Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[Bob from Omaha]

Proposal. I believe it was from the late 90s. I don't remember seeing it then. People mover?

[Louie]

Proposal. I believe it was from the late 90s. I don't remember seeing it then. People mover?

Wow, that is drastically different!

[Bob from Omaha]

Cost estimate was $290 million

[mrsticka]

Here's a question: When the new terminal opens, will there be a United Club or some other airline club? Of course, it doesn't really matter to me because I don't have a membership to any airline club, but I'm just wondering if they will.

[halgy]

Here's a question: When the new terminal opens, will there be a United Club or some other airline club? Of course, it doesn't really matter to me because I don't have a membership to any airline club, but I'm just wondering if they will.

The smallest domestic city with a United club looks to be Raleigh/Durham, which has a metro population 50% larger than Omaha. For Delta, it looks to be Milwaukee, which is also about 50% bigger. American lounges are only in really big cities.

Also, I believe that half of passengers through Eppley (give or take) are with budget airlines that don't have lounges at all. So even if there was space for a lounge, I doubt one would be justified.

My hope is that the airport is fitted out such that normal waiting areas are as nice as a lounge (minus the free food and drinks).

[Mr.Nuke]

Here's a question: When the new terminal opens, will there be a United Club or some other airline club? Of course, it doesn't really matter to me because I don't have a membership to any airline club, but I'm just wondering if they will.

From the top down drawing that has been out for a year or two there is (or at least) was a spot reserved for a club lounge. Southwest having ~1/3 of the market out of Eppley and the legacy carriers splitting a good chunk of the rest makes it highly unlikely to me that any specific airline would build a lounge here, but something like a generic priority pass type situation could very well be in play.

[Bearcat06]

I know we're already aware of the new Frontier non-stop to DFW. KETV just released a story noting it will be 3 days a week.

https://ketv.com/article/omaha-eppley-a ... h/46616032

[damonhynes]

Here's a question: When the new terminal opens, will there be a United Club or some other airline club? Of course, it doesn't really matter to me because I don't have a membership to any airline club, but I'm just wondering if they will.

From the top down drawing that has been out for a year or two there is (or at least) was a spot reserved for a club lounge. Southwest having ~1/3 of the market out of Eppley and the legacy carriers splitting a good chunk of the rest makes it highly unlikely to me that any specific airline would build a lounge here, but something like a generic priority pass type situation could very well be in play.

I've heard, but haven't researched that Capital One has been opening lounges in airports, unfettered by alliances. Seem to remember that there was one planned for MCI.

[Bob from Omaha]

KCI has a Delta Sky Club. It's pretty impressive. 11,200 square feet, outdoor lounges with great airport views. Delta flies to 9 airports from KCI. I don't know the total flights they have per day. Kind of hard to justify the expense but hey, who am I to argue?

[mrsticka]

I figured with Eppley being expanded, having some airline club/lounge would be inevitable.

[Bob from Omaha]

While it is in conjunction with Apple Vacations it is scheduled service for a few months to international destinations. Pretty interesting get for Lansing, Michigan. Maybe Red Way should have tried this? Naaah.

Avelo Lansing Service

[mrsticka]

Does anyone on here have an airline club membership or know someone who does?

[Louie]

Does anyone on here have an airline club membership or know someone who does?

We have the Priority Pass/United Lounge one through our credit card. Tbh, its really hit or miss. If the airport is busy, there can be a line of people waiting for space to open in the lounge. Which of course, defeats the purpose.

[damonhynes]

Does anyone on here have an airline club membership or know someone who does?

We have the Priority Pass/United Lounge one through our credit card. Tbh, its really hit or miss. If the airport is busy, there can be a line of people waiting for space to open in the lounge. Which of course, defeats the purpose.

Yep, I've been screwed at both DEN and IAH. They're more than happy to sell you a day pass for $69, but you're SOL showing your boarding pass.

[mrsticka]

Denver International has 2 United clubs on the B Concourse. One on the west, another on the east. I’ve walked past both entrances. They have really long escalators that go up to the lounges.

I’ll admit sometimes I would get a little envious of what they have up there, but not insanely jealous.

[Big E]

Does anyone on here have an airline club membership or know someone who does?

I used to go through Denver damn near weekly.

The new United lounges at DEN are lightyears beyong the old ones in terms of space, decor, and food quality. Some of that was covid cutback related, though. The most recently remodeled one at DEN is now two full stories where it use to be one. Some of the crowded-ness was due to a remodel that closed one of the two in the B concourse for a very very long time.

The main advantage of any of them is not being forced to interact with the screaming crying jackwagons of the genpop. That being said, the free bar soetimes turns the seasoned traveler into the same, so it isn't a guarantee.

And keep in mind there's another level above the regulr lounge called Polaris (for United.) If you're flying international business class it's almost your own little pre-fight country club, but they are only at certain hubs. Not sure if all are built out yet, either.

[mrsticka]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

[mrsticka]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

Then how do you get to Concourse C?

[TitosBuritoBarn]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

Then how do you get to Concourse C?

You walk there.

[Louie]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

Then how do you get to Concourse C?

You walk there.

Honestly that underground tunnel walkway setup at ohare is pretty dope to go through.

[Renovator2559]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Dulles International airport is a good one that uses underground train. First you find yourself in the welcome terminal, then you find yourself looking at the welcome terminal from far away. Dulles also holds plenty of passenger security underground.

[Bearcat06]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

Then how do you get to Concourse C?

The only time I remember going through O'Hare, which I try to avoid at all costs because it's usually a cluster, I had to walk down a stairwell to the tarmac and take a bus over...that was probably 10 years ago though so they might have a new tunnel.

[Mr.Nuke]

I've heard, but haven't researched that Capital One has been opening lounges in airports, unfettered by alliances. Seem to remember that there was one planned for MCI.

Capital one is starting soon. https://www.capitalone.com/learn-grow/m ... -airports/

They join AMEX and Chase as credit card companies having lounges in some airports.
https://www.thecenturionlounge.com/
https://account.chase.com/sapphire-airport-lounge

"While unfettered by alliances" most of these lounges still require a premium credit card with the company which is still pretty self limiting in who can access said lounge. You've basically traded the airline you are flying for the credit card (and again it is likely a premium card with annual membership fees).

Like I said anything in Omaha if it got built would be a lot more like this in St. Louis where it is basically a stand alone lounge that may partner with a lounge partner program or a credit card network to give additional access. https://wingtipslounge.com/STL/ That lounge is included in priority pass which bundles some of the unaffiliated ones together around the country and world and then there are other unaffiliated companies yet like "The Club" which have their own lounges in some airports. https://theclubairportlounges.com/pages ... -locations

KCI has a Delta Sky Club. It's pretty impressive. 11,200 square feet, outdoor lounges with great airport views. Delta flies to 9 airports from KCI. I don't know the total flights they have per day. Kind of hard to justify the expense but hey, who am I to argue?

For them it may actually have been. They had almost a million passengers a year are kind of locked in a similar range as the other legacy carriers, trailing Southwest by even a larger percentage in market share than Eppley. If you think a club/lounge is a differentiator for you in a market like that, presumably especially on attracting premium traffic/corporate contracts, it may be worth it.

[Mr.Nuke]

What about underground trains to get you from one concourse to another? Anybody ever ridden those? I have. In Seattle and Denver. What other big airport hubs have those? For sure, O'Hare and Atlanta. Probably Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, too.

Cincinnati does. O’Hare does not.

Then how do you get to Concourse C?

The only time I remember going through O'Hare, which I try to avoid at all costs because it's usually a cluster, I had to walk down a stairwell to the tarmac and take a bus over...that was probably 10 years ago though so they might have a new tunnel.

The aforementioned tunnel was built with Terminal 1 in the 1980's. So you presumably were in a different part of the airport or more than likely where you were in the airport there was some kind of construction going on that necessitated busing.

[Bob from Omaha]

Delta has five lounges in its terminal here in Detroit and Luftansa has one in the other terminal. When I was flying constantly I would take advantage sometimes, mainly if I had a couple of hours to kill or wanted to meet someone to do business. I liked the United lounges at Ohare and Denver and the Admirals clubs at DFW. But again, there usually had to be a compelling reason. If OMA gets one good but I wouldn't put it at the top of the list of desired amenities.

[damonhynes]

"While unfettered by alliances" most of these lounges still require a premium credit card with the company which is still pretty self limiting in who can access said lounge. You've basically traded the airline you are flying for the credit card (and again it is likely a premium card with annual membership fees).

Really, I expect nothing less. My beef is even with me spending 99USD/yr and one of the rewards is two lounge passes a year, I'd like to be able to use them. One of my passes expired out of my folio, unused at the end of the year. Even more galling is, as I mentioned, there's no room at the inn for the free one-day passes, but they'll be glad to sell me one. It was a value proposition, to be sure--I was able to sit at a legit desk and bust out some computer work with my company reimbursing me.

There's been a lot of discussion on A.net and flyertalk.com about chronic short-staffing in lounges. Not only UA, but they caught the most static for it.

[Bob from Omaha]

A couple more from the owh...

[nativeomahan]

I vaguely recall the old terminal of the 1960s, with the long south concourse housing about 10 gates. About 1970 the north terminal opened, which eventually allowed for replacement of the south concourse with the present south terminal.

[Mr.Nuke]

On Tuesday, Bacon announced Omaha's airport will receive over $3.1 million from a grant for the Terminal Building Improvement Phase 7 part of the improvements.

The improvements include five new passenger boarding bridges.

https://www.ketv.com/article/omaha-eppl ... g/46777007

That would match this.

[thenewguy]

they would replace them ahead of the reconstruction? Is that odd?

[skinzfan23]

they would replace them ahead of the reconstruction? Is that odd?

I'm thinking those are pretty portable, so in that regard probably doesn't matter when they are added.

[Louie]

they would replace them ahead of the reconstruction? Is that odd?

I'm thinking those are pretty portable, so in that regard probably doesn't matter when they are added.

Yeah these would easily be reincorporated after the rebuild.

[Mr.Nuke]

they would replace them ahead of the reconstruction? Is that odd?

Not really if you look at that drawing. They're being modified precisely because of the construction.

The two closest inside gates A1 and B20 are already closed. A2 likely would need to be closed once CUP construction ramps up as well. Then the next phase after the CUP is starting to build the linear terminal extending from the existing South terminal. At that point, B18 and B19 are gone at some point as well at a minimum. So again go back and look at specifically the 5 gates in green; they're basically going to temporarily add multiple long gates out of the same areas to keep the gate count relatively the same, but get these "new" temporary inner gates well out of the way of the linear terminal work.

[thenewguy]

they would replace them ahead of the reconstruction? Is that odd?

Not really if you look at that drawing. They're being modified precisely because of the construction.

The two closest inside gates A1 and B20 are already closed. A2 likely would need to be closed once CUP construction ramps up as well. Then the next phase after the CUP is starting to build the linear terminal extending from the existing South terminal. At that point, B18 and B19 are gone at some point as well at a minimum. So again go back and look at specifically the 5 gates in green; they're basically going to temporarily add multiple long gates out of the same areas to keep the gate count relatively the same, but get these "new" temporary inner gates well out of the way of the linear terminal work.

ah ok, thank you! that makes sense- i was thinking these would have to be completely replaced, i didn't read it closely enough

[joleo]

Does anybody know if the new terminal will have glass jet bridges? I really hope so!! This is one of the coolest things at terminals when I see it....awesome waiting to board and being able to look out! The new Kansas City airport has them and several other around the US do as well, mainly newer airports/ newer terminals.

[Mr.Nuke]

Does anybody know if the new terminal will have glass jet bridges? I really hope so!! This is one of the coolest things at terminals when I see it....awesome waiting to board and being able to look out! The new Kansas City airport has them and several other around the US do as well, mainly newer airports/ newer terminals.

Based on the renderings I'd go with no...

[Mr.Nuke]

I noticed this on the airport website.

Dining and Retail Concessions

Request for Proposals

The Omaha Airport Authority is planning to issue a Request for Proposals seeking companies with experience designing, constructing, operating, and managing airport dining and retail concession programs. The Authority intends to select two qualified proposers based on information provided in response to the solicitation.
Industry Day

A virtual Industry Day with the information on the new Dining and Retail opportunities will be on February 29, 2024 from 11:00am-12:30pm CT. To register, email [email protected].

https://www.flyoma.com/omaha-airport-au ... -proposal/

[Mr.Nuke]

January up 2.2%
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

[Bob from Omaha]

January up 2.2%
https://www.flyoma.com/wp-content/uploa ... istics.pdf

How much of the results was due to cancelled flights?