Originally Posted by
Jerseyguy
Yes, ILG and TTN can both work for F9, it doesn't have to be either or, it can be both. There are places that F9 is not going to ever draw from to TTN that ILG would be good alternative. Nothing south of Philadelphia on the PA side, No one will not only pass PHL but go thru Downtown Philly as well. The Exton/Downingtown/West Chester Area. Northeast Baltimore Suburbs, DE/MD Peninsula between Newark, DE and Dover. Southwest Jersey between Cherry Hill and DE is an easy sell for ILG.
I think the coverage areas are larger than that. I know people that will go from Malvern to Hamilton Station, NJ to catch the train directly from there to reach NYC rather than board at the nearest SEPTA stop and transfer. So, TTN would be about the same distance as Hamilton Station for them when they come from Malvern. I think for the right flight people will drive that far.
I don't think PHL pax will drive as far as JFK or DCA or IAD for a domestic flight though. Even BWI and EWR are getting to become long hikes (with traffic and toll hikes), especially BWI. It's fine for someone flying into the area to save some money where the pax can rent a car at BWI and not put miles on their own car. Atleast EWR has easy train return, although I dislike when the NJ Transit trains are not double decker and are full from people who boarded in NYC.
The good thing about ILG is Wilmington does have a bus station and train station with good service up and down from the Philly to Baltimore markets. This is unlike Allentown which is more isolated. NJ has Greyhound at Mt.Laurel, where one can take a bus to Wilmington that doesn't go through Philly. This can work for those in So. NJ who fly F9 one-way and return another carrier.
I think Frontier's ILG flights to Florida and DEN have staying power, but I'm not so certain that ILG-MDW is viable if TTN-MDW is shored up as daily year round. Similar with DTW and maybe ATL services from ILG. Also, I've noticed WN dropping BWI-MDW fares relatively recently because of the DCA-MDW introduction, so the novelty of ILG-MDW for the Baltimorean and Delawarean might be less appealing when BWI-MDW fares are low. When first introduced, it was cheap to book a ticket with just a one week notice.
I was thinking that F9 could offer ILG-DFW, maybe instead of MDW and DTW after the summer, but have it 5x weekly Mon-Fri or greater, fares at $89 and up, with a departure between 6am-9am out of ILG, to capture the flexible business traveler from the Philly market, and offer something unique for the TTN/ILG customerbase it has as well. Maybe IAH can be tried again with a 5-6x weekly schedule, fares at $89 and up, with AM departure? I think the old F9 (pre Indigo) tried that route with not enough frequency, possible late departure times (where departure from PHL and connection through WN would reach HOU earlier) and too low fares for the route that it wasn't sustainable.
PHL-DFW is a near monopoly and US/AA charge no less than $200 one-way on most of the flights with the exception for the last flight of the night where it competes with Spirit. As US/AA consolidate, I'm sure the DFW and FLL fares will rise with limited direct competitors.