FNT-MSP to be Discontinued 12/18
Nov 27, 2018, 8:58 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,021
You and I sound like the same person. FNT born and raised. ATL-ien for many years. I wore out the AirTran ATL-FNT route for many years.
I visited FNT for Thanksgiving and the airport seemed just fine. Multiple Frontier flights, United connections, etc. DL's ATL flight was 2x per day which seems lower than normal.
When I lived in RDU, the RDU-DTW (or even GSP-DTW) flights were just too convenient.
As an interesting side-note, one of the executive directors of RDU (overseeing its explosive growth and recent renovations) spent many years at FNT and was involved in its renovation a while back.
I visited FNT for Thanksgiving and the airport seemed just fine. Multiple Frontier flights, United connections, etc. DL's ATL flight was 2x per day which seems lower than normal.
When I lived in RDU, the RDU-DTW (or even GSP-DTW) flights were just too convenient.
As an interesting side-note, one of the executive directors of RDU (overseeing its explosive growth and recent renovations) spent many years at FNT and was involved in its renovation a while back.
Dec 11, 2018, 5:55 pm
#32
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Posts: 1,752
This also pretty much means no west coast connections on DL into FNT. No way am I flying SFO-ATL-FNT when I could do SFO-ORD-FNT (UA) or non stop SFO-DTW.
I also wonder if UA (finally) starting non stop service from SFO-DTW had some influence in this.
I also wonder if UA (finally) starting non stop service from SFO-DTW had some influence in this.
Dec 11, 2018, 6:19 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,021
How much do you imagine the once daily SFO-DTW UA flight on an A319, took away from the MSP-FNT flight? I'm pretty that flight alone was not the tipping point for the flight. Surely most who switched to that flight to get to FNT were already flying SFO-ORD-FNT, not SFO-MSP-FNT on DL. I'm going to bet it was mostly DL people who tired of flying the CRJ-200 to MSP when they could drive to DTW and get mainline non-stop routes out west, or mainline to MSP.
Last edited by xliioper; Dec 11, 2018 at 6:26 pm
Dec 11, 2018, 7:32 pm
#35
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
How much do you imagine the once daily SFO-DTW UA flight on an A319, took away from the MSP-FNT flight? I'm pretty that flight alone was not the tipping point for the flight. Surely most who switched to that flight to get to FNT were already flying SFO-ORD-FNT, not SFO-MSP-FNT on DL. I'm going to bet it was mostly DL people who tired of flying the CRJ-200 to MSP when they could drive to DTW and get mainline non-stop routes out west, or mainline to MSP.
Dec 12, 2018, 3:50 am
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,021
I would assume most people flying the once daily SFO-DTW flight just to get to FNT are doing it because they are UA flyers, not DL flyers and thus were in the habit of flying SFO-ORD-FNT instead of SFO-MSP-FNT. Still not really seeing how a once daily flight (which doesn't even go to FNT) somehow doomed the MSP-FNT flight. If you wanted to avoid to RJ flights to FNT, there were already numerous non-stop and connecting options to DTW to do that.
Dec 12, 2018, 5:33 am
#38
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
I can't imagine there is a much of a Flint or greater Flint diaspora in San Francisco.
A few years ago when Delta eliminated Flint–Detroit they claimed their internal data showed most Flint customers were flying south to or through Atlanta even before Detroit was dropped. Considering the large African-American demographic in the Flint area this is understandable. But even more so when you fly Flint–Atlanta and see all the vacationers going to Florida and the Caribbean.
A few years ago when Delta eliminated Flint–Detroit they claimed their internal data showed most Flint customers were flying south to or through Atlanta even before Detroit was dropped. Considering the large African-American demographic in the Flint area this is understandable. But even more so when you fly Flint–Atlanta and see all the vacationers going to Florida and the Caribbean.
Last edited by hockeyinsider; Dec 12, 2018 at 5:44 am
Dec 12, 2018, 6:26 am
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: DTW
Programs: DL - PM, (NW - Plat), AA - Gold, Marriott - Plat, Avis - First
Posts: 955
FNT largely capitalizes on the fun/sun crowd going to Florida (which pulls from a huge swath of Mid-Michigan), and to destinations that you have to connect over ATL anyways versus cannot obtain an nonstop from DTW.
I am equi-distant from DTW and FNT and 95% of the time use DTW. I use FNT when I have to connect in ATL anyways. The problem I have with FNT vs. DTW is there is a flight from ATL-DTW nearly every 60-90 minutes, versus 3 a day to FNT. Oftentimes the connections and departure/arrival times favor DTW versus FNT since when flying from FNT is usually means I'm on a 6am departure and arriving back at 11:30pm. At least with DTW-ATL connections I can leave at 7-9 am-ish and often find a flight that arrives back at 6-9pm-ish.
I am equi-distant from DTW and FNT and 95% of the time use DTW. I use FNT when I have to connect in ATL anyways. The problem I have with FNT vs. DTW is there is a flight from ATL-DTW nearly every 60-90 minutes, versus 3 a day to FNT. Oftentimes the connections and departure/arrival times favor DTW versus FNT since when flying from FNT is usually means I'm on a 6am departure and arriving back at 11:30pm. At least with DTW-ATL connections I can leave at 7-9 am-ish and often find a flight that arrives back at 6-9pm-ish.
Dec 12, 2018, 9:49 am
#40
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: Delta Gold, Marriott Platinum, Former Amtrak Select, Former Hilton Gold
Posts: 422
Dec 12, 2018, 1:12 pm
#41
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
FNT largely capitalizes on the fun/sun crowd going to Florida (which pulls from a huge swath of Mid-Michigan), and to destinations that you have to connect over ATL anyways versus cannot obtain an nonstop from DTW.
I am equi-distant from DTW and FNT and 95% of the time use DTW. I use FNT when I have to connect in ATL anyways. The problem I have with FNT vs. DTW is there is a flight from ATL-DTW nearly every 60-90 minutes, versus 3 a day to FNT. Oftentimes the connections and departure/arrival times favor DTW versus FNT since when flying from FNT is usually means I'm on a 6am departure and arriving back at 11:30pm. At least with DTW-ATL connections I can leave at 7-9 am-ish and often find a flight that arrives back at 6-9pm-ish.
I am equi-distant from DTW and FNT and 95% of the time use DTW. I use FNT when I have to connect in ATL anyways. The problem I have with FNT vs. DTW is there is a flight from ATL-DTW nearly every 60-90 minutes, versus 3 a day to FNT. Oftentimes the connections and departure/arrival times favor DTW versus FNT since when flying from FNT is usually means I'm on a 6am departure and arriving back at 11:30pm. At least with DTW-ATL connections I can leave at 7-9 am-ish and often find a flight that arrives back at 6-9pm-ish.