santi319 wrote:

MichianaOrthx wrote:

I really do wish them success, the North American market is weak when it comes to ULCCs.

And you wonder why? Scroll up, people are still in the "they charge for everything i hate them wheres my flatbed seat and three course meals for my $20 ticket" mood. America has a lot to catch up.

Which is pretty hilarious when you consider that many legacy carriers charge for checked bags, and depending on your fare class, carry on luggage as well.

flight152 wrote:

New paint scheme perhaps? Might as well have 4 flying at a time to really confuse everyone.

Does anyone have a breakdown as to what the numbers of each scheme are flying? Black/Silver, Squiggly S and Hertz Rent a Car schemes. Seems like they're taking their sweet time repainting them into the Hertz scheme based on what I see flying around.

Any chance of RIC or ORF getting service?

I appreciate the comments from everyone even funny ones.

Here's my scenario, I think 2 stations are going to be introduced next year AUS and BNA. AUS will probably get flights to ORD, DTW, LAS and LAX to start. BNA will probably get DFW, IAH and DTW.

Well they said their expansion was going to be International so, PVR, GYE, CLO, LIR, RTB, MAO come to mind

MichianaOrthx wrote:

santi319 wrote:

MichianaOrthx wrote:

I really do wish them success, the North American market is weak when it comes to ULCCs.

And you wonder why? Scroll up, people are still in the "they charge for everything i hate them wheres my flatbed seat and three course meals for my $20 ticket" mood. America has a lot to catch up.

Which is pretty hilarious when you consider that many legacy carriers charge for checked bags, and depending on your fare class, carry on luggage as well.

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

Not sure if this is par for the course but the ORD ticket counter this morning was a madhouse at 515am. I felt sorry for the customers...wondered if they were having operational issues or this was the normal state of things at NK.

santi319 wrote:

Well they said their expansion was going to be International so, PVR, GYE, CLO, LIR, RTB, MAO come to mind

I would also add UIO, POS, BGA, BEL, CUZ, and ADZ (I don't see ADZ or CUZ happening anytime soon but one can dream).

santi319 wrote:

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

Spirit also does a great job of keeping the other airlines honest with their pricing. NK consistently has $40 fares between DTW and BWI, and thanks to these low fares, both WN and DL have had to lower their prices significantly on the same route.

MichianaOrthx wrote:

santi319 wrote:

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

Spirit also does a great job of keeping the other airlines honest with their pricing. NK consistently has $40 fares between DTW and BWI, and thanks to these low fares, both WN and DL have had to lower their prices significantly on the same route.

Amen to this. Now if only Spirit would start BWI to MCI and STL. Then maybe going to the Midwest wouldn't cost an arm and leg.

MichianaOrthx wrote:

Hopefully they will do something about their on-time ratings. Before they add new routes it would behoove them to expand their fleet or rework their existing route network into something more sustainable.

I really do wish them success, the North American market is weak when it comes to ULCCs.

LCCs like WN and JetBlue have found significant success in the U.S. (so has WestJet in Canada) but ULCCs face a lot more skepticism. The Bethune (Continental) quote about cheese on the pizza comes to mind.

http://www.ericksonmedia.com/its-not-pi ... ut-cheese/

Back to the topic of the thread, I'm a little skeptical of DTW-BNA. That's a long-time WN route (back 20+ years, IIRC), and Delta has the edge on frequencies and hub connections. I don't think it's a route capable of much demand stimulation by a ULCC. NK struggles against DL and B6 on DTW-BOS (it's not even daily in September), a route to a much bigger metro, and huge (cheap) student population.

A strategy sticking to non-driveable (or marginally driveable) leisure destinations of the middle class (DTW-MYR is the exemplar) makes a lot of sense.

sw733 wrote:

MichianaOrthx wrote:

santi319 wrote:

And you wonder why? Scroll up, people are still in the "they charge for everything i hate them wheres my flatbed seat and three course meals for my $20 ticket" mood. America has a lot to catch up.

Which is pretty hilarious when you consider that many legacy carriers charge for checked bags, and depending on your fare class, carry on luggage as well.

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

I fly AirAsia and Jetstar a lot and would fly easyJet in Europe, but not fly ulcc in America. AirAsia also charges for everything and have minimal legroom but the flights are always on time, no random cancellation and then having to wait a day for the next flight. The flight attendants offer acceptable service and fares are lower than what you would see from ulcc in America. Simply put, there is nothing wrong with ulcc model. The problem is American ulcc airlines just don't offer adequate product for what they charge.

MichianaOrthx wrote:

santi319 wrote:

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

Spirit also does a great job of keeping the other airlines honest with their pricing. NK consistently has $40 fares between DTW and BWI, and thanks to these low fares, both WN and DL have had to lower their prices significantly on the same route.

This brings up some interesting thoughts. ULCC's want to make money just like the legacy carriers. But!! What I noticed is, Spirit isn't concerned about making record profits, or tearing wallets out of their customers pants. I mean, they seem very content with their handsome profits. Unlike the legacy airlines who want to beat last year's profits by raising prices to achieve it. I suspect Spirit will continue to grow, and naturally rise the profits with it. I was pricing tickets from SEA to BUF. The costs were just awful. When an airline like Spirit comes into BUF, the fares will drop big time. Does Spirit serve BUF yet? Or was it F9 that just announced it? I am too tired and lazy to look.

F9Animal wrote:

MichianaOrthx wrote:

santi319 wrote:

There's a place for Spirit in this country and there's a place for AA First Class in this country. And everything in between. Just like there's a place for WOW, and a place for Singapore's Suites. People love to knock Spirit, but if they weren't doing something right, they would die. Instead, they're doing quite the opposite. They may not be for everyone, but they're certainly for someone.

Spirit also does a great job of keeping the other airlines honest with their pricing. NK consistently has $40 fares between DTW and BWI, and thanks to these low fares, both WN and DL have had to lower their prices significantly on the same route.

This brings up some interesting thoughts. ULCC's want to make money just like the legacy carriers. But!! What I noticed is, Spirit isn't concerned about making record profits, or tearing wallets out of their customers pants. I mean, they seem very content with their handsome profits. Unlike the legacy airlines who want to beat last year's profits by raising prices to achieve it. I suspect Spirit will continue to grow, and naturally rise the profits with it. I was pricing tickets from SEA to BUF. The costs were just awful. When an airline like Spirit comes into BUF, the fares will drop big time. Does Spirit serve BUF yet? Or was it F9 that just announced it? I am too tired and lazy to look.

They fly out of IAG instead of BUF.

Perhaps wishful thinking on my part but NK could do what F9 is doing at PVD at MHT. Starting off with daily non stops MHT-ORD,MHT DTW and MHT-FLL with 3 or 4 weekly MHT-PHX or MHT-LAS, MHT-MCO or MHT-TPA.

your thoughts on NK MHT

I too would love to see anything new here at Manchester. How would WN react to this?

MichianaOrthx wrote:

Spirit also does a great job of keeping the other airlines honest with their pricing. NK consistently has $40 fares between DTW and BWI, and thanks to these low fares, both WN and DL have had to lower their prices significantly on the same route.

I wondered if what you were saying was true, but looking into it, I don't see it. I looked at next week. Yes you can get a ticket on NK DTW-BWI for $40 one one way all week. The best DL would do is $183, the best WN would do is $103. Then I went to the week of 8/21. NK is still at $40. DL is at $123, WN is still at $103. Says to me that either NK's loads are poor,or that they have to sell $40 seats to fill the plane. Either way, NK really doesn't have much pricing power in the market.

The early success of WN at MHT (it's been 19 years!) shows that, if fares are low enough, you can pull traffic out of BOS. However, the Logan 2000 project (it seemed like 2000 more days of construction) greatly improved the BOS experience, and BOS is a lot more competitive that it was two decades ago, with B6, WN itself, as well as restructured legacy carriers and more international carriers.

MIflyer12 wrote:

The early success of WN at MHT (it's been 19 years!) shows that, if fares are low enough, you can pull traffic out of BOS. However, the Logan 2000 project (it seemed like 2000 more days of construction) greatly improved the BOS experience, and BOS is a lot more competitive that it was two decades ago, with B6, WN itself, as well as restructured legacy carriers and more international carriers.

The armchair CEO in me thinks the time is right for a ULCC to start focusing on secondary airports with lower fares then the nearby major airports. While WN has scaled back in most of their secondary airports save DAL HOU and MDW, now major airports again thanks primarily to WN itself, there are other options out there. The MHT's PVD's ISP's TTN's and GYY's of the USA and many others would be prime opportunities with the right business plan.

G4 and F9 are focusing on a few of these, some successfully (TTN/PIE/SFB etc...) some not so much (ILG/UST). I sat down on the Great Circle Mapper a while back and created a fantasy airline using nothing but secondary airports and came up with a fairly large airline serving good sized market areas. Viable or not...who knows but I think there is untapped potential out there.

All good comments but I think the MHT area is served well by the BOS operation. BDL is different because its a large city of its own. I dont see RIC being added either. I stick to my case, maybe you can expand on this. In order I see these stations being opened. BNA, AUS, RDU, STL, JAX. Here's why. Nashville has a very low ULCC presence to major markets. The opportunity to enter a market like DTW or DFW is great because there's 1 legacy and WN through DAL. These markets aren't price controlled because to DTW, WN can run a sale and DL prices could be $400, where as Spirit can jump into DTW/BNA and cause these carriers to drop the yield and make money off $150 flights, easy. AUS is the next market that needs more ULCC exposure, but recent F9 expansion pushed it down to 2 on my list, they also have allegiant.

I've never flown NK or F9 for that matter.... and I guess it's just neither fly out of the primary airport's that I operate out of (HMO, TUS, ALB). I suppose I could just take the long drive to Phoenix one day and fly out of there. I could justify it by having my wife shop at IKEA on the way back and haul some bounty back home (XAL).

That said, the two companies seem rather complimentary regarding fleets and operations (destinations). However, their presentation is so different. Yeah, the end ULCC product is similar, but Spirit presents it in such a way that it makes Michael O'Leary seem like a class act.... where as Frontier is different (and it's financials aren't bad considering it's smaller fleet size and overall revenue compared to Spirit). Again, this is just what I see as a consumer from their marketing efforts.

After Frontier's IPO, would Spirit have the resources for a hostile type takeover? Could the two cultures merge? I might be sending this thread down to specific of a path.. that is growth through merger/acquisition... I know everyone hates merger talk, but can the two ULCCs continue to thrive without a huge race to the bottom that hurts both of them?

I hear a lot of rumors about NK and a lot of wooing for their towns but let's break stuff down.

First, for those at DAY, YNG, FNT, CAK and other smaller markets, I hate to break it to you but NK obviously isn't succeeding in these markets to continuously expand into small sized markets, or commonly known as the FL model. The focus seems to be shifted back onto larger cities and predominately growing more focus cities and hubs. MCO, BWI and MSY are examples of growing "focus" cities, although NK doesn't classify them as so. Hubs are LAS, FLL, DTW, DFW, IAH...all of the ones that offer a good amount of flights and do connect. LAS connects some of the east with CA, DTW connects the east with the west/south, etc.

A few rumors I've seen or heard is, LAX, BWI, MSY and MCO could become operating bases (pilots, f/a's, probably hub connectivity). IND, STL, BNA and AUS could be the next 4 new stations and there could be expansion from current Hubs. I've heard NK could consider dropping LBE and CAK. More EWR flying, scaling down ACY and a few irrelevant rumors.

I have analyzed a rather serious amount of possibilities and found that these are all possibilities;

More EWR flying? New routes to DTW, ORD, DFW, TPA, and RSW are all possible. NK obviously doesn't care about competing with UA at EWR and these are all hubs or Florida flights where they know there's decent travel between EWR and these cities. By the way, I'm confident that NK can co-exist with LGA on these routes, particularly DTW where there's a lot of loyalty towards NK.

DTW opportunities are open. I'm confident there could be a summer flight to BDL on an A319 and PDX on an A320, both in the summmer. I wouldn't be surprised to see NK pick up PHX after F9 dropped it, along with adding SAN and PBI year round.

MSY could probably get RSW, BOS, and DEN year round, I don't see why an A319 can't work. BWI has grown pretty significantly so I can see DEN being added too, I'm not sure if there's a gate situation at DEN or not because there hasn't been any adds out of DEN lately anyhow, the only other route I can see DEN getting would be MCO with the 3 above.

Now time for the new stations. I highly suspect BNA and AUS will be happening soon, next Spring actually. From what I understand both would be 1 gate situations. I've developed a schedule if you will for what these flights could look like. BNA would probably get DFW, DTW and FLL to start whereas AUS would probably get ORD, DTW, BWI, and LAS to start because BWI, ORD and DTW have the east covered for afternoon connections along with O&D where LAS could connect AUS to CA and the PNW.

Here are your hypothetical flight times and aircraft used for BNA;

DTW-BNA, dep. 9:45am arr. 10:00am 320
BNA-DFW, dep. 11:25am arr.1:20pm 320
DFW-BNA, dep. 3:00pm, arr. 4:55pm 320
BNA-DTW, dep. 6:15pm, arr. 9:08pm 320

FLL-BNA, dep. 7:45pm arr. 9:00pm 319
*overnight*
BNA-FLL dep. 6:45am arr. 9:15am 319

ORD-AUS dep. 7:00am arr. 9:45am 320
AUS-LAS dep. 10:55am arr. 12:00pm 320
LAS-AUS dep. 3:20pm arr. 6:10pm 320
AUS-ORD dep. 7:20pm arr. 10:00pm 320

DTW-AUS dep. 9:00am arr. 11:15am 320
AUS-BWI dep. 12:30pm arr. 4:15pm 320
BWI-AUS dep. 2:55pm arr. 4:50pm 320
AUS-DTW dep. 5:55pm arr. 9:25pm 320

flymco753 wrote:

MCO, BWI and MSY are examples of growing "focus" cities, although NK doesn't classify them as so. Hubs are LAS, FLL, DTW, DFW, IAH...all of the ones that offer a good amount of flights and do connect. LAS connects some of the east with CA, DTW connects the east with the west/south, etc.

A few rumors I've seen or heard is, LAX, BWI, MSY and MCO could become operating bases (pilots, f/a's, probably hub connectivity). IND, STL, BNA and AUS could be the next 4 new stations and there could be expansion from current Hubs. I've heard NK could consider dropping LBE and CAK. More EWR flying, scaling down ACY and a few irrelevant rumors.

MSY could probably get RSW, BOS, and DEN year round, I don't see why an A319 can't work. BWI has grown pretty significantly so I can see DEN being added too, I'm not sure if there's a gate situation at DEN or not because there hasn't been any adds out of DEN lately anyhow, the only other route I can see DEN getting would be MCO with the 3 above.

I've heard the same rumor that MSY is in line for a base of some sort, with all of the fast growth. By the way, MSY-BOS has already been announced to start in November. Word is that they are adding three new routes in the spring. I could see DEN, PHX, SAN, maybe OAK or even SEA. The MSY-RSW market is tiny, so I don't expect that any time soon. I think international is also a possibility with the growing amount of connectivity here - CUN, MBJ, SAP most likely. I wouldn't be surprised to see a second daily to IAH and ORD as well.

iFlyDTW wrote:

I appreciate the comments from everyone even funny ones.

Here's my scenario, I think 2 stations are going to be introduced next year AUS and BNA. AUS will probably get flights to ORD, DTW, LAS and LAX to start. BNA will probably get DFW, IAH and DTW.

If they start BNA, I think DFW and DTW are a given, but I'd exchange IAH for FLL or MCO. LAS would fit in too.

I'm patiently waiting for Spirit to start RDU

SANMAN66 wrote:

I'm patiently waiting for Spirit to start RDU

North Carolina isn’t a huge hole. Since F9 seems to be growing at CLT and shrinking at RDU, I wouldn’t Ben surprised to see NK at RDU.

ahj2000 wrote:

SANMAN66 wrote:

I'm patiently waiting for Spirit to start RDU

North Carolina isn’t a huge hole. Since F9 seems to be growing at CLT and shrinking at RDU, I wouldn’t Ben surprised to see NK at RDU.

F9 just announced CVG, MCI, and PVD to RDU, I wouldn't call that shrinking....

Wondering if NK would consider an airport like MHT? I could see them operating daily MHT-ORD, MHT-DTW and MHT-FLL to start.

During the 2017 World Routes conference, NK expressed great interest in serving UVF. International expansion would be great, they'd have to play it smart further South though, that's JB's turf.

If CAK won't work why would they do XNA, a market of similar size? NK already serves BOS, no reason for MHT really.

flymco753 wrote:

If CAK won't work why would they do XNA, a market of similar size? NK already serves BOS, no reason for MHT really.

Have you heard anything about TPA? They just got a third gate here.

flymco753 wrote:

I
A few rumors I've seen or heard is, LAX, BWI, MSY and MCO could become operating bases (pilots, f/a's, probably hub connectivity). IND, STL, BNA and AUS could be the next 4 new stations and there could be expansion from current Hubs. I've heard NK could consider dropping LBE and CAK. More EWR flying, scaling down ACY and a few irrelevant rumors.

I'm not sure I see the LAX thing happening. They (allegedly) lost a gate and their scheduling reflects a downturn in their services there.

masgniw wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

I
A few rumors I've seen or heard is, LAX, BWI, MSY and MCO could become operating bases (pilots, f/a's, probably hub connectivity). IND, STL, BNA and AUS could be the next 4 new stations and there could be expansion from current Hubs. I've heard NK could consider dropping LBE and CAK. More EWR flying, scaling down ACY and a few irrelevant rumors.

I'm not sure I see the LAX thing happening. They (allegedly) lost a gate and their scheduling reflects a downturn in their services there.

That's a common rumor that personally I think could likely bust.

FLYKTPA wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

If CAK won't work why would they do XNA, a market of similar size? NK already serves BOS, no reason for MHT really.

Have you heard anything about TPA? They just got a third gate here.

I mean NK isn't going to go out of their way to grow TPA in the likes of hubs but it could somewhat mimic what MCO has.

flymco753 wrote:

masgniw wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

I
A few rumors I've seen or heard is, LAX, BWI, MSY and MCO could become operating bases (pilots, f/a's, probably hub connectivity). IND, STL, BNA and AUS could be the next 4 new stations and there could be expansion from current Hubs. I've heard NK could consider dropping LBE and CAK. More EWR flying, scaling down ACY and a few irrelevant rumors.

I'm not sure I see the LAX thing happening. They (allegedly) lost a gate and their scheduling reflects a downturn in their services there.

That's a common rumor that personally I think could likely bust.

What's your hunch it'll bust?

They are dropping all LAX-PDX/SEA service and downgrading LAX-LAS/OAK. These aren't some long and lean routes they took a flyer on -- these are beefy, core routes with proven demand.

I know there are a lot here who think that DTW is a priority to NK just because they have a hanger here doesn't really carry a lot of weight. When we see NK go full on into DTW like it has in other markets like ORD, LAS, IAH, DFW and even of late ATL then I will believe it. NK is just like DL at DTW they really aren't growing at that big a pace like they are in other markets. Even SY see MSP more as a priority than NK or DL views DTW as. NK needs to add some Caribbean and Mexico flying out of Detroit that's a big whole in their network.

masgniw wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

masgniw wrote:

I'm not sure I see the LAX thing happening. They (allegedly) lost a gate and their scheduling reflects a downturn in their services there.

That's a common rumor that personally I think could likely bust.

What's your hunch it'll bust?

They are dropping all LAX-PDX/SEA service and downgrading LAX-LAS/OAK. These aren't some long and lean routes they took a flyer on -- these are beefy, core routes with proven demand.

Realistically I can't see NK doing expansion out of LAX that is lone, so if LAX gets a new route, another NK station will probably connect that dot. I don't see LAX being that reliable for NK as of now with the gate situation.

Random Spirit question. Do they do connections? If so, how common are they. I would assume they aren't Big 3 common. F9 common?

klm617 wrote:

I know there are a lot here who think that DTW is a priority to NK just because they have a hanger here doesn't really carry a lot of weight. When we see NK go full on into DTW like it has in other markets like ORD, LAS, IAH, DFW and even of late ATL then I will believe it. NK is just like DL at DTW they really aren't growing at that big a pace like they are in other markets. Even SY see MSP more as a priority than NK or DL views DTW as. NK needs to add some Caribbean and Mexico flying out of Detroit that's a big whole in their network.

I disagree, from last year alone, PHL is the only year round cut to seasonal while MSP was upgraded to year round, SEA and OAK were added, both were 319's to start now OAK is a 321 and SEA is an A320, CUN is year round now with weekend service in the summer, LAX and DFW both go 2x daily in the summer, MCO and RSW go 4x in the winter and TPA, RSW will coexist next summer as opposed to a split schedule, so the growth is there. I'm thinking DTW will get an A321 to SAN, seasonal 319 to BDL and seasonal A320 to PDX soon while upgrading OAK to year round.

Jshank83 wrote:

Random Spirit question. Do they do connections? If so, how common are they. I would assume they aren't Big 3 common. F9 common?

They do but it's not as common as the other airlines. Someone traveling from MCI-LGA can make a connection at DTW but connections are very selective.

I would say that maybe NK should build up more destinations out of OAK and challenge WN on some routes...I would like to see routes like OAK-SEA, OAK-DEN and maybe OAK-EWR if that's not too long. OAK-DEN appears to be a glaring gap between Denver and West Coast destinations (NK serves LAS, LAX, and SAN from DEN). I don't know if SEA would work from DEN as that has a lot of competition and DEN is F9's home hub. That said, I see OAK as having the most promise out of which to grow, as OAK is a true LCC hub.

From ORD, I wonder if PHL might be considered. Ideally, this is an airline that could go to 150-175 aircraft and ultimately position itself to take over F9 to create a true national LCC (not really considering WN one anymore and considering B6 to be the East Coast version of AS, as they're transitioning to a lower-cost full-service airline with their Mint product).

aemoreira1981 wrote:

From ORD, I wonder if PHL might be considered.

NK ran ORD-PHL in 2015-2016.
http://ir.spirit.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=906989

Both NK and F9 were overlapping each other on it for a period, and AA, WN and UA went ballistic. Now, neither F9 or NK cover ORD-PHL, and F9 only seasonally covers TTN-ORD, which is like a replacement of NK which use to offer ACY-ORD seasonally in the summer but F9 might be running it longer into the Fall.

Midwestindy wrote:

ahj2000 wrote:

SANMAN66 wrote:

I'm patiently waiting for Spirit to start RDU

North Carolina isn’t a huge hole. Since F9 seems to be growing at CLT and shrinking at RDU, I wouldn’t Ben surprised to see NK at RDU.

F9 just announced CVG, MCI, and PVD to RDU, I wouldn't call that shrinking....

Missed those! Only saw that Philly was ending

Come to GSP! We have not had any new airline service in years!

tb727 wrote:

kabq737 wrote:

jetpixx wrote:

I was afraid to open a thread about NK...figured they'd find a way to charge me somehow

They were going to but they didn't have any pilots to fly your flight in the first place.

Management is stuck in the past when pilots were begging for jobs.

What does it mean for passengers in terms of day-to-day ops? Frequent flight cancellations?
Are they just as pathetic when it comes to customer service as Ryanair?

Jshank83 wrote:

Random Spirit question. Do they do connections? If so, how common are they. I would assume they aren't Big 3 common. F9 common?

Their connections work the same way as F9. They're available but flights aren't really timed around connecting traffic. Connections on NK and F9 are simply options that are technically available. Flights are still priced and timed around O&D traffic of an individual flight. There are no banks and route planners more or less don't take connecting traffic into account when evaluating a potential route. I think connections are simply combinations of the price of 2 segments rather than having a dedicated price for the entire route so your revenue managers will still evaluate the profitability of a route solely on O&D since there's no proration required for a route that involved a connection.

NK is doing very well in BDL since starting service there. Rumors of BWI-BDL, DTW-BDL and possibly another city from BDL are coming soon. Heard that NK is going up to 12 flights a day to BDL, makes sense. Their MYR flight has had a 95% LF since they started it.

SCHATC422 wrote:

NK is doing very well in BDL since starting service there. Rumors of BWI-BDL, DTW-BDL and possibly another city from BDL are coming soon. Heard that NK is going up to 12 flights a day to BDL, makes sense. Their MYR flight has had a 95% LF since they started it.

I can see CUN being added. Their FLL route is having come cuts next year down to 1x daily though.

WaywardMemphian wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

If CAK won't work why would they do XNA, a market of similar size? NK already serves BOS, no reason for MHT really.

You comparing Akron to NWA? NWA one of top economic growth areas in the country that projects to nearing 1 million in population in 20 years from the current 525,000 to stagnated Akron? A place with unemployment under 3% with the corporate HQs of Walmart, Tyson and JB Hunt with one over 5%. Akron is , what, an hour away from Cleveland? NWA, depending just where in the two county area one calls home is 2 hours from Tulsa, 3 from Little Rock, 4 to KC and 5 to Dallas. Jeez, there's more to markets than a look at the current level of enplanements.

http://www.nwacouncil.org/our-regions-ranking/

The bare minimum of bleed to other airports from XNA is pegs at 20%. It's likely higher, that right there is well over 100,000 enplanements driving elsewhere to fly a year due to cost Most of that is leasure as business travelers are less price sensitive. But the office workers at Walmart and the students at the U of A drive elsewhere to fly, I know plenty.

NK isn't going after a business market though, I really don't think XNA is a remotely good choice for NK, there's a lot more NK needs to focus on like AUS, BNA, IND, STL, RDU, and I would even put SLC in there too, that's excluding international growth.