 as some sort of middle ground between doing nothing or everything all at once.

For what it's worth I don't think there is a concrete plan yet though I could be wrong. On the website the renderings are radically different than they were a few years ago. I liked the original ones better but truthfully I think the overall goal of one security checkpoint and an expansion of the terminal are of prime concern.

They estimated design work was at 30% when it was paused in August 2020, formal renderings had been due by the end of that year.

[Bob from Omaha]

2021 Year End OMA DSM Comps

[guy4omaha]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

[skinzfan23]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

I actually thought it was the opposite:

OMA: 3,749,337 up 75.2% from 2021
DSM: 2,167,510 up only 67.3% from 2021

I guess, maybe from the pre-pandemic levels it is a little different, but at least in the past year, Omaha is doing better.

[Bearcat06]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

I actually thought it was the opposite:

OMA: 3,749,337 up 75.2% from 2021
DSM: 2,167,510 up only 67.3% from 2021

I guess, maybe from the pre-pandemic levels it is a little different, but at least in the past year, Omaha is doing better.

Maybe he was looking at total pax loads between the two? DSM was at 2.9 million at their best, pre-Covid and was back to 2.1 million while OMA was up at 5 million and only at 3.7 million this past year.

I was a little more surprised at the difference in pax loads between the two though. Iowa's population is about 1.3 million more than Nebraska, but looking at it closer based on 2020 census numbers, the Omaha metro has about a 1 million population within 50 miles, put it at 1.25 million if you include Lincoln. Des Moines is around 700,000 for the same 50 mile range. They both serve about 3 nonstop destinations, OMA at 31 and DSM at 29, so population and possibly events/businesses must be the bigger drivers.

Btw...it sounds like the Omaha metro will surpass the 1 million population mark by 2024 and a researcher at UNO notes that number is important because some businesses only look at cities with a 1 million population base. I wonder if that would also have an effect with OMA and additional flights/destinations?

[Louie]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

I actually thought it was the opposite:

OMA: 3,749,337 up 75.2% from 2021
DSM: 2,167,510 up only 67.3% from 2021

I guess, maybe from the pre-pandemic levels it is a little different, but at least in the past year, Omaha is doing better.

Maybe he was looking at total pax loads between the two? DSM was at 2.9 million at their best, pre-Covid and was back to 2.1 million while OMA was up at 5 million and only at 3.7 million this past year.

I was a little more surprised at the difference in pax loads between the two though. Iowa's population is about 1.3 million more than Nebraska, but looking at it closer based on 2020 census numbers, the Omaha metro has about a 1 million population within 50 miles, put it at 1.25 million if you include Lincoln. Des Moines is around 700,000 for the same 50 mile range. They both serve about 3 nonstop destinations, OMA at 31 and DSM at 29, so population and possibly events/businesses must be the bigger drivers.

Btw...it sounds like the Omaha metro will surpass the 1 million population mark by 2024 and a researcher at UNO notes that number is important because some businesses only look at cities with a 1 million population base. I wonder if that would also have an effect with OMA and additional flights/destinations?

Hopefully, by 2024 the terminal expansion will be moving forward to help with that.

[Mr.Nuke]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

I’m curious on what metric you are using to determine this… Given the world fell off a cliff so to speak in about March/April of 2020 I think the most apt pre-pandemic comparisons to now are the EOY 2019 to EOY 2021 numbers.

In 2021 Des Moines had 2,167,510 passengers. in 2019 they had 2,919,904. That is a 25.77% decline over the period or an average decline of 13.84% over the two-year period.

In 2021 Eppley had 3,749,337 passengers. In 2019 they had 5,023,668. That is a 25.37% decline over the period or an average decline of 13.61% over the two-year period.

By that metric Eppley is narrowly ahead of DSM in-terms of pre-pandemic recovery levels. Like Bearcat06 said, I’m guessing you were looking at raw numbers and thinking 2.9 million to 2.1 million seems much less than 5 million to 3.75 million, and in real numbers it is, but on an equivalent basis it isn't...

I was a little more surprised at the difference in pax loads between the two though. Iowa's population is about 1.3 million more than Nebraska, but looking at it closer based on 2020 census numbers, the Omaha metro has about a 1 million population within 50 miles, put it at 1.25 million if you include Lincoln. Des Moines is around 700,000 for the same 50 mile range. They both serve about 3 nonstop destinations, OMA at 31 and DSM at 29, so population and possibly events/businesses must be the bigger drivers.

I’m confused on what you mean by pax loads, (just passengers)??? And metro population or state population isn't the only or even the deciding factor here. This is why catchment areas matter. In Iowa, DSM has to compete with Eppley to the West, MSP to the North, ORD/MDW to the East, and Kansas City to to the South/Southwest.

[Garrett]

I was a little more surprised at the difference in pax loads between the two though. Iowa's population is about 1.3 million more than Nebraska, but looking at it closer based on 2020 census numbers, the Omaha metro has about a 1 million population within 50 miles, put it at 1.25 million if you include Lincoln. Des Moines is around 700,000 for the same 50 mile range. They both serve about 3 nonstop destinations, OMA at 31 and DSM at 29, so population and possibly events/businesses must be the bigger drivers.

I’m confused on what you mean by pax loads, (just passengers)??? and what Iowa’s population has to do with anything (particularly given where a good chunk of Iowa’s population is located… This is why catchment areas matter.

This is good analysis. While Iowa is larger than Nebraska, someone in say, the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, or Iowa City might just take the slightly longer drive to Chicago to use their airports, while those on the western end would come to Omaha over Des Moines.

[Mr.Nuke]

This is good analysis. While Iowa is larger than Nebraska, someone in say, the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, or Iowa City might just take the slightly longer drive to Chicago to use their airports, while those on the western end would come to Omaha over Des Moines.

Yeah I edited my post in the midst of your response to expand more, but this is my problem with generalist breakdowns in our area. DSM within the state of Iowa is centrally located, but has to defend against larger airports: to the West (Eppley), to the East (ORD/MWD), North (MSP),and Southwest (KC). Outside of Des Moines, Iowa has a good chunk of their population on the East, and a not insignificant portion near Omaha. Like you said if you are in say Davenport, you've got a 172 mile drive to DSM or an exactly equivalent 172 mile drive to O'Hare I can guarantee which one will give better prices/flights. Even Cedar Rapids where the drive is slightly longer I would expect strong preferences to Chicago for pricing/frequency reasons. If you are in Southern/ Southwest Iowa you are probably going to KC, Western Iowa, Eppley becomes attractive, Northern Iowa, MSP, etc. That again is why looking at things in terms of catchment areas i.e. where the bigger airports that draw people to are located matters.

[Mr.Nuke]

Totals from the prior three years:

2020 - 2,140,016
2019 - 5,023,668
2018 - 5,043, 194

And in the context of this, I think this is really valuable to go back like you did. I think it is also interesting to go back even further to point out that at 3.75 million passengers, excluding last year, it is the lowest passenger level since 2004. That kind of highlights the hole/ how rapid of a recovery even after the bounce back this year that things would take to get back to normal. In spite of the positive terminal modernization agenda items from this month, just something to think about.

[guy4omaha]

any thoughts on why DSM seems to have rebounded thus far much closer to their pre-pandemic levels compared to Eppley.

I’m curious on what metric you are using to determine this…

I’m guessing you were looking at raw numbers and thinking 2.9 million to 2.1 million seems much less than 5 million to 3.75 million, and in real numbers it is, but on an equivalent basis it isn't...

yeah you guessed right. I took a casual look at 2.9 vs 2.1 for Des Moines and compared our 3.75 to my recollection of Eppley being somewhere over 5. Didn't work the math. And my pre-math perception said, "oooh, is Des Moines making ground on us?' Again casually, I thought to myself that 2.1 vs 3.75 seems closer than 2.9 vs 5+. My bad as you point out. I had a feeling I was being hasty and that's why I used the word "seems" in my sentence. Glad to be wrong in this case.

[Bob from Omaha]

Don't forget that Cedar Rapids & the Quad Cities also have airports. CID did well over a million prior to covid. Quad cities did somewhat less than that. Thus DSM competes with airports both within and outside Iowa. Both Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities have United, American, Delta and Allegiant. I'd guess that OMA gets a majority of western Iowa's passengers and not everyone makes the shlep to Chicago, MSP, KC, etc. from eastern Iowa. That situation isn't like LNK. CID & QCI seem to have a larger relative populations to draw from and distance isn't like LNK.

DSM has grown impressively in the last few years. The Allegiant traffic helps but the truth is that it's relative. In other words, OMA's Southwest traffic dwarfs anything DSM has. For whatever reason Southwest never grew its DSM routes or frequencies.

In addition, while Eppley certainly could use the proposed improvements the current 20 gates seem to be sufficient for now. On the other hand, DSM's terminal is woefully inadequate and quite a bit older. It has 12 gates.

My biggest question for Nuke is this. How big can DSM get? I mean, they got near 3 million. Is 5 million conceivable for DSM? Is 7 million conceivable for OMA? (And for the sake of this conversation let's assume post covid things get back to 2018-2019 growth patterns)

As for OMA's modernization, it seems that they have been and are proceeding logically. New roads, car rental. Moving the CUP would be the next item. I still liked the prior design to the current proposed design.