jplatts wrote:

WN actually has room to add RIC-MDW nonstop service since WN has discontinued MDW-FNT nonstop service, since WN pulled out of FNT back in June of this year, since WN has reduced frequencies on some other nonstop routes out of MDW

They would have already replaced those frequencies elsewhere. Clearly it was not on a new route to Richmond. They have only served ATL from RIC for five years now — clearly Richmond is not a priority.

jplatts wrote:

and since WN has already taken delivery of at least 52 additional planes since the retirement of its 737-300 planes last year. WN also now has more planes in its fleet than it did 3 years ago prior to the retirement of its 737-300's.

Perhaps, but they do still have a shortage, which is why you never see big route announcements from them like you see with just about every other carrier.

atcsundevil wrote:

jplatts wrote:

and since WN has already taken delivery of at least 52 additional planes since the retirement of its 737-300 planes last year. WN also now has more planes in its fleet than it did 3 years ago prior to the retirement of its 737-300's.

Perhaps, but they do still have a shortage, which is why you never see big route announcements from them like you see with just about every other carrier.

And again... the key point here is they are keeping a sizable portion of the fleet out so they can immediately/quickly add capacity to Hawaii. We've seen this for several releases in a row now. A few routes get cut or service is reduced, but that's on purpose so they can quickly ramp up for HI

I am from Richmond and lived their many years. I agree with your comments completely. Richmond was a sleepy airport for many years with very high fares and no LCC's. WN agreed to enter the Richmond market in the early 2000's and promised flights to MDW and BNA. They never came.

Instead Air Tran entered the market and quickly developed a lot of brand loyalty. I flew them many times from RIC-MCO on their 717's, and several times out west through ATL to LAS or PHX. I always had a good experience on Air Tran and would seek them out because they helped the Richmond market so much in terms of fares.

Now RIC has Jet Blue, Spirit, and Allegiant. All have greatly expanded service in a relatively short period of time, and by all appearances seem to be doing quite well in the market.

Additionally, as many have stated, RIC is one of the fastest growing airports in the country, with 10% plus year over year growth. UA, DL, and AA have all added new flights or increased capacity. The only airline who has done nothing is WN, which seemed to reluctantly inherit RIC in the Air Tran merger, and quickly axed the RIC-MCO route that now being flown by Jet Blue with additional flights to Orlando-Stanford by Allegiant!!! I cannot explain WN's business decisions other than to say they appear to be incredibly stupid.

I used to have a brand loyalty to WN when I lived in Minneapolis and Phoenix for a number of years. I thought they were a great airline. Those days are passed. I will fly just about anyone but WN now. And no...three flight s a day from RIC-ATL does not cut it. The size and health of the Richmond market demands much more than that. Every major airline in America seems to clearly understand that and has profited handsomely from expanding service to RIC. All that is except WN. Very stupid business decisions are all I can say.

atcsundevil wrote:

They would have already replaced those frequencies elsewhere. Clearly it was not on a new route to Richmond. They have only served ATL from RIC for five years now — clearly Richmond is not a priority.

Why has WN kept the RIC-ATL nonstop route inherited from the WN-FL merger, but discontinued many other former FL nonstop routes out of ATL such as BUF-ATL, CLT-ATL, DAY-ATL, FNT-ATL, MEM-ATL, PNS-ATL, PWM-ATL, ROC-ATL, SEA-ATL, and ICT-ATL?

I am surprised that WN has kept the RIC-ATL nonstop route inherited through the WN-FL merger when WN dropped many former ATL nonstop routes out of ATL. I am also surprised that WN didn't add RIC-MDW nonstop service when WN added nonstop service to MDW from many other destinations inherited through the WN-FL merger such as CAK, BKG, CLT, DAY, DSM, FNT, MEM, PWM, ROC, DCA, and ICT between 2012 and 2014.

WN also has nonstop service to MDW from East Coast markets smaller than RIC, but most of these smaller East Coast markets were served by WN prior to the WN-FL merger.

Richmond Record-Setting Passenger Activity in August
Richmond International Airport reports a new, all-time monthly passenger traffic record of 383,272 travelers in August 2018. This is the fourth occasion since last October that an all-time monthly record has been reported by RIC. For August 2018, RIC notes a 13.6 percent increase in total passenger traffic versus the same period a year ago...
The Airport has reported eleven consecutive record passenger traffic months. With the August report, all monthly passenger records, many previously dating back to 2007 and 2008, have been surpassed in the last two years. For the calendar year to date, passenger traffic has increased 10.7 percent.

Richmond Airport Awards $28.488 Million Concourse A Extension Project
At its monthly meeting, the Capital Region Airport Commission today awarded the Concourse A Extension Project of Richmond International Airport (RIC) to W.M. Schlosser Company, Inc., of Hyattsville, Maryland. The company’s bid of $28,488,000 was within two percent of the cost estimate for the project.

Concourse A Expansion Facts:
Upon completion, the project will add six additional gates to Concourse A, bringing the Airport’s total gate count to 28.
While the existing terminal meets current needs, the Airport has recognized demand for more overnight aircraft parking positions. The six-gate expansion of Concourse A will create space for future airline growth.
The project creates 60,000 square feet of space for airline operations, customer hold rooms, retail and restaurant locations, office space for tenants, and new public restrooms.
The project will be funded by passenger facility charges (PFCs) and local (Commission) funds.
A notice to proceed is expected to be issued in mid-November, with Phase I civil construction (utilities) underway shortly thereafter.
The estimated duration of the project is 450 calendar days (15 months), resulting in a completion target of March 2020.

RIC continues its roll!! Again I just don't understand why WN has done nothing in the Richond market.

Just a few other notes:
The just-completed NASCAR Race Week, featuring playoff races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway, saw a passenger increase of nearly 32 percent over the 2017 September race week. Sunday, September 23, may have been the busiest outbound day in the Airport’s history, as nearly 8,000 travelers departed from RIC.

The airport reported in their finacials that for August revenues were $495,000 over budget and expenses were $60,000 lower then budget in August.

All the information is here: https://flyrichmond.com/airport-awards- ... n-project/

RicFlyer wrote:

Richmond Airport Awards $28.488 Million Concourse A Extension Project
At its monthly meeting, the Capital Region Airport Commission today awarded the Concourse A Extension Project of Richmond International Airport (RIC) to W.M. Schlosser Company, Inc., of Hyattsville, Maryland. The company’s bid of $28,488,000 was within two percent of the cost estimate for the project.

Concourse A Expansion Facts:
Upon completion, the project will add six additional gates to Concourse A, bringing the Airport’s total gate count to 28.
While the existing terminal meets current needs, the Airport has recognized demand for more overnight aircraft parking positions. The six-gate expansion of Concourse A will create space for future airline growth.
The project creates 60,000 square feet of space for airline operations, customer hold rooms, retail and restaurant locations, office space for tenants, and new public restrooms.
The project will be funded by passenger facility charges (PFCs) and local (Commission) funds.
A notice to proceed is expected to be issued in mid-November, with Phase I civil construction (utilities) underway shortly thereafter.
The estimated duration of the project is 450 calendar days (15 months), resulting in a completion target of March 2020.

RIC continues its roll!! Again I just don't understand why WN has done nothing in the Richond market.

I'm excited to see RIC grow, good news there for sure! Nice to see AA and UA pushing more mainline. Certainly was nice to see UA go x2 on DEN and now with mainline.

Was reading up on CHO and they recently purchased more land on the West side of the field. I'm assuming this will be used for the new cargo and Fire/Rescue center on the other side of the runway.

Schedules have been loaded for Spring, and some good news.
Listed below (some flights do not operate Saturday)

AA CHO Ops
To CLT
3x CR7
4x ERJ

To LGA
2x ERJ

To PHL
2x ERJ

To ORD
2x CRJ

DL CHO Ops
To LGAs
3x CRJ (upgrades to x2 daily in May/June and then x3 daily in July)
To ATL
1x B717
4x CRJ

UA CHO Ops
To IAD
3x ERJ
To ORD
2x CRJ

Looks like SHD is doing well with the ORD/IAD service... anyone have numbers on that?

CX to operate A350-900 to IAD replacing A350-1000 for NW18/19

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 1785848834

qf789 wrote:

CX to operate A350-900 to IAD replacing A350-1000 for NW18/19

https://twitter.com/Airlineroute/status ... 1785848834

This doesn't really surprise me. I'm surprised they started with the -1000 in the first place considering it's a new route.

AA is jumping on the OKC bandwagon with a daily flight to OKC starting in Feb. WN starts this route in Nov. I assume there is enough demand for each to have a daily flight and do well with it.

http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/20 ... fault.aspx

B6 455 appears to have diverted to IAD this afternoon. It was routed BOS-DCA. Any idea why?

capitalflyer wrote:

B6 455 appears to have diverted to IAD this afternoon. It was routed BOS-DCA. Any idea why?

Diverted to IAD due to a break faiure.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bori9kYBjg7/
https://twitter.com/transscribe/status/ ... 4265247746

Wow. JetBlue pulling out of Dulles completely; also cutting some service at BWI.

https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status ... 9107367936

I'd expect UA to backfill on IAD-BOS...

blockski wrote:

Wow. JetBlue pulling out of Dulles completely; also cutting some service at BWI.

https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status ... 9107367936

I'd expect UA to backfill on IAD-BOS...

UA won't backfill unless they add another bank of flights at IAD. Right now the 4x daily IAD-BOS flights are all timed to connect to the banks at IAD. Without another bank, I don't see UA adding much.

blockski wrote:

Wow. JetBlue pulling out of Dulles completely; also cutting some service at BWI.

https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status ... 9107367936

I'd expect UA to backfill on IAD-BOS...

They've become largely irrelevant at IAD, so it really isn't a surprise. They're better off pulling out of BWI too and just consolidating at DCA. It's sad to see them close up shop at IAD given that it used to be a focus city, but they could never really seem to make it work.

I'd like to see them reappropriate a couple of their JFK slots freed up from IAD and readding their RIC flight. It's pretty unlikely, but I think it would be more profitable than when they operated the route previously.

I agree it would be nice to see B6 add back RIC-JFK flights!!! I think they could do a lot better then the first time.

According to an Italian journalist, Alitalia is starting FCO-IAD next spring. UA already flies the route seasonally. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as all we hear about is that they are struggling financially.

https://twitter.com/leonard_berberi/sta ... 1931502594

Would not be surprised to hear TAP or Norwegian announce routes to IAD next year given that both will be receiving their A321LR's

CapitalAvGeek wrote:

According to an Italian journalist, Alitalia is starting FCO-IAD next spring. UA already flies the route seasonally. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as all we hear about is that they are struggling financially.

https://twitter.com/leonard_berberi/sta ... 1931502594

Would not be surprised to hear TAP or Norwegian announce routes to IAD next year given that both will be receiving their A321LR's

That would be good to see them return. It seems like it's been a long time since Alitalia served IAD. At least 10 years? Maybe 15? There are a number of European airlines that seemingly should serve IAD, but don't. Swiss is a noteworthy one (albeit technically served through JV), as is Iberia, Norwegian, and Finair. I would assume Norwegian is probably the only realistic possibility, but they're probably more likely to serve BWI than IAD.

atcsundevil wrote:

CapitalAvGeek wrote:

According to an Italian journalist, Alitalia is starting FCO-IAD next spring. UA already flies the route seasonally. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as all we hear about is that they are struggling financially.

https://twitter.com/leonard_berberi/sta ... 1931502594

Would not be surprised to hear TAP or Norwegian announce routes to IAD next year given that both will be receiving their A321LR's

That would be good to see them return. It seems like it's been a long time since Alitalia served IAD. At least 10 years? Maybe 15? There are a number of European airlines that seemingly should serve IAD, but don't. Swiss is a noteworthy one (albeit technically served through JV), as is Iberia, Norwegian, and Finair. I would assume Norwegian is probably the only realistic possibility, but they're probably more likely to serve BWI than IAD.

Always nice to see some more tails at IAD. I gather this would be the kind of route they’d never be allowed to launch when they were part of the JV with Delta and AF/KLM. Given their current shaky finances, it might not last long.

As for the other European airlines you mention, it does seem a bit odd that Swiss isn’t at IAD, but given UA does serve GVA and ZRH, I guess that covers it from the JV’s perspective.

Iberia is one I would expect to see sooner or later. The large base of AA loyal flyers out of DCA ought to count for something, even if there’s not a lot of direct feed from AA at IAD.

blockski wrote:

Wow. JetBlue pulling out of Dulles completely; also cutting some service at BWI.

https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status ... 9107367936

I'd expect UA to backfill on IAD-BOS...

And B6 is adding Ecuador? That makes zero sense.

http://blueir.investproductions.com/inv ... -163556413

They also will no longer have any flights to JFK from DC. Indeed, for being such a large and important market, DC has fewer flights to NY I believe than BOS.

B6 only has 3 E190 flights so I would imagine UA is more likely to jack fares than add a flight.

Per the OAG thread and verified on UA.com, IAD is getting (and losing) a few new routes in 2019.

From February 14th, 2019
AVL (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)
LEX (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)

From March 31st, 2019
ELM (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)
HHH (2x daily on YV E175)
MHT (2x daily on YV CRJ7, 1x daily on ZW CRJ2)


With these additions also comes some cuts.

Both ending on January 6th, 2019
CRW (was 2x daily)
PHL (was 4x daily) -- This kind of comes as a surprise to me considering how full these flights usually are. Didn't UA even upgrade them to mainline this past summer?

shaneam12 wrote:

Per the OAG thread and verified on UA.com, IAD is getting (and losing) a few new routes in 2019.

From February 14th, 2019
AVL (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)
LEX (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)

From March 31st, 2019
ELM (2x daily on ZW CRJ2)
HHH (2x daily on YV E175)
MHT (2x daily on YV CRJ7, 1x daily on ZW CRJ2)


With these additions also comes some cuts.

Both ending on January 6th, 2019
CRW (was 2x daily)
PHL (was 4x daily) -- This kind of comes as a surprise to me considering how full these flights usually are. Didn't UA even upgrade them to mainline this past summer?

PHL is quite shocking to me as well. This past summer the route was 3X CRJ7 and 1X A320. I was amazed when UA added the A320 into the schedule and thought this route was doing well. This fall though, the four daily flights were all CRJ2. Must be very low yielding passengers. CRW does not surprise me one bit. That was an old Dash-8 route and when the CRJ2 took over, the plane was never full. Also, the flight times were not the best. There was a late night and noon departure out of IAD although no departure out of IAD during the 5pm super-bank but an arrival flight into the super-bank. Did not make much sense to fly UA if traveling to Europe. Great to see UA add more flights into IAD. Appears that with the B6 and UA cuts, there will only be +1 flights per day into IAD.

atcsundevil wrote:

Had a Southwest B38M come out of RIC earlier. Nice to see RIC getting a little MAX action. Southwest typically runs -700s from RIC, so I'm wondering if it was a sub.

RIC gets a mix of -700s, -800s and -8MAX (i.e. the entire WN fleet). I have found no rhyme or reason as to specific aircraft types correlating to certain days or times.

More News form RIC. G4 will be starting twice weekly nonstop flights from RIC to SRQ beginning April 4 2019. This is now the fourth destination from RIC on G4 including Nashville, Orlando, and St Petersburg.

Through the end of September Richmond traffic is up 10.4% year over year.


https://flyrichmond.com/allegiant-annou ... low-as-65/

On a separate note, yesterday a friend of mine was on AA flight 5266 a little CRJ from CLE to DCA. The flight left CLE on time at 5:22PM, sat on the ground for a bit, took off, but then had to be diverted to IAD after holding for a bit. The passengers were told they were next in line to land but a VIP took precedent, hence the diversion to IAD-- not enough fuel to continue holding. Pax could end their journey in IAD if they so choose, or stay on board for the short flight to DCA, ultimately landing about 2 hours late and screwing up many connections.

Are you kidding me, this really happens? Thanksgiving Sunday?? Sure seems like a screw up by ATC. . . .

It raises questions:
1) Why weren't flights held on the ground in CLE and elsewhere to create space for the VIP? Surely it wasn't a surprise.
2) The CLE flight doesn't have enough extra fuel for an extra go 'round or 2 or 3? I think I saw only one other diversion, an AA flight from Bangor looks like it landed in Philly.
3) DCA is used by VIPs, with all the other less busy airports in the region?

So, so strange.

Apologies I don't know how to paste the flight aware record. . . .

ncflyer wrote:

On a separate note, yesterday a friend of mine was on AA flight 5266 a little CRJ from CLE to DCA. The flight left CLE on time at 5:22PM, sat on the ground for a bit, took off, but then had to be diverted to IAD after holding for a bit. The passengers were told they were next in line to land but a VIP took precedent, hence the diversion to IAD-- not enough fuel to continue holding. Pax could end their journey in IAD if they so choose, or stay on board for the short flight to DCA, ultimately landing about 2 hours late and screwing up many connections.

This isn't uncommon. DCA goes into holding for any VIP movement in the District or at ADW. Usually ATC is given little notice, and often the time estimates are off.

ncflyer wrote:

Are you kidding me, this really happens? Thanksgiving Sunday?? Sure seems like a screw up by ATC. . .

We don't generally get that much notice of a VIP movement. A lot of airplanes want to go to DCA, and VIP movements aren't scheduled or coordinated far enough in advance to do much about it, so these things happen. Nobody screwed up, it just is what it is. It's the reality of DCA being within the five mile bubble of VIP movements. Anecdotally speaking, it seems like RJs end up diverting more often — they may not take on as much of a reserve.

ncflyer wrote:

It raises questions:
1) Why weren't flights held on the ground in CLE and elsewhere to create space for the VIP? Surely it wasn't a surprise.
2) The CLE flight doesn't have enough extra fuel for an extra go 'round or 2 or 3? I think I saw only one other diversion, an AA flight from Bangor looks like it landed in Philly.
3) DCA is used by VIPs, with all the other less busy airports in the region?

1) It's hard to plan that far ahead. VIP movements occur at the discretion of the VIP, so if aircraft were held on the ground, they'd be delayed for no reason in many cases. Furthermore, the airlines would never go for this. They would talk TMU into releasing them and taking their chances; that's just how things work. Airlines would rather risk the chance air holding versus the guarantee of ground holding.
2) It seems like most RJs to DCA only have enough fuel for two or three turns before needing to make a decision to divert. That's just how they seem to operate. I'm not a pilot, so I can't answer that one.
3) ADW is used by VIPs. ADW and DCA are less than five miles apart ("the bubble"). Therefore, any VIP movement at Andrews results in a ground stop at DCA.

I realize that the situation is frustrating, but just realize that nobody who works in aviation aims to disrupt people's lives. Sometimes airlines screw up, sometimes ATC screws up, sometimes the system screws up — sometimes, like this time, nobody screws up, but things still go wrong. A lot of people work really hard to get people where they need to be, but sometimes, extenuating circumstances take over. Maybe the airline should take on more fuel, maybe ATC should get more notice, maybe DCA should have been built six miles from ADW (a little late for that one).. At the end of the day, holding for VIP movement at DCA is pretty regular, but diversions don't happen often enough to change things.

ElroyJetson wrote:

More News form RIC. G4 will be starting twice weekly nonstop flights from RIC to SRQ beginning April 4 2019. This is now the fourth destination from RIC on G4 including Nashville, Orlando, and St Petersburg.

Through the end of September Richmond traffic is up 10.4% year over year.


https://flyrichmond.com/allegiant-annou ... low-as-65/

Excellent. 10.4% is a crazy number. That number can go higher if carriers, particularly mainlines, add some more west coast hubs. There's a lot of untapped potential. It's taken longer than most people expected, but the airport might finally be nearing some sort of a critical mass.

This is good stuff thank you kindly for your detailed reply, atcsundevil. I didn't realize that Andrews AFB was close enough to have an impact, I'm not all that familiar with lay of the land (or should I say the airspace?) in DC. I was going to ask you who might be a VIP, but if it's Andrews then that opens it up to POTUS and VPOTUS obviously.

I'll ask anyway, do so called VIPs land at DCA and IAD also? Could it be someone like a Betsy DeVos who famously travels on a private plane which she pays for? Or maybe it's the case that "VIP" is a purposely used vague term of obfuscation to keep identities hidden from the public?

ncflyer wrote:

This is good stuff thank you kindly for your detailed reply, atcsundevil. I didn't realize that Andrews AFB was close enough to have an impact, I'm not all that familiar with lay of the land (or should I say the airspace?) in DC. I was going to ask you who might be a VIP, but if it's Andrews then that opens it up to POTUS and VPOTUS obviously.

I'll ask anyway, do so called VIPs land at DCA and IAD also? Could it be someone like a Betsy DeVos who famously travels on a private plane which she pays for? Or maybe it's the case that "VIP" is a purposely used vague term of obfuscation to keep identities hidden from the public?

VIP refers to aircraft with priority handling — AF1, AF2, EXEC1F, EXEC2F — the latter two referring to family. Cabinet members and members of Congress do not receive priority handling, regardless of whether they're flying on a private/commercial aircraft or one that's government owned. VIPs do not generally operate from IAD or DCA unless there's an operational reason to do so — one day last winter had particularly gusty winds, so the aircraft repositioned from ADW to IAD prior to taking POTUS due to the longer/more appropriately configured runway.

ncflyer wrote:

This is good stuff thank you kindly for your detailed reply, atcsundevil. I didn't realize that Andrews AFB was close enough to have an impact, I'm not all that familiar with lay of the land (or should I say the airspace?) in DC. I was going to ask you who might be a VIP, but if it's Andrews then that opens it up to POTUS and VPOTUS obviously.

I'll ask anyway, do so called VIPs land at DCA and IAD also? Could it be someone like a Betsy DeVos who famously travels on a private plane which she pays for? Or maybe it's the case that "VIP" is a purposely used vague term of obfuscation to keep identities hidden from the public?

I don't think Cabinet secretaries get that same VIP-level treatment.

I also don't think you ever see those kinds of VIP movements at DCA. If you could land at DCA, you could likely land at ADW.

Dulles is different; it will be used for Air Force One departures on long trips where they need more runway than ADW has. One example here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-swit ... ip-abroad/

Another example from 2012 with the VP and fog at ADW, with AF2 diverting to Dulles: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... n-one-day/

blockski wrote:

Always nice to see some more tails at IAD. I gather this would be the kind of route they’d never be allowed to launch when they were part of the JV with Delta and AF/KLM. Given their current shaky finances, it might not last long.

As for the other European airlines you mention, it does seem a bit odd that Swiss isn’t at IAD, but given UA does serve GVA and ZRH, I guess that covers it from the JV’s perspective.

Iberia is one I would expect to see sooner or later. The large base of AA loyal flyers out of DCA ought to count for something, even if there’s not a lot of direct feed from AA at IAD.

FYI, AZ is part of the JV with DL/AF/KL, and why wouldn't they be allowed to launch it?

cathay747 wrote:

blockski wrote:

Always nice to see some more tails at IAD. I gather this would be the kind of route they’d never be allowed to launch when they were part of the JV with Delta and AF/KLM. Given their current shaky finances, it might not last long.

As for the other European airlines you mention, it does seem a bit odd that Swiss isn’t at IAD, but given UA does serve GVA and ZRH, I guess that covers it from the JV’s perspective.

Iberia is one I would expect to see sooner or later. The large base of AA loyal flyers out of DCA ought to count for something, even if there’s not a lot of direct feed from AA at IAD.

FYI, AZ is part of the JV with DL/AF/KL, and why wouldn't they be allowed to launch it?

Not anymore, they're not: https://thepointsguy.com/news/alitalia- ... -atlantic/

I'm speculating, but my assumption is that the JV had previously not wanted to launch a route for AZ like IAD-FCO as a part of the JV, preferring to build off of the existing links they already have.

What do you think the chances are of IB serving IAD again down the road. They already fly to multiple US markets, including BOS, so you'd think there'd be an opportunity at IAD. Or would it be too hard for them to go against the Star Alliance Carriers?

blockski wrote:

cathay747 wrote:

blockski wrote:

Always nice to see some more tails at IAD. I gather this would be the kind of route they’d never be allowed to launch when they were part of the JV with Delta and AF/KLM. Given their current shaky finances, it might not last long.

As for the other European airlines you mention, it does seem a bit odd that Swiss isn’t at IAD, but given UA does serve GVA and ZRH, I guess that covers it from the JV’s perspective.

Iberia is one I would expect to see sooner or later. The large base of AA loyal flyers out of DCA ought to count for something, even if there’s not a lot of direct feed from AA at IAD.

FYI, AZ is part of the JV with DL/AF/KL, and why wouldn't they be allowed to launch it?

Not anymore, they're not: https://thepointsguy.com/news/alitalia- ... -atlantic/

I'm speculating, but my assumption is that the JV had previously not wanted to launch a route for AZ like IAD-FCO as a part of the JV, preferring to build off of the existing links they already have.

Hi...that's not quite accurate news on that website. Just to make certain I had the details correct so I wouldn't wind up with egg on my face, I reached out to our Account Manager with DL (who also manages our relationship with the JV carriers except VS for now) and this is what she replied with (bottom line is that AZ is part of the JV as I stated above)...

Today DL has two TATL JVs
1/ DLAFKLAZ (N. America to Europe)
2/ DLVS (N. America to the UK)

We are now merging the 2 JVs into one, hence the DOT filing in July. Here is the official statement regarding AZ:

“Alitalia is a partner in our current transatlantic joint venture with Air France KLM. We hope to continue our close transatlantic partnership with Alitalia in the future, but the timing of any agreement regarding the expanded transatlantic partnership is uncertain while Alitalia continues to work through its transformation process.”

But for now, it is business as usual with AZ in the TATL JV.


As for your speculation about starting the route...I think it was just simply that they didn't feel there was enough of a market to return to IAD until now. And I agree with your speculation as to how long this will last, given AZ's still-precarious position...talk about the airline that won't die!

TAP starting new service to IAD

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/f ... 147275002/

Discussion on TAP already on another thread, but worth a mention here too. Another win for MWAA as it continues to broaden its carrier list.

Are there any additional PFC or other discounts being offered to win new service recently or is this a direct result of DCA revenue sharing? Seems like that was a great idea if the latter.

IAD international flights keep growing! Now three new routes and two new airlines will begin service in 2019. Seems like 2019 will have quite an increace in international flights following a nice increace this year. I have to wonder what is causing all this international growth. Maybe lower CPE, better marketing from MWAA? Below are the international routes added each year that still exist.

2019: UA to TLV 3X weekly (starts May 22), TP to LIS 5X weekly (starts June 16), AZ to FCO 5X weekly seansonly (starts May 2)
2018: Cathay Pacific to HKG, Volaris Costa Rica to SAL, UA to EDI
2017: Air India to DEL, Air Canada to YUL
2016: Royal Air Maroc to CMN, Air Canada to YYZ, UA to BCN and LIS
2015: Aer Lingus to DUB
2014:Air China to PEK, UA to MAD

The international growth is great, but are there any prospects to grow/diversify the domestic side? Perhaps adding Spirit, Allegiant, or Sun Country to sunny places? I imagine Spirit wouldn't be interested given that it operations at BWI at the moment.

capitalflyer wrote:

The international growth is great, but are there any prospects to grow/diversify the domestic side? Perhaps adding Spirit, Allegiant, or Sun Country to sunny places? I imagine Spirit wouldn't be interested given that it operations at BWI at the moment.

Personally, I think the best petential might be with Frontier. They have added AUS, SAT, TUL, LAS and COS in addition to MCO and DEN which have been flown for several years now.

Alliengant's strategy seems to be Florida and LAS to secondary airports with little to no service and low CPE. Basicly, carry toursists who want cheap tickets to warm weather destinations. Dulles would not fit that mold, plus their already at BWI. Sun Country just left DCA eaither earlier this year or last year, so they seem uninteristed in the DC market. Although, recently the airline has added a few random routes.

Carriers seem to want service to BWI given the lower CPE, greater competition and success of other carriers there. I would think some airlines would want to try IAD given that Spirit is driving down ticket prices there in Baltimore. On the otherhand, past history for carriers other than UA at IAD has not looked good.

Also, not saying that DL is going to add more routes out of IAD, but two or three of the daily MSP-IAD flights were on A319s earlier this fall and now the late night flight from DTW is on a 717. The only times I can recently remember when this happend was over the summer.

capitalflyer wrote:

TAP starting new service to IAD

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/f ... 147275002/

Discussion on TAP already on another thread, but worth a mention here too. Another win for MWAA as it continues to broaden its carrier list.

Are there any additional PFC or other discounts being offered to win new service recently or is this a direct result of DCA revenue sharing? Seems like that was a great idea if the latter.

Great news, but with UA doing it daily, albeit only seasonal, but can there possibly be sufficient traffic to LIS for BOTH?? Wonder if UA will suspend it and code-share on TP given they're Star partners. Hmmmm.

CapitalAvGeek wrote:

AZ to FCO 5X weekly seansonly (starts May 2)

AZ is supposed to be all-year-round service.

MWAA Board meeting is tomorrow (Dec. 12), and consideration/approval of UA's Polaris lounge in Concourse C is on the agenda: http://www.mwaa.com/sites/default/files ... irport.pdf

The diagram in Slide 7 of the Power Point presentation shows the location of the lounge within the Concourse, and also appears to show a connection to the Aerotrain walkback tunnel. Is this new? The existing walkback tunnel is a bit to the right, if I'm not mistaken.

I'm sure this is a easier to ask than to answer but can someone help me understand how slots work at DCA. Is a slot a slot a slot a slot, or are there different types of slots. For instance maybe there are slots for RJs/turboprops different from slots for mainline jets. Maybe there are slots for beyond perimeter use only. Once an airline procures a slot, can it use the slot however it wants?

Anyone know why BWI flights are diverting to IAD today? AS922, AA413 among others

BWIAirport wrote:

Anyone know why BWI flights are diverting to IAD today? AS922, AA413 among others

Over a dozen flights have been diverted. A Baltiimore radio station is reporting that a popped runway light has left debris on the two primary runways.

http://www.wbal.com/article/351780/2/de ... ng-flights

The current NOTAM has 10/28 and 15R/33L closed. They are operating off the 5000 foot 15L/33R runway.

Many diversions and what surprised me the most was that WN2130 from OAK-BWI actually diverted to DCA. I can only remember one instance of seeing a flight divert to DCA.

Apparently shutdown due to emergency runway repair

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryl ... story.html

ncflyer wrote:

I'm sure this is a easier to ask than to answer but can someone help me understand how slots work at DCA. Is a slot a slot a slot a slot, or are there different types of slots. For instance maybe there are slots for RJs/turboprops different from slots for mainline jets. Maybe there are slots for beyond perimeter use only. Once an airline procures a slot, can it use the slot however it wants?

There are different types of slots.

There are some slots designated for commuter aircraft....AA has most of those at this point.
There are some slots designated for beyond-perimeter flights. Even here, there's two categories of beyond perimeter slots...those that are fixed to a particular destination and those that can be flexed around. For example, DL was flying DCA-SLC 2x daily. One slot was fixed to DCA-SLC and the other was not. So, a year or two ago, DL moved it to DCA-LAX.
There are also some slots designated to particular markets inside the perimeter...a few examples are DCA-JAN and DCA-LEX.

Excluding the slots described above, a carrier can largely do whatever they want with the remaining slots they have assuming they stay within the perimeter and curfews. And of course, no international flights unless the airport has U.S. pre-clearance.

As initially discussed elsewhere, DL is restarting a shuttle of sorts to BOS

https://news.delta.com/delta-adds-more- ... hington-dc

DL will be shift slots from ATL, RDU, DTW, LGA (I may have missed one) to add six daily flights starting in September. All operated by Republic on E75.

There are already 26 flights on this route between AA and B6. Is there extra demand DL is looking to capture or are they just looking to continue to fight B6 in BOS for supremacy? Despite AA frequency, I assume DL target is only secondarily AA.

Also perhaps related, DL has drastically increased it booking percentage in first class, from 13% to 60%. That is a lot more money

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/14/deltas- ... urges.html


What will timing be? I imagine they will try to evenly space out, say every two hours or so at 6, 8, 10, 4, 6, 8. They could do this with two frames, but given the hodge podge of slots I imagine it will be several different frames based on what they can cut loose with the shuffle.

LIPZ wrote:

CapitalAvGeek wrote:

AZ to FCO 5X weekly seansonly (starts May 2)

AZ is supposed to be all-year-round service.

Yep, you are correct. Thought it was seasonal for some reason.

It was revealed at the MWAA board meeting this week that Dulles is in talks with American to bring back flights to MIA and add flights to ORD. Would not expect them to add MIA back after just dropping it or ORD service since that would hurt their DCA hub. Also, Sun Country might offer MSP-IAD service next summer.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ts-454365/
https://twitter.com/ghimlay/status/1072607070308962304

Richmond International again breaks record for the 14th consecutive month:

Richmond International Airport (RIC) reports a new November passenger traffic record as 370,289 traveled through terminal during the month, a 16.9 percent increase over the 2017 count of 316,622. November 2018 is the 14th consecutive record month at the Airport.

In November, Delta claimed a 32.0 percent passenger share, followed by American (30.2%) and United (13.7%). New entrant Spirit claimed a 4.5 percent share for the month. In terms of year-over-year growth, American (+16.9%), JetBlue (+11.7%), and United (+10.5%) reported the strongest gains. Allegiant, with twice-weekly service to three destinations, reported an increase of more than 35 percent.

For the calendar year through November, RIC passenger traffic has increased 11.1 percent.

https://flyrichmond.com/ric-traffic-soa ... er-record/