N830MH

Surprise! Surprise!

Spirit announces Kansas City, MO (MCI).

MCI-ORD
MCI-DFW
MCI-IAH
MCI-LAS
MCI-DTW

No FLL or LGA service?

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/04/22...ng-to-kci.html

Let wait for official release from Spirit by tomorrow morning.

psa727

Good for MCI, but there is no way I am flying on NK. I will walk to my destination or drive, and I hate driving for long periods of time, but I ain't flying NK. I am not that desperate to fly.

N830MH

NK announces 2 new routes from FLL-IAH/MSY, Beginning on September 3, 2014 and also, FLL-MSY beginning on Aug 1, 2014.

http://static.ow.ly/docs/042414SpiritExpandsService_26G5.pdf

N830MH

http://ir.spirit.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=842147

Spirit announces 3 more new routes. Beginning on August 1, 2014 and September 3, 2014.

steved5480

That makes at least two of us

N830MH

Avoid flying on Spirit. Spirit is very bad airline. You won't fly on it. Just stay away from there.

ElectricAve

Currently the only nonstop flight from Kansas City to Detroit is on Delta, and it is very expensive (about $750-900 with advance purchase) vs $300-400 on Southwest connecting through Chicago. Any chance this Spirit flight will bring down the price of the Delta flight?

I fly to Detroit a lot and it would be great to fly nonstop....just not on Spirit.

rtalk25

I don't think Delta matches Spirit. Atleast it's not been the case on DTW-LGA or DTW-FLL or probably any Delta route.

I've seen Southwest and US match Spirit out of BWI & PHL respectively, but then even AA isn't matching Spirit on PHL-DFW. Only US's site is matching even though the two have "merged."

When Southwest starts BWI-DAL nonstop, I doubt they'll do deep discounting like what they are doing on BWI-FLL against Spirit. They'll probably want higher yield traffic on that route.

RustyC

Well, Southwest just added ATL-MCI, but $120 each way is about as low as they go. Great example of why WN takeover of AirTran has been a dud. The old AirTran charged less for the route when they had it (around $79 each way on sales, if memory serves). You know things are bad when you can't get that excited about Southwest adding a route (though if you're a biz traveler and HAVE to fly and were getting gouged, you at least get some relief).

With Spirit you could do it with a connection in IAH or DFW, which is quite impractical but maybe they'll add more to the skimpy ATL service.

MCI has probably been underserved for some time but has also been jinxed as anything more than a spoke.


ATL-IAH is another shot across the bow at both DL and UA, BTW, even with thin schedules as yet. I've always thought it ridiculous that UA was flying jungle jets on a route like ATL-IAH (!!). Unless they match the pricing (unlikely) they'll have both a bad plane and more expensive fare on a major route like that. It's like an open invitation for LCCs to come in.

N830MH

http://ir.spirit.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=853880

No surprise!

Spirit adds new seasonal nonstop West Palm Beach to Boston. This route will becomes effective November 21, 2014 through April 15, 2015.

rtalk25

I wonder if Spirit will consider PHL-ATL or ACY-ATL year-round? I don't think ACY-ATL has ever been offered year-round from Spirit after AirTran ended the twice daily route. AirTran took a subsidy but it was selling higher fares than it was on PHL-ATL and it was running two flights a day.

Spirit offers connections via FLL during the offseason.

EWR-ATL has no LCCs/low fare carriers, so that would help pax consider alternatives. At PHL, there is Southwest but it winds to just 3x daily by December. I'm not sure how dedicated Southwest really is towards keeping that route. 3x daily was the frequency that PHL-RDU had right before it was cut.

Frontier seems to have found some success with TTN-ATL as a ULCC, and it's trying out ILG-ATL but it's not daily ILG-ATL.

Given that ATL is warmer in the winter than NJ, and major region, I'd think there could be viability for ACY-ATL year-round from Spirit. Maybe low fare seeking pax will now stick with Frontier but I'd think there should be enough demand even for a Spirit flight in the mix.

RustyC

As a leisure destination I don't think ACY is an easy sell for Atlantans (unless they're northeastern transplants). Biloxi and Tunica were better marketed as casino towns, and ACY has the image problem there (i.e. too many dodgy-looking areas not far from the boardwalk). The legacy marketing from back when they opened didn't reach ATL, as they were targeting drive-ins from the northeast, especially PHL and NYC. MYR (from when Spirit flew ATL-MYR) was a much more likely sell. I did a trip or two there on $9++ fares when they had the flight.

Of course there are other reasons to go, such as wanting to get to PHL or NYC or anywhere in NJ and not wanting to take Greyhound. That might motivate some people. One big negative for ACY is the rental car situation, which hasn't been that competitive. MAYBE that's improving. And it's harder to get Sunday-Thursday lodging discounts in ACY vs. Mississippi or Nevada, though if you can get the decent car rent you could go somewhere else, like PHL.

rtalk25

I was always figured the point of sale was greater from the NJ/ACY side, especially for the Florida routes, and ATL if considered for winter service would be like the Florida cities, but some Atlantans would probably come up for a low fare to the Philly or Central NJ regions using an alternate airport.

But if coming from Atlanta to visit NJ, (e.g. let's say visiting some friends or family who live in Wall Township, NJ), one might need a rental car.

Rental cars at ACY can be a problem especially if sold out. This week it's sold out at 3 of the 4 rental car companies and sold out on Enterprise. Next weekend it's $40/day for the economy car, which is more reasonable.

I kind of figured that Frontier might use a gate at ACY for limited service to complement TTN as TTN gets too crowded. Maybe it'd offer some routes that Spirit lacks or lacks year-round.

Overall, I think with no LCC on EWR-ATL and Southwest kinda fumbling a little on PHL-ATL as it goes down to only 3x daily from them: is that a sign of despair before it gets axed like PHL-RDU, or is it trimming to adequate capacity? It might make ATL service from alternate airports in the PHL region from low cost carriers more feasible year-round.

RobS

With all the aircraft due to be delivered in the 4th quarter of 2014 and 1st quarter of 2015, when will Spirit start making route announcements? August maybe?

N830MH

Yes, they will receives 7 more A320ceo to be delivered in 4th quarter of 2014. Also, they will receives 5 more A320ceo to be delivered in the 1st quarter of 2015