SkyVoice wrote:

Does GRR have an FIS on-site, or has one been planned?

Soon- it's under construction.

I decided to do some calculations for TVC in May. These are only for flights arriving in TVC.

Format- Flights... Passengers... Load Factor

AA:
DFW- 26... 1,430... 72%
ORD- 111... 5,043... 80%

G4:
AZA- 9... 798... 49%
PGD- 7... 872... 67%
SFB- 2... 235... 75%
PIE- 9... 1,105... 66%

DL: (Thanks for correcting me BTW)
ATL- 4... 99... 23%
DTW-152... 6,244... 59%
LGA- 27... 596... 31%
MSP- 36... 1,115... 41%

UA:
IAD- 24... 441... 37%
ORD- 121... 3,444... 55%

SkyVoice wrote:

NoahV37, I believe that you meant DL (Delta) instead of DE (Condor) in your GRR post. But, let me congratulate you for the work that you put in to tabulate those results. And, I honestly believe that Condor has a viable business opportunity in Grand Rapids & West Michigan, post-CoVid. Does GRR have an FIS on-site, or has one been planned?

And Southwest should be WN, not SW.

Is Project Elevate moving forward at GRR or did COVID put it back on the shelf?

GRR-PHX restart was pushed back from November 1 to November 14. It operates for 6 days in November and then starts again in the middle of December. It also looks like WN will not be resuming SRQ flights as it is not listed on their website or anywhere in their schedule.

tjwgrr wrote:

I was having a conversation with someone over the weekend about Allegiant in GRR. I looked at all the cities they now serve from GRR, and it's quite impressive, albeit some are seasonal, and many are only 2x per week:

AUS
BOS
VPS
FLL (seasonal)
LAS
LAX
BNA
EWR
SFB
AZA
PDX (seasonal)
PGD
RAP (2 weeks in August)
SRQ
SAV
PIE

It appears there are three A320s based here at the present time. I have seen as many as four RON in the past.

G4 now has 4 320s based in GRR, N250NV(sharklets), N271NV(Winter the dolphin), N273NV, N274NV.

1 aircraft has been flying sports charters on Saturday’s when their schedule is light.

Was randomly looking at flights at MQT today on flightaware, and was surprised to see a Breeze E190, N126BZ as MQX6402 flew yesterway from Houghton (CMX) to Marquette. Looking on FR24 it seems to have come from South Bend. It still appears to be in Marquette. Does anyone know the reason for this flight? Does it maybe have something to do with Eagle's Embraer Mx facilities in MQT? If so why would it have stopped at CMX? Here's hoping this is some sort of harbinger of potential Breeze service to the UP.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MXY ... /KCMX/KSAW

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n126bz

N415XJ wrote:

Was randomly looking at flights at MQT today on flightaware, and was surprised to see a Breeze E190, N126BZ as MQX6402 flew yesterway from Houghton (CMX) to Marquette. Looking on FR24 it seems to have come from South Bend. It still appears to be in Marquette. Does anyone know the reason for this flight? Does it maybe have something to do with Eagle's Embraer Mx facilities in MQT? If so why would it have stopped at CMX? Here's hoping this is some sort of harbinger of potential Breeze service to the UP.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MXY ... /KCMX/KSAW

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n126bz

Notre Dame Men's Hockey to play Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

https://und.com/sports/mhockey/schedule/

drdisque wrote:

N415XJ wrote:

Was randomly looking at flights at MQT today on flightaware, and was surprised to see a Breeze E190, N126BZ as MQX6402 flew yesterway from Houghton (CMX) to Marquette. Looking on FR24 it seems to have come from South Bend. It still appears to be in Marquette. Does anyone know the reason for this flight? Does it maybe have something to do with Eagle's Embraer Mx facilities in MQT? If so why would it have stopped at CMX? Here's hoping this is some sort of harbinger of potential Breeze service to the UP.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MXY ... /KCMX/KSAW

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n126bz

Notre Dame Men's Hockey to play Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

https://und.com/sports/mhockey/schedule/

Although this was a charter, I could see Breeze starting service to Marquette someday. I think either Lansing or Kalamazoo would also do good for Breeze

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

drdisque wrote:

N415XJ wrote:

Was randomly looking at flights at MQT today on flightaware, and was surprised to see a Breeze E190, N126BZ as MQX6402 flew yesterway from Houghton (CMX) to Marquette. Looking on FR24 it seems to have come from South Bend. It still appears to be in Marquette. Does anyone know the reason for this flight? Does it maybe have something to do with Eagle's Embraer Mx facilities in MQT? If so why would it have stopped at CMX? Here's hoping this is some sort of harbinger of potential Breeze service to the UP.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MXY ... /KCMX/KSAW

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n126bz

Notre Dame Men's Hockey to play Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

https://und.com/sports/mhockey/schedule/

Although this was a charter, I could see Breeze starting service to Marquette someday. I think either Lansing or Kalamazoo would also do good for Breeze

I can see them on FNT-TPA.

Clipper73 wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

drdisque wrote:

Notre Dame Men's Hockey to play Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

https://und.com/sports/mhockey/schedule/

Although this was a charter, I could see Breeze starting service to Marquette someday. I think either Lansing or Kalamazoo would also do good for Breeze

I can see them on FNT-TPA.

Maybe. but the issue with Flint and especially GRR is that they would be competing directly with Allegiant on flights to Tampa. Kalamazoo and Lansing are both cities that don’t have Allegiant and could entice travelers a to make the drive to LAN or AZO, instead of the other was around

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

Clipper73 wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

Although this was a charter, I could see Breeze starting service to Marquette someday. I think either Lansing or Kalamazoo would also do good for Breeze

I can see them on FNT-TPA.

Maybe. but the issue with Flint and especially GRR is that they would be competing directly with Allegiant on flights to Tampa. Kalamazoo and Lansing are both cities that don’t have Allegiant and could entice travelers a to make the drive to LAN or AZO, instead of the other was around

The problem is that folks from around Grand Rapids will not drive to LAN or AZO to make flights. Allegiant found this out when they originally pulled out of GRR and tried to make LAN work. Their numbers plummeted and so they came back.

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

jplatts wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

AA adding nonstop service to CLT and DFW from AZO and LAN are possibilities with the additional connecting opportunities that would be there at AA's CLT and DFW hubs.

DL re-adding LAN-MSP nonstop service and adding ATL-AZO/LAN nonstop service are also possibilities in order to fill in the void left behind by UA pulling out of AZO and LAN. DL also already serves ATL nonstop from most of its Midwestern destinations south of the MSP hub.

American got the grant money to begin AZO-CLT so it’s only a matter of time for that, and once that starts I’m thinking DL might retaliate with AZO-ATL. I also have a feeling that DL might bring AZO/LAN-MSP back now that UA is leaving.

I certainly don’t see DFW nonstop in LAN or AZO near future, seems like a bit of a stretch, especially for AZO

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

I think Allegiant's success in GRR and FNT has a lot to do with this, A short drive from AZO and LAN a good fare and a nonstop flight on a big plane to where they want to go has kind of hurt LAN and AZO. The thing that I don't get is LAN being a huge college town why Allegiant's service didn't catch on there.

Clipper73 wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

I think Allegiant's success in GRR and FNT has a lot to do with this, A short drive from AZO and LAN a good fare and a nonstop flight on a big plane to where they want to go has kind of hurt LAN and AZO. The thing that I don't get is LAN being a huge college town why Allegiant's service didn't catch on there.

College kids only travel a few times a year, still need to fill the plane during those other times.

tys777 wrote:

Clipper73 wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

I think Allegiant's success in GRR and FNT has a lot to do with this, A short drive from AZO and LAN a good fare and a nonstop flight on a big plane to where they want to go has kind of hurt LAN and AZO. The thing that I don't get is LAN being a huge college town why Allegiant's service didn't catch on there.

College kids only travel a few times a year, still need to fill the plane during those other times.

That is true, but you’d be surprised how full the planes get out of both of those cities. LAN is the capital of Michigan, and AZO has Stryker, Kellogg cereal, Pfizer, and a bunch of other big companies. I talked with someone at Delta in AZO, they said that just before the pandemic they had 8 daily flights just on Delta (6DTW 2MSP) and would go out pretty much full most of the time.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

tys777 wrote:

Clipper73 wrote:

I think Allegiant's success in GRR and FNT has a lot to do with this, A short drive from AZO and LAN a good fare and a nonstop flight on a big plane to where they want to go has kind of hurt LAN and AZO. The thing that I don't get is LAN being a huge college town why Allegiant's service didn't catch on there.

College kids only travel a few times a year, still need to fill the plane during those other times.

That is true, but you’d be surprised how full the planes get out of both of those cities. LAN is the capital of Michigan, and AZO has Stryker, Kellogg cereal, Pfizer, and a bunch of other big companies. I talked with someone at Delta in AZO, they said that just before the pandemic they had 8 daily flights just on Delta (6DTW 2MSP) and would go out pretty much full most of the time.

I dont disagree at all. Was just pointing out that a large university does not equal consistent travel demand.

Also, the population of Kent, Ottawa and parts of Ionia and Allegan Counties will not use an airport other than Grand Rapids. They don’t want to make the drive to Lansing or Kalamazoo so if they can’t get where they want to go from GRR they won’t go.

A lot of that, on the south side, stems from a lack of a direct drive. This is prior to M-6 being built. If you lived south of GR and wanted to go to Lansing you had to either take country roads to get to I-96 or take 131 through downtown and meet up with 196. Both were a major hassle. That mindset has stuck even after all the interstate updates. People from around Grand Rapids refuse to drive the hour to either Lansing ir Kalamazoo. But people from Lansing and Kalamazoo will drive to Grand Rapids.

jplatts wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

AA adding nonstop service to CLT and DFW from AZO and LAN are possibilities with the additional connecting opportunities that would be there at AA's CLT and DFW hubs.

DL re-adding LAN-MSP nonstop service and adding ATL-AZO/LAN nonstop service are also possibilities in order to fill in the void left behind by UA pulling out of AZO and LAN. DL also already serves ATL nonstop from most of its Midwestern destinations south of the MSP hub.

I would guess that a DL flight (or DL connection flight) to ATL would actually be more successful from AZO/LAN than restoring the MSP connection. If you look at the PDEW from AZO/LAN to destinations not served by DL from DTW, there are far more one-stops (and PDEW) offered by DL from ATL then from MSP. Further, the stage length to ATL is not that much farther than MSP.

As DL moves away from the CR2s and to the CR7/CR9/etc, with the larger RJs I could see LAN/AZO/MBS moving to 3x/4x to DTW on the bigger regionals, and a daily flight to ATL. An ATL flight would also market well to some of the wealthier snowbirds, who spend winters near a smaller southern airport not served nonstop from either DTW or MSP.

G4 formally announces Flint (FNT) base.

https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan/whit ... t-airport/

FNT will house 3x A320 aircraft and G4 will expand operations.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

tys777 wrote:

Clipper73 wrote:

I think Allegiant's success in GRR and FNT has a lot to do with this, A short drive from AZO and LAN a good fare and a nonstop flight on a big plane to where they want to go has kind of hurt LAN and AZO. The thing that I don't get is LAN being a huge college town why Allegiant's service didn't catch on there.

College kids only travel a few times a year, still need to fill the plane during those other times.

That is true, but you’d be surprised how full the planes get out of both of those cities. LAN is the capital of Michigan, and AZO has Stryker, Kellogg cereal, Pfizer, and a bunch of other big companies. I talked with someone at Delta in AZO, they said that just before the pandemic they had 8 daily flights just on Delta (6DTW 2MSP) and would go out pretty much full most of the time.

except all those companies won't be buying tickets on Allegiant.

as for DL in AZO, its been like that for 20 years from the NW days.

kavok wrote:

G4 formally announces Flint (FNT) base.

https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan/whit ... t-airport/

FNT will house 3x A320 aircraft and G4 will expand operations.

That's great news and makes it much easier for G4 to add flights from FNT to non-bases

GRR physical updates to pass along:

The delayed construction project to expand concourse A has begun, part of Project Elevate.

Also part of Project Elevate, the terminal addition housing the FIS facility is complete. Construction on the sterile corridor along concourse B has not begun yet.

Avflight began constructing a second hangar on the north side of their existing facility.

Steel beams and framework are going up at the site of the new GRR operations center located to the south of Avflight.

Two new hangars on the west side of the airport are nearing completion. The larger of the two will house aircraft belonging to a locally owned super center chain.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

jplatts wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

United has announced the intentions to end service to both Kalamazoo and Lansing on Jan.3. That sucks, they just began AZO back in 2016, and restated post pandemic in June.

The flight usually went out at least 80% full twice a day. With that gone I wonder which airline will fill in with service at AZO and LAN (ie which current airline will increase service)

AA adding nonstop service to CLT and DFW from AZO and LAN are possibilities with the additional connecting opportunities that would be there at AA's CLT and DFW hubs.

DL re-adding LAN-MSP nonstop service and adding ATL-AZO/LAN nonstop service are also possibilities in order to fill in the void left behind by UA pulling out of AZO and LAN. DL also already serves ATL nonstop from most of its Midwestern destinations south of the MSP hub.

American got the grant money to begin AZO-CLT so it’s only a matter of time for that, and once that starts I’m thinking DL might retaliate with AZO-ATL. I also have a feeling that DL might bring AZO/LAN-MSP back now that UA is leaving.

I certainly don’t see DFW nonstop in LAN or AZO near future, seems like a bit of a stretch, especially for AZO

Did not know that AA got a grant to start AZO-CLT! That is interesting indeed. Would love DFW-AZO - surely a daily CR7 would work?

Really wish DL would resume AZO-MSP. Have spent all year pondering status matching to UA or DL but with UA pulling out of my hometown and DL seeming quite content with their limited service to OKC and AZO ... I guess I'm stuck with Dougie Air for now.

9w748capt wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

jplatts wrote:

AA adding nonstop service to CLT and DFW from AZO and LAN are possibilities with the additional connecting opportunities that would be there at AA's CLT and DFW hubs.

DL re-adding LAN-MSP nonstop service and adding ATL-AZO/LAN nonstop service are also possibilities in order to fill in the void left behind by UA pulling out of AZO and LAN. DL also already serves ATL nonstop from most of its Midwestern destinations south of the MSP hub.

American got the grant money to begin AZO-CLT so it’s only a matter of time for that, and once that starts I’m thinking DL might retaliate with AZO-ATL. I also have a feeling that DL might bring AZO/LAN-MSP back now that UA is leaving.

I certainly don’t see DFW nonstop in LAN or AZO near future, seems like a bit of a stretch, especially for AZO

Did not know that AA got a grant to start AZO-CLT! That is interesting indeed. Would love DFW-AZO - surely a daily CR7 would work?

Really wish DL would resume AZO-MSP. Have spent all year pondering status matching to UA or DL but with UA pulling out of my hometown and DL seeming quite content with their limited service to OKC and AZO ... I guess I'm stuck with Dougie Air for now.

I have a feeling that the MSP route will come back for AZO at some point especially with UA leaving and now having at least 50 less seats westbound. Although the folks in the area are pushing more for ATL, especially with AA getting the grant for CLT. Once AA begins CLT from AZO I have a feeling Delta will pull the trigger on ATL service.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

9w748capt wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

American got the grant money to begin AZO-CLT so it’s only a matter of time for that, and once that starts I’m thinking DL might retaliate with AZO-ATL. I also have a feeling that DL might bring AZO/LAN-MSP back now that UA is leaving.

I certainly don’t see DFW nonstop in LAN or AZO near future, seems like a bit of a stretch, especially for AZO

Did not know that AA got a grant to start AZO-CLT! That is interesting indeed. Would love DFW-AZO - surely a daily CR7 would work?

Really wish DL would resume AZO-MSP. Have spent all year pondering status matching to UA or DL but with UA pulling out of my hometown and DL seeming quite content with their limited service to OKC and AZO ... I guess I'm stuck with Dougie Air for now.

I have a feeling that the MSP route will come back for AZO at some point especially with UA leaving and now having at least 50 less seats westbound. Although the folks in the area are pushing more for ATL, especially with AA getting the grant for CLT. Once AA begins CLT from AZO I have a feeling Delta will pull the trigger on ATL service.

AZO-MSP did briefly operate, albeit only 3x/4x weekly, in summer 2021. So it did come back, and yet it was dropped again.

To each their own, but if flying to/from AZO I still tend to prefer the DTW connection over MSP even if coming from or going to the west. Yes, for example PDX-DTW-AZO involves a bit of backtracking, but DTW-AZO having the 3x/4x daily service means backup routings and schedule flexibility. I have been burnt before by IRROPs, resulting in a XXX-MSP-DTW-AZO reroute and an overnight somewhere, and arriving 12+ hours late. At least if stuck in DTW and can’t fly to AZO, I can usually find a ground transportation option to get me there.

kavok wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

9w748capt wrote:

Did not know that AA got a grant to start AZO-CLT! That is interesting indeed. Would love DFW-AZO - surely a daily CR7 would work?

Really wish DL would resume AZO-MSP. Have spent all year pondering status matching to UA or DL but with UA pulling out of my hometown and DL seeming quite content with their limited service to OKC and AZO ... I guess I'm stuck with Dougie Air for now.

I have a feeling that the MSP route will come back for AZO at some point especially with UA leaving and now having at least 50 less seats westbound. Although the folks in the area are pushing more for ATL, especially with AA getting the grant for CLT. Once AA begins CLT from AZO I have a feeling Delta will pull the trigger on ATL service.

AZO-MSP did briefly operate, albeit only 3x/4x weekly, in summer 2021. So it did come back, and yet it was dropped again.

To each their own, but if flying to/from AZO I still tend to prefer the DTW connection over MSP even if coming from or going to the west. Yes, for example PDX-DTW-AZO involves a bit of backtracking, but DTW-AZO having the 3x/4x daily service means backup routings and schedule flexibility. I have been burnt before by IRROPs, resulting in a XXX-MSP-DTW-AZO reroute and an overnight somewhere, and arriving 12+ hours late. At least if stuck in DTW and can’t fly to AZO, I can usually find a ground transportation option to get me there.

Yep, that is true. Plus I believe ATL has more destinations only served from ATL than MSP does. And not only that, but this part of Michigan also has a lot of people going just to Atlanta and I’m sure that flight would be full almost every single time

Here's a bunch of stats for GRR (July 2021 Outbound flights)

Flights:
1. AA-511
2. DL-401
3. UA-319
4. WN-319
5. G4-192
6. F9-33

Passengers:
1. DL-35,817
2. AA-32,202
3. G4-28,978
4. WN-25,596
5. UA-23,870
6. F9-4,869

Average Load Factors:
1. UA-89%
2. AA-88%
3. G4-81%
4. DL-80%
5. F9-79%
6. WN-66%

Top destination by flights:
1. UA- ORD- 183
2. AA- ORD- 181
3. DL- DTW- 159
4. DL- MSP- 118
5. DL- ATL- 110

Top destination by passengers:
1. DL- ATL- 14,899
2. DL- DTW- 12,739
3. UA- ORD- 11,773
4. WN- MDW- 9,942
5. AA- ORD- 8,677

Highest Load Factors:
1. WN- DEN- 96%
2. UA- IAD- 94%
3. G4- AZA- 93%
4. G4- LAX- 92%
5. AA- DFW- 92%

Lowest Load Factors:
1. WN- SRQ- 28%
2. G4- VPS- 40%
3. WN- RSW- 41%
4. WN- MCO- 59%
5. Tied with 69%- WN-TPA and G4-SAV

Allegiant has loaded their summer schedule. A couple interesting things.
GRR:
EWR is back in May.
SFB is 8 weekly flights with 2 flights on Friday.
JAX flights stop in May.
SAV has 1 weekly flight.
No VPS this summer.
MSY still isn't back.
No RAP in the schedule

FNT:
PGD is 5x weekly.

TVC:
PGD is 3x weekly this winter.
No SFB this summer.

NoahV37 wrote:

Allegiant has loaded their summer schedule. A couple interesting things.
GRR:
EWR is back in May.
SFB is 8 weekly flights with 2 flights on Friday.
JAX flights stop in May.
SAV has 1 weekly flight.
No VPS this summer.
MSY still isn't back.
No RAP in the schedule

FNT:
PGD is 5x weekly.

TVC:
PGD is 3x weekly this winter.
No SFB this summer.

Regarding GRR.

EWR, how were the loads last year? I didn’t think they were good enough to bring this route back.
SFB. Wow, very rarely do you see more than daily flights on Allegiant unless it’s between two very large cities.
JAX, I think that may have been winter seasonal anyways
SAV. Surprised they didn’t at least have 2 weekly
VPS. Same as JAX, pretty sure it’s for the winter and fall only
MSY. That hasn’t actually happened since before the pandemic, don’t know why the carrier even bothers keeping it on the route map
RAP. That was for the sturgis motorcycle fest, so if it does come back at all it will probably be 4x in August and that’s it

NoahV37 wrote:

Allegiant has loaded their summer schedule. A couple interesting things.
GRR:
EWR is back in May.
SFB is 8 weekly flights with 2 flights on Friday.
JAX flights stop in May.
SAV has 1 weekly flight.
No VPS this summer.
MSY still isn't back.
No RAP in the schedule

FNT:
PGD is 5x weekly.

TVC:
PGD is 3x weekly this winter.
No SFB this summer.

According to Allegiant this schedule is only thru Schedule extended through May 16th, 2022..so we don't have the full summer yet correct.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

drdisque wrote:

N415XJ wrote:

Was randomly looking at flights at MQT today on flightaware, and was surprised to see a Breeze E190, N126BZ as MQX6402 flew yesterway from Houghton (CMX) to Marquette. Looking on FR24 it seems to have come from South Bend. It still appears to be in Marquette. Does anyone know the reason for this flight? Does it maybe have something to do with Eagle's Embraer Mx facilities in MQT? If so why would it have stopped at CMX? Here's hoping this is some sort of harbinger of potential Breeze service to the UP.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MXY ... /KCMX/KSAW

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n126bz

Notre Dame Men's Hockey to play Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.

https://und.com/sports/mhockey/schedule/

Although this was a charter, I could see Breeze starting service to Marquette someday. I think either Lansing or Kalamazoo would also do good for Breeze

Notre Dame Mens Hockey has been using Breeze for a group of their charter flights this season. They also flew from SBN-MSP and back with Breeze.

Cherry Capitol Airport (TVC) is expanding to meet grow demand at the airport.

https://www.traverseticker.com/news/tra ... JZYB585r1M

Clipper73 wrote:

Cherry Capitol Airport (TVC) is expanding to meet grow demand at the airport.

https://www.traverseticker.com/news/tra ... JZYB585r1M

It’s cool in theory, but theoretically it won’t happen for an airport that can only support DTW and ORD for the winter months. Like I said, I would love to see it happen but I don’t know if it will.

They do need a couple more gates in the summer months, but multiple terminals doesn’t seem likely.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

9w748capt wrote:

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

American got the grant money to begin AZO-CLT so it’s only a matter of time for that, and once that starts I’m thinking DL might retaliate with AZO-ATL. I also have a feeling that DL might bring AZO/LAN-MSP back now that UA is leaving.

I certainly don’t see DFW nonstop in LAN or AZO near future, seems like a bit of a stretch, especially for AZO

Did not know that AA got a grant to start AZO-CLT! That is interesting indeed. Would love DFW-AZO - surely a daily CR7 would work?

Really wish DL would resume AZO-MSP. Have spent all year pondering status matching to UA or DL but with UA pulling out of my hometown and DL seeming quite content with their limited service to OKC and AZO ... I guess I'm stuck with Dougie Air for now.

I have a feeling that the MSP route will come back for AZO at some point especially with UA leaving and now having at least 50 less seats westbound. Although the folks in the area are pushing more for ATL, especially with AA getting the grant for CLT. Once AA begins CLT from AZO I have a feeling Delta will pull the trigger on ATL service.

AZO-MSP had been scheduled to return in March, but they pulled it from the schedule a week ago. DL did bump frequencies on AZO-DTW from 3x daily to 4x after UA announced pull-out. LAN-DTW also got a bump from 3x to 4x, but LAN-MSP, which had been scheduled for April return, was also pulled from schedule.

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:

Clipper73 wrote:

Cherry Capitol Airport (TVC) is expanding to meet grow demand at the airport.

https://www.traverseticker.com/news/tra ... JZYB585r1M

It’s cool in theory, but theoretically it won’t happen for an airport that can only support DTW and ORD for the winter months. Like I said, I would love to see it happen but I don’t know if it will.

They do need a couple more gates in the summer months, but multiple terminals doesn’t seem likely.

It will indeed likely be awhile before extra gates are needed. AA just reduced summer schedule to TVC a couple weeks ago -- CLT-TVC was reduced from 1x daily to Saturday-only and LGA-TVC was completely dropped (had been scheduled as 1x daily). AA is running as few as 1x flights a day on ORD-TVC on midweek days through Feb. Route is supposed to go 5x daily in March, but that schedule likely won't stick.

So basically TVC is going ahead with master planning and engaging engineering firms to develop master plans for terminal expansion.
It doesn't mean its a done deal, but its part of the FAA planning process that sets the groundwork for securing future funding for expansion activities.

The reality is a 15-gates is well beyond any short to medium term needs. Its good to set aside the plans for master planning for land usage and setting the framework for how they would expand. TVC really at best needs 2-3 more gates during peak summer but more than ample space outside of a 10-12 week period.

While yes TVC is going to see growth in passenger numbers, the reality is that a lot of that growth is going to be accommodated through upgauging and not necessarily more flights. More passengers has implications on certain areas like parking and TSA screening/throughput, not necessarily on gate space.
TVC is looking at more 76 seaters instead of 50 seaters, and more mainline metal than 76 seaters during peak season.

Some of the stuff AA threw into TVC last summer was pretty much pandemic dartboard flying that they tried when business traffic was down and thinking/hoping there was going to be more leisure traffic in certain markets. I am not surprised to see that some of the hub overflying routes like CLT is being reduced, and I'll be shocked in DCA, PHL, BOS return next summer as well.

Clipper73 wrote:

Cherry Capitol Airport (TVC) is expanding to meet grow demand at the airport.

The same website ran a similar story in February of 2020. In other words we've seen this movie before in this article:

Courtesy: Traverse Ticker

Reaching Its Capacity, Cherry Capital Airport Eyes Expansion --- February 3, 2020

"Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) is in the very early stages of what is likely to become a significant expansion of its terminal — bringing more gates, passenger waiting areas, parking and amenities. Record traffic numbers have caused the airport to surpass its recommended capacity at times, prompting airport officials to begin the lengthy process of justifying, funding, designing, and constructing an expansion that would be complete in 2026 or 2027."

https://www.traverseticker.com/news/reaching-its-capacity-cherry-capital-airport-eyes-expansion/

I wonder if they're using the same consultants that want a Traverse City to Ann Arbor passenger train started.
Like the airport proposal, it too has popped up again.

Factor in what Allegiant can do with TVC and the extra gate space may be needed. It appears as if they're making it so that they close off the additional concourse during the slow months.

Does TVC have enough rental cars to meet peak season demand? I guess nowhere has enough rental cars these days, but sheesh.

Does TVC have enough rental cars to meet peak season demand? I guess nowhere has enough rental cars these days, but sheesh.

It's not widely remembered that ORD-LAN did play a (small) part in UA's history.

UA's first revenue 737 flight, in April, 1968, was ORD-GRR-LAN.

Normally, when airlines put a new aircraft type into service, they use it to link two of their major cities, and it's a little surprising that UA chose this route as their first 737 route, instead of a more prominent route in their network like ORD-DEN or ORD-CLE.