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[Network Speculation] Points of Opportunity (other than HI, AS, and Int'l)

[Network Speculation] Points of Opportunity (other than HI, AS, and Int'l)

Old Oct 8, 2017, 11:55 am
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[Network Speculation] Points of Opportunity (other than HI, AS, and Int'l)

I thought it might be a fun thing to speculate on where WN could grow domestically. Only perimeters I would suggest would be domestic mainland only. Please let your arguments and thoughts be of sound mind and well informed.
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Old Oct 8, 2017, 12:07 pm
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There is 5 cities where I think would fill in WN's operations well.

1 & 2) FAT & SBA would fit right in with their Cali focus real well. I could see FAT supporting up to 10 flights (some seasonal, some year round) to OAK, DEN, PHX, and SAN. And, SBA supporting 5 or 6, a mix between OAK,SMF, and LAS.

3) ABE. EWR draws a lot of people from Eastern PA. They have a rebounding economy and could support maybe 10 flights. I could see MDW X3, BNA X2, DEN, PHX, LAS, FLL, and MCO all X1. Just my thoughts. BWI might just be too close to be significantly profitable out of ABE due to close proximate.

4) SYR could handle 5 flights. BWI and MDW would fit nicely.

5) AVP would be the last of my 5. 3 BWI and 2 MDW would work nicely. Saturdays and Sundays, maybe trade one BWI flight for and MCO or FLL.

One that might be a distant though would be VPS (Fort Walton Beach). 3 year round to BNA and HOU (like PNS and ECP) would be fine but I can see hesitation as it might drawn too much during the slow season away from PNS and ECP.
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Old Oct 8, 2017, 1:19 pm
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If Southwest had smaller aircraft, secondary California cities like Santa Barbara, Monterey or Salinas, or even San Luis Obispo might work. As traffic gets worse year by year, suburban cities like Santa Rosa or Simi Valley might become viable stations. Monterey and Santa Rosa already have service using commuter aircraft. Those customers might switch to Southwest for larger more comfortable aircraft at lower fares.
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Old Oct 8, 2017, 7:46 pm
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Originally Posted by Seat13c
I thought it might be a fun thing to speculate on where WN could grow domestically. Only perimeters I would suggest would be domestic mainland only. Please let your arguments and thoughts be of sound mind and well informed.
Do you also mean other the cities that were already mentioned in this thread:(where SBA has also already been discussed)?

No, you just mentioned them again (without pointing out that there was already a thread about them):

Originally Posted by Seat13c
1 & 2) FAT & SBA would fit right in with their Cali focus real well. I could see FAT supporting up to 10 flights (some seasonal, some year round) to OAK, DEN, PHX, and SAN. And, SBA supporting 5 or 6, a mix between OAK,SMF, and LAS.
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Old Oct 8, 2017, 10:19 pm
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CCR (Buchanan Field, Concord, CA) used to have service from PSA and, if I recall correctly, USAir. That was well before the population of Contra Costa County and environs swelled.

Longest runway is 5,000 feet, so I am not sure if that is adequate for a fully loaded 737. I think PSA flew BAE146s in and out of CCR.

My dream airport for Southwest service is Astoria, Oregon.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 8:19 am
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Completely self-serving post but I wish WN could find a way to grab one gate at SRQ. 2xMDW, 1xBWI, 1xATL, 1xMSY, 1xBNA, 1xSTL, 1xLGA.

Our proximity to TPA and RSW probably hurts, but WN manages to operate at PBI with FLL just down the road. Same with LGB and LAX.

SRQ is so freaking easy that I find myself considering UA there (!) vs. 60-90 minutes to WN at TPA.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 8:38 am
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I would be thrilled if SYR was added to the network (Let's Go Orange!)

Originally Posted by Seat13c
There is 5 cities where I think would fill in WN's operations well.

1 & 2) FAT & SBA would fit right in with their Cali focus real well. I could see FAT supporting up to 10 flights (some seasonal, some year round) to OAK, DEN, PHX, and SAN. And, SBA supporting 5 or 6, a mix between OAK,SMF, and LAS.

3) ABE. EWR draws a lot of people from Eastern PA. They have a rebounding economy and could support maybe 10 flights. I could see MDW X3, BNA X2, DEN, PHX, LAS, FLL, and MCO all X1. Just my thoughts. BWI might just be too close to be significantly profitable out of ABE due to close proximate.

4) SYR could handle 5 flights. BWI and MDW would fit nicely.

5) AVP would be the last of my 5. 3 BWI and 2 MDW would work nicely. Saturdays and Sundays, maybe trade one BWI flight for and MCO or FLL.

One that might be a distant though would be VPS (Fort Walton Beach). 3 year round to BNA and HOU (like PNS and ECP) would be fine but I can see hesitation as it might drawn too much during the slow season away from PNS and ECP.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 10:20 am
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I wish WN would consider trying seasonal markets, even if that means only serving them during certain parts of the year. JAC, EGE, PSP come to mind.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 10:31 am
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Originally Posted by alggag
I wish WN would consider trying seasonal markets, even if that means only serving them during certain parts of the year. JAC, EGE, PSP come to mind.
YES!
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 4:47 pm
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Originally Posted by dlaue
CCR (Buchanan Field, Concord, CA) used to have service from PSA and, if I recall correctly, USAir. That was well before the population of Contra Costa County and environs swelled.

Longest runway is 5,000 feet, so I am not sure if that is adequate for a fully loaded 737. I think PSA flew BAE146s in and out of CCR.

My dream airport for Southwest service is Astoria, Oregon.
QX is probably more likely than WN. Even if the runway were long enough they would be cannibalizing business from OAK to a large extent.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 6:23 pm
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Originally Posted by ucdtim17
QX is probably more likely than WN. Even if the runway were long enough they would be cannibalizing business from OAK to a large extent.
That didn't stop Southwest from opening the SFO station. Flight count from OAK to LAX is way, way down since pre-SFO.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 11:30 pm
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How about McKinney TX or a Fort Worth location?

McKinney would make sense just as Burbank or Ontario does for the LA market. There is a huge amount of growth in the Collin County area and north.

Not sure if there is an existing FW airport that could be used profitably but it would certainly become a favorite for anyone on the other side of DFW Airport.
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Old Oct 9, 2017, 11:34 pm
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Billings MT, Bismark ND or Williston ND would become favorites for anyone working in the oil industry up there. Williston would also poach some Canadian fliers.

A flight or two each day to San Angelo TX would sure be nice to see, again for anyone that has family or business in the area.
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Old Oct 10, 2017, 4:20 am
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Not gonna happen with SDF and CVG, but I sure liked ATA in LEX.
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Old Oct 10, 2017, 5:58 am
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Originally Posted by alggag
I wish WN would consider trying seasonal markets, even if that means only serving them during certain parts of the year. JAC, EGE, PSP come to mind.
A purely seasonal city would be a huge change for WN. I don't see it anytime soon. However, SAV, MYR, and VPS might work on the east coast if they come around on the idea. But they might have too many opertunities with year round HI, AS, int'l, and current "dots" being connected.
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