Originally Posted by
knope2001
My use of the word “flippant” wasn’t to suggest that Milwaukee should be immune to cuts, and to be frank it was aimed at some participants on the airliners.net board (where I also posted this) who tend to be dismissive. The point was to as specifically, what additional flying should be cut of what remains at Milwaukee.
Fair enough. I didn't see your posts on airliners.net until this morning but saw things were starting to get a little "heated" over there, lol.
Overall, it's hard for me to disagree with your analysis.
My concern about the RJ operation in Milwaukee is based on comments Bedford recently made about not being able to make money on any flight with the E170 or smaller aircraft in the current oil and revenue environment. That sounded pretty alarming given that neither situation is likely to change in the short-term (and high oil prices are likely going to be the new norm). With that said, sometimes what Bedford says is more of a generalization so it's entirely possible some flights are currently in the black and the real problems are elsewhere.
As far as what changes should further be made to the MKE hub, I'll offer the following thoughts:
1) Make connections for passengers originating in some of Frontier's Western network easier with better schedules/frequency. This is especially true for routes like BDL, EWR, PHL, PIT, etc. Essentially passengers not living in MKE or key feeder cities have only one flight per day to choose from. Having, say, three well-timed flights in each direction should increase the appeal of Frontier to a wider passenger base and allow them to get some decent connecting traffic which in turn will make the MKE hub stronger overall.
2) Florida. Frontier should switch PIE back to TPA and operate it with an E190 during non-peak periods (perhaps 5x per week during early fall). FLL should be a decent enough market to be flown daily from December-August. The route could also do well if it's operated on weekends during non-peak periods with flights timed well for cruise traffic. Alternatively, Frontier could investigate adding MIA service (it has the potential to be a good route from DEN and MCI as well and avoids direct competition with Southwest).
3) Increase frequency AND use larger aircraft in the key feeder markets of OMA, MSP, MSN, and GRR. MSP in particular is one market where Frontier could capture even a larger share of the local O&D market with a few better timed flights.
If they would undertake any of the above, I certainly don't expect to see any of the changes before next spring.
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, it appears as if Southwest is preparing to make some changes to the FL schedules around November 21st. That is the date they announced DFW service would end. It also seems likely that some of the DCA and LGA slots could be allocated elsewhere around that timeframe as well.
If there are no major changes to the competitive and revenue environment in MKE by next spring, then all bets are off.