Omaha Eppley Airfield - DISCUSSION

[riceweb]

There's a temporary disruption at Eppley right now. They didn't want to start a new lease with vendors because they couldn't guarantee they'd stay open and in what capacity they'd stay open. The restaurant and shop locations were basically unleasable.

That'll all start changing soon as they begin the cutover to the new terminal.

[Mr.Nuke]

I understand but I thought they switched over to the new vendor company that Omaha is using at the new terminal and both the prices went up and quality went down from prior when one didn't even think that was possible. Maybe I'm not correct here?

Per the terms of the RFP the pricing should be street + 10% how that works out in actuality who knows. I think they're limited in what they can and want to do though right now given the construction. That is why I don't get comparing it to Des Moines or anywhere else. Both Eppley and the concession holder have an incentive to actually make people want to buy stuff. In 6 months there is going to be a brand new terminal with multiple food options (potentially as soon as next month on the South side).

There's a temporary disruption at Eppley right now. They didn't want to start a new lease with vendors because they couldn't guarantee they'd stay open and in what capacity they'd stay open. The restaurant and shop locations were basically unleasable.

That'll all start changing soon as they begin the cutover to the new terminal.

Pretty much this...

[CrankyOldDude]

Both Eppley and the concession holder have an incentive to actually make people want to buy stuff.

No disrespect but when I read that I said to myself "Pretty much every business in a capitalist society has an incentive to want people to buy their stuff." I honestly can't remember a time when I owned my company that I wasn't motivated to provide the best product or service.

[Mr.Nuke]

Both Eppley and the concession holder have an incentive to actually make people want to buy stuff.

No disrespect but when I read that I said to myself "Pretty much every business in a capitalist society has an incentive to want people to buy their stuff." I honestly can't remember a time when I owned my company that I wasn't motivated to provide the best product or service.

Non taken... And that is my point. Presumably Plum would be doing "more" right now if they could. Regardless, this is all a moot point in a matter of months.

[Mr.Nuke]

August was down 1.3%, still up 1.4% YTD.

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

[ricko]

August was down 1.3%, still up 1.4% YTD.

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

I paid more than double to fly from DCA to OMA this year compared to last. Might have something to do with it. An acquaintance in Seattle is foregoing thanksgiving and Xmas trips to Omaha this year (family of 4) for the same reason.

[Louie]

August was down 1.3%, still up 1.4% YTD.

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

I paid more than double to fly from DCA to OMA this year compared to last. Might have something to do with it. An acquaintance in Seattle is foregoing thanksgiving and Xmas trips to Omaha this year (family of 4) for the same reason.

I was going to make a quick weekend flight to Chicago later this month but am skipping entirely because of the prices.

[Mr.Nuke]

I paid more than double to fly from DCA to OMA this year compared to last. Might have something to do with it. An acquaintance in Seattle is foregoing thanksgiving and Xmas trips to Omaha this year (family of 4) for the same reason.

I was going to make a quick weekend flight to Chicago later this month but am skipping entirely because of the prices.

I think higher prices and other economic certainties right now are likely factors. However more immediately I suspect some of this is due to the increased service out of Lincoln. We don't have August numbers for them yet, but with American down roughly 13,000 passengers at Eppley in August, and them having about 9,500 passengers in Lincoln in July presumably that is big reason for any near-term decline. A significant portion of that traffic is people that would've historically flown out of Eppley instead.

[joleo]

I paid more than double to fly from DCA to OMA this year compared to last. Might have something to do with it. An acquaintance in Seattle is foregoing thanksgiving and Xmas trips to Omaha this year (family of 4) for the same reason.

I was going to make a quick weekend flight to Chicago later this month but am skipping entirely because of the prices.

I think higher prices and other economic certainties right now are likely factors. However more immediately I suspect some of this is due to the increased service out of Lincoln. We don't have August numbers for them yet, but with American down roughly 13,000 passengers at Eppley in August, and them having about 9,500 passengers in Lincoln in July presumably that is big reason for any near-term decline. A significant portion of that traffic is people that would've historically flown out of Eppley instead.

I know lots of people not flying because of prices including myself.

I used to go DSM-DEN a ton for the weekend booking a week in advance for about $500, now United and Southwest are charging right around $1,000 for this trip. Sorry, I'm not paying that so I don't go very often anymore. Just looked for next weekend as I had an open weekend, $988. Hard pass.

Flights DSM-DFW were expensive so friend's family is driving this weekend vs flying for a wedding.

Friend had a business trip to Indianapolis this week, his company asked him to rent a car and drive vs fly because plane tickets were $800 and less than an 8 hour drive from DSM.

On flip side, the new Omaha-Newark on United is super cheap on Tuesday's and Wednesday if anybody wants to go to New York! $129 one way. I'm sure it will go up.

And yes, I agree, the new LNK service numbers are coming right off of Omaha's numbers, probably 90% of them are.

[MC74]

The 15% decline in American is stirking, when Southwest, Delta, and United are all flat or up. Some of that is related to the addition of service in LNK. They now posted August numbers and it looks like LNK is up 8250 passengers as a whole; 7900 on AA. The vast majority of that increase has to be at Eppley's expense, but some of AA's LNK passengers would have flown United from LNK. Also not all of those passengers going to Eppley would necessarily have flown AA. For example a passenger flying LNK-DFW-TPA on American may have flown OMA-ATL-TPA on Delta. I am curious whether American has also decreased capacity at Eppley which accounts for a share of this decline.

[Garrett]

The 15% decline in American is stirking, when Southwest, Delta, and United are all flat or up. Some of that is related to the addition of service in LNK. They now posted August numbers and it looks like LNK is up 8250 passengers as a whole; 7900 on AA. The vast majority of that increase has to be at Eppley's expense, but some of AA's LNK passengers would have flown United from LNK. Also not all of those passengers going to Eppley would necessarily have flown AA. For example a passenger flying LNK-DFW-TPA on American may have flown OMA-ATL-TPA on Delta. I am curious whether American has also decreased capacity at Eppley which accounts for a share of this decline.

They discontinued their LGA-OMA direct flight in September 2025. That was 188 daily passengers each way and it was my favorite.

[meliketrains]

The 15% decline in American is stirking, when Southwest, Delta, and United are all flat or up. Some of that is related to the addition of service in LNK. They now posted August numbers and it looks like LNK is up 8250 passengers as a whole; 7900 on AA. The vast majority of that increase has to be at Eppley's expense, but some of AA's LNK passengers would have flown United from LNK. Also not all of those passengers going to Eppley would necessarily have flown AA. For example a passenger flying LNK-DFW-TPA on American may have flown OMA-ATL-TPA on Delta. I am curious whether American has also decreased capacity at Eppley which accounts for a share of this decline.

They discontinued their LGA-OMA direct flight in September 2025. That was 188 daily passengers each way and it was my favorite.

Thankfully, we still have the Delta LGA - OMA flight. Hopefully Delta and United move to swallow some of the market share, but airlines are probably in for a very few rough quarters with oil prices the way they are and people deferring travel until things cool down. Though admittedly, this reduction might be an AA-specific issue rather than an industry-wide problem. Time will tell!

[joleo]

Southwest ends their OMA-LGA flight this month too, it started less than a year ago? It did ok during the summer and does well on random days here or there but many days are REALLY bad. I wonder if southwest will bring it back for next summer only when they extend their schedule? United adding Newark will offset a little of Southwest's departure. A smaller plane but that's ok as many days southwest can't even fill a regional jet. Southwest has very little connections at LGA is the issue to help offset the slower traffic days.

[Garrett]

Southwest ends their OMA-LGA flight this month too, it started less than a year ago? It did ok during the summer and does well on random days here or there but many days are REALLY bad. I wonder if southwest will bring it back for next summer only when they extend their schedule? United adding Newark will offset a little of Southwest's departure. A smaller plane but that's ok as many days southwest can't even fill a regional jet. Southwest has very little connections at LGA is the issue to help offset the slower traffic days.

I looked for info about the LGA cancellation but only found articles about Atlanta. Considering I’m on a southwest round trip for both Halloween and Thanksgiving this year I hope it’s still direct!

[nebport5]

That's weird because Southwest is still taking reservations for direct to LGA at least through the end of this year.

[joleo]

Southwest ends their OMA-LGA flight this month too, it started less than a year ago? It did ok during the summer and does well on random days here or there but many days are REALLY bad. I wonder if southwest will bring it back for next summer only when they extend their schedule? United adding Newark will offset a little of Southwest's departure. A smaller plane but that's ok as many days southwest can't even fill a regional jet. Southwest has very little connections at LGA is the issue to help offset the slower traffic days.

I looked for info about the LGA cancellation but only found articles about Atlanta. Considering I’m on a southwest round trip for both Halloween and Thanksgiving this year I hope it’s still direct!

Wow, you're right! Southwest had pulled it from the schedule but now they added it back in, shows now ending March 10th. Wonder if it will be extended again? This is very unusual for Southwest. Usually when the publish their schedule, there are very few changes. I wonder if this is a response to United announcing and adding Newark shortly after southwest dropped their LGA route. I would say yes, all too coincidental not to be.