Cleveland Load Factors 2021-04

United Airlines
CLE-MCO: 90%
CLE-ORD: 86%
CLE-RSW: 85%
CLE-FLL: 85%
CLE-EWR: 72%
CLE-IAD: 88%
CLE-DEN: 87%
CLE-IAH: 92%
CLE-TPA: 91%

Frontier Airlines
CLE-MCO: 88%
CLE-RSW: 84%
CLE-LAS: 87%
CLE-PHX: 76%
CLE-SRQ: 75%
CLE-MIA: 81%
CLE-DEN: 87%
CLE-TPA: 92%

Southwest Airlines
CLE-MCO: 74%
CLE-RSW: 80%
CLE-ATL: 85%
CLE-LAS: 88%
CLE-PHX: 84%
CLE-BNA: 87%
CLE-DEN: 83%
CLE-TPA: 76%
CLE-BWI: 77%
CLE-MDW: 92%

Spirit Airlines
CLE-MCO: 90%
CLE-RSW: 84%
CLE-FLL: 89%
CLE-ATL: 78%
CLE-LAX: 89%
CLE-LAS: 89%
CLE-MSY: 70%
CLE-TPA: 88%

Delta Airlines
CLE-ATL: 61%
CLE-BOS: 52%
CLE-LGA: 54%
CLE-MSP: 62%

American Airlines
CLE-LGA: 51%
CLE-DCA: 83%
CLE-MIA: 84%
CLE-DFW: 93%
CLE-CLT: 81%
CLE-ORD: 82%

Allegiant Air
CLE-SAV: 55%
CLE-SRQ: 74%
CLE-BNA: 40%
CLE-PGD: 69%
CLE-PIE: 70%
CLE-CHS: 62%
CLE-SFB: 66%

JetBlue Airways
CLE-FLL: 80%
CLE-BOS: 78%

Cleveland Load Factors 2021-05

United Airlines
CLE-MCO: 85%
CLE-RSW: 84%
CLE-FLL: 76%
CLE-EWR: 86%
CLE-IAD: 89%
CLE-DEN: 94%
CLE-IAH: 86%
CLE-TPA: 86%
CLE-CHS: 75%
CLE-HHH: 72%
CLE-PNS: 65%
CLE-MYR: 52%
CLE-PWM: 46%
CLE-ORD: 92%

Frontier Airlines
CLE-MCO: 89%
CLE-RSW: 88%
CLE-LAS: 90%
CLE-PHX: 75%
CLE-SRQ: 81%
CLE-MIA: 78%
CLE-DEN: 91%
CLE-TPA: 92%
CLE-RDU: 61%

Southwest Airlines
CLE-MCO: 82%
CLE-RSW: 90%
CLE-ATL: 88%
CLE-LAS: 97%
CLE-PHX: 93%
CLE-BNA: 91%
CLE-DEN: 92%
CLE-TPA: 89%
CLE-BWI: 87%
CLE-MDW: 94%

Spirit Airlines
CLE-MCO: 91%
CLE-RSW: 81%
CLE-FLL: 92%
CLE-ATL: 76%
CLE-LAX: 94%
CLE-LAS: 86%
CLE-MYR: 84%
CLE-MSY: 74%
CLE-TPA: 93%

Delta Airlines
CLE-ATL: 90%
CLE-BOS: 70%
CLE-LGA: 86%
CLE-MSP: 89%

American Airlines
CLE-LGA: 81%
CLE-DCA: 83%
CLE-MIA: 76%
CLE-DFW: 92%
CLE-CLT: 91%
CLE-ORD: 88%

Allegiant Air
CLE-SAV: 66%
CLE-JAX: 74%
CLE-SRQ: 75%
CLE-MYR: 82%
CLE-BNA: 47%
CLE-PGD: 82%
CLE-PIE: 83%
CLE-CHS: 66%
CLE-ORF: 79%
CLE-SFB: 73%

JetBlue Airways
CLE-FLL: 87%
CLE-BOS: 91%
CLE-RSW: 74%

Top 3 airports served from CLE in the first quarter 2021 were all in Florida (no real surprise): Orlando, Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale.

https://www.cleveland.com/travel/2021/0 ... 3-headline

Article is behind a paywall, so here's an excerpt.

Top 10 destination airports from CLE, first quarter 2021 compared to first quarter 2019
1. Orlando, 482 passengers per day on average (ranked first in 2019)
2. Fort Myers, 480, (sixth in 2019)
3. Fort Lauderdale, 476 (second in 2019)
4. Atlanta, 387 (fourth in 2019)
5. Phoenix, 327 (fifth in 2019)
6. Tampa, 316 (12th in 2019)
7. Las Vegas, 281 (third in 2019)
8. Los Angeles, 264 (seventh in 2019)
9. Denver, 259 (11th in 2019)
10. Miami, 197 (17th in 2019)
Not listed: Chicago O’Hare (No. 8 in 2019), New York LaGuardia (No. 9 in 2019) and Boston (No. 10 in 2019).

Top 10 metro areas (may include more than one airport), first quarter 2021 compared to first quarter 2019
1. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, 673 passengers per day on average, (second in 2019)
2. Orlando, 482 passengers per day, (third in 2019)
3. Fort Myers, 480 (ninth in 2019)
4. Atlanta, 387 (seventh in 2019)
5. Tampa, 328 (12th in 2019)
6. Phoenix, 327 (eighth in 2019)
7. Los Angeles, 313 (fifth in 2019)
8. Las Vegas, 281 (sixth in 2019)
9. Denver, 259 (13th in 2019)
10. New York, 197 (first in 2019)
Not listed: Chicago (No. 4 in 2019), Boston (No. 10 in 2019).

COVID or no, I just find it really a surprise that NY and Chicago are so far down the list if on at all. Given the huge populations in those two cities and their drivability I just have to assume people have hit their personal vehicles to make the trip

Just saw release from NK ! They are Adding CLE-MIA !!

Just saw release from NK ! They are Adding CLE-MIA !!

Robert1010 wrote:

Just saw release from NK ! They are Adding CLE-MIA !!

That's great! Hopefully its daily and more than 1x. Did they release the schedule?

Robert1010 wrote:

Just saw release from NK ! They are Adding CLE-MIA !!

Wasnt that announced back in June or am i mistaken? I thought it starts in November.

krod031 wrote:

Robert1010 wrote:

Just saw release from NK ! They are Adding CLE-MIA !!

Wasnt that announced back in June or am i mistaken? I thought it starts in November.

It was. This is not new news.

Allegiant leaving Hopkins. What's the real reason? And is this good, allowing other carriers there to strengthen? Or is this bad for less competition?

"....Hilarie Grey, managing director of corporate communications for Allegiant, said the carrier would exit at the end of the year, although the airline’s website late Friday was still selling tickets into 2022. Grey did not attribute the carrier’s decision to pull out of Cleveland to the pandemic, but rather cited the airport’s cost structure as the reason for Allegiant’s decision.

“Unfortunately with the airport’s construction projects and major expansion, the cost structure has become prohibitive to our operation – our business model hinges upon our ability to keep fares low for our customers. That is the hallmark of our service,” Grey said in an email...."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/a ... ar-AAOMSVI

as you can see they have the lowest loads of any carrier at the airport

Yeah, I know. But they did have some unique destinations, like JAX, meaning its lost to CLE (even if less than daily). But if it results in someone like DL stepping in to fill that route, that's even better.

greenair727 wrote:

Yeah, I know. But they did have some unique destinations, like JAX, meaning its lost to CLE (even if less than daily). But if it results in someone like DL stepping in to fill that route, that's even better.

“Our flights were very successful in the market"

This is the interesting part, I wonder if they will move to CAK. Very weird they are completely dropping CLE though.

Wouldnt imagine DL adding it, but UA probably could add some of those.

Midwestindy wrote:

greenair727 wrote:

Yeah, I know. But they did have some unique destinations, like JAX, meaning its lost to CLE (even if less than daily). But if it results in someone like DL stepping in to fill that route, that's even better.

“Our flights were very successful in the market"

This is the interesting part, I wonder if they will move to CAK. Very weird they are completely dropping CLE though.

Wouldnt imagine DL adding it, but UA probably could add some of those.

I’ll be curious if MCI sees the same fate once their new terminal opens. I know the ULCCs weren’t happy and they don’t have much G4 service anyway.

I’d be curious if in addition to possible increased fees (which will be years away) from the Hopkins renovation Breeze were skimming the bottom off of Allegiant’s bookings.

greenair727 wrote:

Allegiant leaving Hopkins. What's the real reason? And is this good, allowing other carriers there to strengthen? Or is this bad for less competition?

"....Hilarie Grey, managing director of corporate communications for Allegiant, said the carrier would exit at the end of the year, although the airline’s website late Friday was still selling tickets into 2022. Grey did not attribute the carrier’s decision to pull out of Cleveland to the pandemic, but rather cited the airport’s cost structure as the reason for Allegiant’s decision.

“Unfortunately with the airport’s construction projects and major expansion, the cost structure has become prohibitive to our operation – our business model hinges upon our ability to keep fares low for our customers. That is the hallmark of our service,” Grey said in an email...."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/a ... ar-AAOMSVI

I never like to see an airline pull out of CLE, but if one had to go, Allegiant would be it. It offered such infrequent service, like most LCCs, that irregular operations were a disaster for passengers. It also had very limited and poor customer service (just hope your bag didn't go missing when the handful of contracted staff were either not at the airport or working the outbound flight and unavailable to help you). Also, the "excuse" for leaving makes no sense, as there are no firm plans yet for airport expansion, let alone any new costs associated with them. I bet Breeze ate into their margins in NE Ohio. Maybe Breeze or Avelo will set up shop in their place.

The Club CLE -- a Priority Pass-affiliated lounge just opened at Hopkins. It's at the space that was the AirSpace Lounge right before the entrance to Concourse "B". Its a very small space and the old club had no bathrooms. Not sure if this new one will or not. Per the PD article, its open from 5am to 8pm daily and no mention of bathrooms.

https://www.cleveland.com/business/2021 ... a-fee.html

Frontier Airlines will resume nonstop service from Cleveland CLE to Punta Cana PUJ beginning Sunday, December 19th. The route will run 3x weekly SUN/TUES/THURS.

I had just happened to come upon this story from Canada about authorities there trying to match a body found 50 yrs ago to a pax who died from a Tag Airlines crash in Lake Erie after departing BKL on 28 Jan 1970.

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news ... go-exhumed

Looks like United is resuming CLE-LAS/PHX for the winter.

Both non stop fights resume December 16th on 737-800 aircraft, operate through March.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-ai ... a-midwest/

greenair727 wrote:

I had just happened to come upon this story from Canada about authorities there trying to match a body found 50 yrs ago to a pax who died from a Tag Airlines crash in Lake Erie after departing BKL on 28 Jan 1970.

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news ... go-exhumed

Thanks for posting. My brother-in-law flew for TAG until they went out of business.
This story reminds me of a small formula one race plane that crashed in Lake Erie during the Cleveland Air Show in 1978. IIRC neither the plane or the pilot were ever found.

When I was confirming date of that crash on the Cleveland Air Show history web page, they included on their time line that in 1970, a F-4 flew "down the office corridor of East 9th Street" causing quite the stir. Does anyone recall what that was about?

MohawkWeekend wrote:

greenair727 wrote:

I had just happened to come upon this story from Canada about authorities there trying to match a body found 50 yrs ago to a pax who died from a Tag Airlines crash in Lake Erie after departing BKL on 28 Jan 1970.

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news ... go-exhumed

Thanks for posting. My brother-in-law flew for TAG until they went out of business.
This story reminds me of a small formula one race plane that crashed in Lake Erie during the Cleveland Air Show in 1978. IIRC neither the plane or the pilot were ever found.

When I was confirming date of that crash on the Cleveland Air Show history web page, they included on their time line that in 1970, a F-4 flew "down the office corridor of East 9th Street" causing quite the stir. Does anyone recall what that was about?

Although a.net is not generally an aviation history website, TAG Airlines nonetheless has a chapter in Cleveland's airline past. Here is a pdf from 1966 with a good article on Taxi Air Group. Note the photo of a TAG Piper Aztec C and Cleveland's mid-sixties skyline with the Federal Building on E 9th street still under construction. https://www.dantiques.com/sohio/sohioan/2-1966/p4.pdf

UA777EWRTLV wrote:

Looks like United is resuming CLE-LAS/PHX for the winter.

Both non stop fights resume December 16th on 737-800 aircraft, operate through March.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-ai ... a-midwest/

PHX and LAS were regular destinations from CLE on CO/UA in the hub days. Nice to see them add back, even if seasonally.

I just have to assume it's the case that with demand still suppressed, particularly internationally, UA is digging deeper to find places to keep its planes flying and earning money. We will take it, glad they still pay attention to CLE even though it's not a hub. It still kills me to have to change planes to other decent sized markets that had been served from CLE from many years such as Hartford, Indy, RDU, but I know those sorts of markets returning is a pipe dream. And SEA is just a huge head scratcher to me. . . . I have hope it will return can't understand why it hasn't.

Seems like UA is filling the WN void for winter seasonal PHX/LAS. Seems this winter WN is content serving them 1-2x weekly. PHX-CLE will be back to 3x daily for most of the winter with AA and F9 serving it as well.

ncflyer wrote:

And SEA is just a huge head scratcher to me. . . . I have hope it will return can't understand why it hasn't.

UA is unlikely to add CLE-SEA nonstop service as all of the destinations that UA currently serves nonstop from SEA (ORD/DEN/IAH/LAX/EWR/SFO/IAD) are (a) hubs for UA and (b) already have nonstop service from SEA on AS in addition to UA.

CLT, MDW, and MIA are the only U.S. airports with nonstop service from SEA that aren't currently served by AS, but AS does operate SEA-ORD/FLL nonstop service.

AS is more likely to add CLE-SEA nonstop service than UA as
(a) almost all of the U.S. markets that have nonstop service to SEA already have AS service and
(b) AS has a much bigger FF base in Greater Seattle than UA does.

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

masseybrown wrote:

Hartford and Raleigh are definite losses for the business community; but the old method of adding tags to serve local markets is rarely done any more domestically. LAX-CLE-BDL ran for years; but no more. Even WN, which used to do this a lot, seems to be giving up the one-stop/no-change-of-plane itinerary. The experts say the CLE-BDL passengers just aren't worth the cost in system reliability and additional cycles to airframes.

It will be interesting to see whether UA's recent love for CLE survives to next summer or, assuming the COVID problems are diminished, if the planes are promptly reasigned to hub flights.

Good point, I remember the 753's flying BWI>CLE>LAS.

I'm happy to see UA back on the PHX/LAS segments. How many mainline will that be daily? 30?

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

Cedar Fair is now a pretty large company with parks throughout the country. Probably have a hard time recruiting folks to Sandusky for a corporate HQ. It worked when they only owned parks in Ohio and were a LLC.

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

But it's not tough to travel between CLE and IND. It's an easy 5 hour drive. Flights covering that distance are mostly dead in the US from an O&D perspective.

cledaybuck wrote:

But it's not tough to travel between CLE and IND. It's an easy 5 hour drive. Flights covering that distance are mostly dead in the US from an O&D perspective.

I agree with your point, even though there are some domestic routes shorter than CLE-IND that still have some O&D traffic such as BOS-LGA, BOS-EWR, DAL-HOU, DAL-SAT, DFW-IAH, DFW-SAT, LAS-LAX, MIA-TPA, and SEA-GEG.

MohawkWeekend wrote:

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

Cedar Fair is now a pretty large company with parks throughout the country. Probably have a hard time recruiting folks to Sandusky for a corporate HQ. It worked when they only owned parks in Ohio and were a LLC.

Agree that Sandusky is not an ideal HQ location, but if the location should be a major city that serves their full portfolio it could just as easily been Cleveland over Charlotte, its not like their only option was Sandusky vs Charlotte.

cledaybuck wrote:

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

But it's not tough to travel between CLE and IND. It's an easy 5 hour drive. Flights covering that distance are mostly dead in the US from an O&D perspective.

5 hours may not be much, but its actually 10 hours if you do a one-day trip for a one-hour meeting, which was fully possible before with such flights, so I'd say it does impact certain economic ties. Say, I'm in CLE. And I could foster and grow a business relationship with a supplier--one supplier--with all other factors (price, quality, trust, etc.) being equal---would I choose the one in NYC or the one in Indianapolis? I could comfortably and easily do CLE-LGA--have a meeting, lunch and be back in time for a dinner in Cleveland. I could not do the same with a company in Indianapolis.

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

I'd be surprised if Cedar Fair "moves" to Charlotte. Charlotte was where the Paramount amusement parks were headquartered before being acquired by Cedar Fair, so it stands to reason they are making the best use of their existing facilities and resources. Cedar Fair recently invested a great deal in a resort and attraction training program at Bowling Green State University (after making the largest single investment in that university's history) and most of those students get their work and management experience at the Sandusky location, so I don't see them abandoning the headquarters there. Rather, I could easily see a dual headquarters situation. I'm sure recruiting and logistics would be easier out of Charlotte, but Cedar Point and the related Sandusky locations are still their premier facilities.

Yeah OK so Indy is "only" a five hour drive but it's five hours not being as productive as one can be on a plane with a laptop, and as greenair points out tough to do as a day trip-- even flying it's a long one. And what about RDU or BDL, large business centers where you can't get from there to here easily.

And as far as Cedar Fair folks may have missed the article in Crain's where 1) new CEO = Charlotte 2) brand new just recruited head of IT = Charlotte. 3) A long time senior employee who was a huge advocate and historian for Sandusky left the company somewhat unexpectedly. When Cedar Fair was asked to comment on future of Sandusky they had none if my memory serves me correctly. Not sounding too duel to me.

My wife and I were literally just starting to plan a long weekend in Vegas, so this works out perfectly. Tempted to jump on the Phoenix flight for a spring training game.

ncflyer wrote:

Yeah OK so Indy is "only" a five hour drive but it's five hours not being as productive as one can be on a plane with a laptop, and as greenair points out tough to do as a day trip-- even flying it's a long one. And what about RDU or BDL, large business centers where you can't get from there to here easily.

And as far as Cedar Fair folks may have missed the article in Crain's where 1) new CEO = Charlotte 2) brand new just recruited head of IT = Charlotte. 3) A long time senior employee who was a huge advocate and historian for Sandusky left the company somewhat unexpectedly. When Cedar Fair was asked to comment on future of Sandusky they had none if my memory serves me correctly. Not sounding too duel to me.

How long can your laptop actually be open on a flight like CLE-IND, 20 minutes? The fact is, even with a non stop flight, you are probably looking at 3 hours to get from where you are around CLE to where you are going around IND, possibly more depending on how far from the airport one is. Most of that time isn't going to be productive either as much of it is getting to the airport, going through security, boarding, etc. It's just not worth it in most cases.

Places like RDU and BDL are losses, but there just isn't much tying those places and CLE together to make it worth it. CLE would be much better off with a flight to SEA or additional frequencies to LAX or SFO than the resumption of RDU and BDL in my opinion.

And if history is a guide, Cedar Fair will struggle when the decision makers are far away from the "plant" and pay themselves big city wages for a big company. And lose that "thing" which made them special. .
e.g. Newell Brands buying Rubbermaid - moved to ATL.

I have to imagine the CEO and company officers commute on a private jet anyway

From the UA thread:

CLE-PHX/LAS are Daily 12/16-3/26.

CLE to Phoenix

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 8 a.m., arriving Phoenix at 10:45 a.m.

Departing Phoenix at 11:40 a.m., arriving CLE at 5:25 p.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

CLE to Las Vegas

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 6:45 p.m., arriving LAS at 8:40 p.m.

Departing LAS at 11 p.m., arriving CLE at 6 a.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

greenair727 wrote:

cledaybuck wrote:

ncflyer wrote:

I'm going to get all philosophical here, but when it is tough to travel between say CLE and IND, it has to diminish economic ties between the cities. And this contributes to widening gap between the winners and losers in our country-- the rich get richer because they have large hubs already. Thankfully a company like Sherwin didn't weight air service as a top criteria when they went through their HQ selection. Cedar Fair is quietly moving to Charlotte, another local company lost (probably) to a city with better air service. Maybe hyperloop will be a game changer for Cleveland. . . but it's tough to count on such unproven technology.

But it's not tough to travel between CLE and IND. It's an easy 5 hour drive. Flights covering that distance are mostly dead in the US from an O&D perspective.

5 hours may not be much, but its actually 10 hours if you do a one-day trip for a one-hour meeting, which was fully possible before with such flights, so I'd say it does impact certain economic ties. Say, I'm in CLE. And I could foster and grow a business relationship with a supplier--one supplier--with all other factors (price, quality, trust, etc.) being equal---would I choose the one in NYC or the one in Indianapolis? I could comfortably and easily do CLE-LGA--have a meeting, lunch and be back in time for a dinner in Cleveland. I could not do the same with a company in Indianapolis.

My employer would never ask any employee to drive 5 hours each way, I’m sure many employers might, but that’s A LOT of time where you are not really being productive unless you are on a call (but depending on the nature of the call, you likely won’t be very productive while you are driving).

Plus that’s 5 hours only if you are assuming you don’t stop at all for food or gas, no traffic, and perfect weather.

If it was a 3 or maybe even 4 hour drive it would be an easy call, but 5 hours is just too long unless you are traveling for leisure.

fun2fly wrote:

From the UA thread:

CLE-PHX/LAS are Daily 12/16-3/26.

CLE to Phoenix

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 8 a.m., arriving Phoenix at 10:45 a.m.

Departing Phoenix at 11:40 a.m., arriving CLE at 5:25 p.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

CLE to Las Vegas

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 6:45 p.m., arriving LAS at 8:40 p.m.

Departing LAS at 11 p.m., arriving CLE at 6 a.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

I took that from the PD article here:
https://www.cleveland.com/travel/2021/1 ... inter.html

highflier92660 wrote:

MohawkWeekend wrote:

greenair727 wrote:

I had just happened to come upon this story from Canada about authorities there trying to match a body found 50 yrs ago to a pax who died from a Tag Airlines crash in Lake Erie after departing BKL on 28 Jan 1970.

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news ... go-exhumed

Thanks for posting. My brother-in-law flew for TAG until they went out of business.
This story reminds me of a small formula one race plane that crashed in Lake Erie during the Cleveland Air Show in 1978. IIRC neither the plane or the pilot were ever found.

When I was confirming date of that crash on the Cleveland Air Show history web page, they included on their time line that in 1970, a F-4 flew "down the office corridor of East 9th Street" causing quite the stir. Does anyone recall what that was about?

Although a.net is not generally an aviation history website, TAG Airlines nonetheless has a chapter in Cleveland's airline past. Here is a pdf from 1966 with a good article on Taxi Air Group. Note the photo of a TAG Piper Aztec C and Cleveland's mid-sixties skyline with the Federal Building on E 9th street still under construction. https://www.dantiques.com/sohio/sohioan/2-1966/p4.pdf

Thanks for that! Lots of pics of their Dove's around, but I had never seen one of their Aztec's. ...and in a Sohio promo to boot.

fun2fly wrote:

From the UA thread:

CLE-PHX/LAS are Daily 12/16-3/26.

CLE to Phoenix

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 8 a.m., arriving Phoenix at 10:45 a.m.

Departing Phoenix at 11:40 a.m., arriving CLE at 5:25 p.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

CLE to Las Vegas

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 6:45 p.m., arriving LAS at 8:40 p.m.

Departing LAS at 11 p.m., arriving CLE at 6 a.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

I wonder why these are just seasonal. LAS/PHX are year round destinations.

pmanni1 wrote:

fun2fly wrote:

From the UA thread:

CLE-PHX/LAS are Daily 12/16-3/26.

CLE to Phoenix

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 8 a.m., arriving Phoenix at 10:45 a.m.

Departing Phoenix at 11:40 a.m., arriving CLE at 5:25 p.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

CLE to Las Vegas

Starts: December 16

Departing CLE at 6:45 p.m., arriving LAS at 8:40 p.m.

Departing LAS at 11 p.m., arriving CLE at 6 a.m.

Aircraft: Boeing 737

I wonder why these are just seasonal. LAS/PHX are year round destinations.

I'll bet they are just "testing the waters." I often wonder about United's profit margins in Cleveland. The 737 maintenance in CLE is very cost effective, I hear, so perhaps they are trying to find new ways to deploy their fleet to funnel their 737 work here and still have passengers going in and out of those aircraft.

Picked up daughter from airport last night at 2330. Same crazy line backed up out to Route 237. Almost ran into the back of a Nissan with a Stark County sticker who stopped in my lane when the realised that they needed to be in the left lane.
I take it the airport hasn't figured out that a sign telling people to pick up their arriving passenger on the departure level might be a good idea.

MohawkWeekend wrote:

Picked up daughter from airport last night at 2330. Same crazy line backed up out to Route 237. Almost ran into the back of a Nissan with a Stark County sticker who stopped in my lane when the realised that they needed to be in the left lane.
I take it the airport hasn't figured out that a sign telling people to pick up their arriving passenger on the departure level might be a good idea.

That's an airport enforcement issue that CLE just hasn't figured out. Most airports have security/police in the arrivals lane making people move. That is not something I've seen on the regular at CLE, and as such people just park 2-3 cars deep in the arrivals lane.

plinth857 wrote:

pmanni1 wrote:

I wonder why these are just seasonal. LAS/PHX are year round destinations.

I'll bet they are just "testing the waters." I often wonder about United's profit margins in Cleveland. The 737 maintenance in CLE is very cost effective, I hear, so perhaps they are trying to find new ways to deploy their fleet to funnel their 737 work here and still have passengers going in and out of those aircraft.

WN re-adding CLE-HOU nonstop service is a possibility as there is currently no nonstop competition on the CLE-IAH route with UA currently being the only airline serving IAH nonstop from CLE.

WN can likely make daily CLE-HOU nonstop service work as
(a) HOU is much closer to Galveston, the Johnson Space Center, the Kemah Boardwalk, and other major tourist attractions in Greater Houston than IAH is,
(b) CLE was one of the top destinations traveled to from HOU prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that isn't currently served nonstop from HOU (even though UA operates CLE-IAH nonstop service),
(c) WN already has significant FF bases in Greater Houston and other Texas markets to support CLE-HOU nonstop service on WN, and
(d) WN would be able to offer connections to other destinations in Texas and Mexico through HOU if it adds daily nonstop service to HOU from CLE.

WN also was getting load factors of over 80% on HOU-CMH/CVG/DTW/IND/MCI/MDW/MKE/OMA/STL in June 2021, and WN would likely get decent load factors on CLE-HOU nonstop service if it re-adds CLE-HOU nonstop service (especially with the load factors that WN was getting on HOU-CMH/CVG/DTW nonstop service in June 2021).

WN also doesn't currently face any nonstop competition from ULCC's on its HOU-CMH/CVG/IND/MCI/MKE/OMA/STL routes, and the same would be true on CLE-HOU if WN re-adds CLE-HOU nonstop service.