Omaha Expansion
Sep 8, 2010 | 10:47 pm
#16
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,800
1) Use of a more economical aircraft. Instead of flying the route with a 717 missing 1/3rd of the seats Frontier will operate the OMA flights with an efficient and cost effective E190.
2) Besides the non-stop option, Frontier offers a number of connecting options via DEN. During the 2007 try, Midwest only offered an early morning departure with a late evening return. There were no other options available to OMA travelers if the flight times weren't desirable or if the aircraft was full.
3) In 2007, Midwest faced competition from Express Jet, who was operating 50 seat ERJs on the OMA-ONT/SAN toutes. This no doubt took traffic from the Midwest non-stops and really hurt yields. All non-stop competition is gone.
OMA-LAX was always a route that looked good on paper but never really worked-out for Midwest. With the DEN hub close by and the use of a more appropriate aircraft, I suspect things will work out differently this time.
Sep 12, 2010 | 11:43 am
#17
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 325
There are a few things working in Frontier's favor this time around:
1) Use of a more economical aircraft. Instead of flying the route with a 717 missing 1/3rd of the seats Frontier will operate the OMA flights with an efficient and cost effective E190.
And RAH has many more assets to spread their costs around than Midwest ever had.
2) Besides the non-stop option, Frontier offers a number of connecting options via DEN. During the 2007 try, Midwest only offered an early morning departure with a late evening return. There were no other options available to OMA travelers if the flight times weren't desirable or if the aircraft was full.
One could argue DEN is the ideal place to make an OMA connection, versus ORD.
3) In 2007, Midwest faced competition from Express Jet, who was operating 50 seat ERJs on the OMA-ONT/SAN toutes. This no doubt took traffic from the Midwest non-stops and really hurt yields. All non-stop competition is gone.
WN could launch N/S service; it would be a minor marginal cost for them to do so.
OMA-LAX was always a route that looked good on paper but never really worked-out for Midwest. With the DEN hub close by and the use of a more appropriate aircraft, I suspect things will work out differently this time.
1) Use of a more economical aircraft. Instead of flying the route with a 717 missing 1/3rd of the seats Frontier will operate the OMA flights with an efficient and cost effective E190.
And RAH has many more assets to spread their costs around than Midwest ever had.
2) Besides the non-stop option, Frontier offers a number of connecting options via DEN. During the 2007 try, Midwest only offered an early morning departure with a late evening return. There were no other options available to OMA travelers if the flight times weren't desirable or if the aircraft was full.
One could argue DEN is the ideal place to make an OMA connection, versus ORD.
3) In 2007, Midwest faced competition from Express Jet, who was operating 50 seat ERJs on the OMA-ONT/SAN toutes. This no doubt took traffic from the Midwest non-stops and really hurt yields. All non-stop competition is gone.
WN could launch N/S service; it would be a minor marginal cost for them to do so.
OMA-LAX was always a route that looked good on paper but never really worked-out for Midwest. With the DEN hub close by and the use of a more appropriate aircraft, I suspect things will work out differently this time.