KCI Flight Schedule Adjustments

[Missionite]

It's not a huge addition, but Mesa Airlines will be offering new non-stop/direct service from KCI to Hot Springs, AR and Harrison, AR via their Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. Mesa also offers non-stop service to Omaha from KCI.

Press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050922/lath037.html?.v=28

In other news, Midwest will be switching its non-stop San Francisco service from signature to saver service. This will be the first flight from KC with saver service. It's not a move that I particularly approve of (just because I'm spoiled with their signature service), but if it makes sense for Midwest and helps their bottom line, I'll live with it.

Matt

[hartliss]

Matt,
    Yea I saw that yesterday as well.  Whenever I flew MCI-OMA last month, I took Mesa and the lady at the counter mentioned that they were going to start Hot Springs, AK service.

In other news America West and US Airways will be combining ticket counters in Terminal A on October 11, 2005.  Just FYI for everyone.

AirTran will be moving to gate 15 in Terminal A on September 28, 2005, to make room for the America West/ US Airways merger.

[NVJunkie]

Well, it appears Delta Connection is making a move following Midwest...2x daily service to Orlando.

Delta is adding more MCO cities.

2x daily non-stop service to Kansas City starts 1 December 2005:

DL 4905 MCO 1200-1400 MCI CRJ Daily
DL 4921 MCO 1830-2030 MCI CRJ Daily

DL 4778 MCI 0800-1135 MCO CRJ Daily
DL 4915 MCI 1430-1805 MCO CRJ Daily
(Operated by ASA)

Give me a Midwest 717 any day over one of these damn Regional Jets. Nice to see some service being added considering DL has dropped 2 ATL flights and 1 SLC flight...not to mention the foreseen cuts to cincinatti.

[hartliss]

Yea it looks like they are bringing back some old DL-X routes.  Remember Delta served MCO 3X a day before 9/11.  This will bring N/S to MCO up to 6X a day via WN, YX, and DL.  Should be interesting to see which ones pan out.  I am rooting for YX to stay on the route.  It seems like Delta is just trying to see what works in the midst of their bankruptcy.  Who really wants to spend 2.5-3hrs on a RJ anyways?  Either way good to see the new service for MCI travellers.  I always thought Delta had one too many flights a day to Atlanta.  I wasn't aware of 1 flight being cut from SLC, from my understanding those flights always perform consistently well.



NV: That was an awfully quick post on that release.  Do you work for Delta or something?  I saw that PR was only put up at about 9:30 this morning (9/27).

[eliphar17]

It's kind of fun to read these occasional posts about airline service, mostly because it's a challenge to figure out what the initials stand for. MCO? WN? YX? DL? SLC? CRJ? ASA? Here are my guesses:

MCO - Mostly Catholic Outpost - must be St. Louis
WN - Weather Never - probably Hawaiian Airlines or something
YX - Young Xylophonists - somewhere that goes to Memphis, maybe FedEx?
DL - Down Low (in the South) - so Delta... or wait, what if it were Australian Airlines?
SLC - Salt Lake City - could be anything by an ocean, but I'll guess Pensacola
CRJ - Can't Read Jack - Charleston, WV
ASA - Arctic Snow Accumulation - Anchorage, AK

[hartliss]

In other service announcements:

Northwest will cut their 3X daily to Milwaukee.  Last day of service will be Oct. 30, 2005.  This is obviously due to the fact that they a) filed for bankruptcy b) loads on those flights consistently ran below 50%.

American Airlines is temporarily cutting one of thier flights to DFW, so that number will go from 12 to 11 dailies.  Not much of a loss there. 

[NVJunkie]

The NW announcement isnt a surprise...YX will always be the king on that one...most MKE travelers are people who do it regularly, and a 717 w/ business class seating is alot more appealing than an RJ with crap seating. Unfortunatley, this means a decrease once again in traffic for our airport...it seems like for every flight we gain, we lose one or two more!!

[hartliss]

Midwest Airlines will be adding new nonstop service between KC and Tampa.  This service will commence on Dec. 15.  They also announced an added frequency to Ft. Lauderdale.

[Missionite]

Southwest made a lot of hoopla today about the fact that they are entering the Denver market. There were rumors that MCI would be one of the first few cities from DEN, but no luck. I guess we'll have to stick with higher fares on that route a little while longer.

Southwest did announce today that they are adding additional non-stops from KCI beginning February 5th. They are...

MCI-Tampa (one additional flight for a total of 2 daily non-stops)
MCI-San Diego (one additional flight for a total of 2 daily non-stops)
MCI-Indianapolis (one additional flight for a total of 2 daily non-stops)
MCI-St. Louis (one additional flight for a total of 6 daily non-stops)

The San Diego and Tampa flights seem to be in retaliation against Midwest's new service to those markets. And, while it's good to see the extra competition there is a small price to pay. It looks like Southwest is dropping non-stop service to two markets from KC. We will lose our one daily non-stop to Providence in addition to Southwest's one daily non-stop to Salt Lake City. Delta will now be the only non-stop carrier on that route while Providence will no longer see non-stop service from KC. That's a shame. They are also reducing the number of flights from KC to Albuquerque from three to two. So, in all, we only gain one flight a day.

In other news, it looks like Senator Kit Bond is close to having Missouri added to the list of states included in the Wright Amendment. If successful, Southwest promises that "the residents of Kansas City and St. Louis will be rewarded." Whatever that means. If it means no more two-stepping through OKC or Tulsa on Southwest, or forking over a half-grand to American for a non-stop to Dallas, I'm all for it.

Matt

[Missionite]

Since KCI is finally starting to see a rise in traffic and number of flights to and from our city, I thought it might just be best to create a new topic to discuss and post miscellaneous flight adjustments and schedule enhancements/changes here for the few aviation buffs on the board.

I'll start with a minor addition from our friends at United Airlines. It looks like they're adding a few new flights from San Antonio, including one daily non-stop to KC. The flight will be on United Express aboard their Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft (regional jet). Service begins March 3rd.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051122/cgtu043.html

Since Midwest has dominated on this route with their two daily non-stops, I think that only they most loyal United frequent flyers will even use this route. And, from the looks of things, it won't be a cheap flight. I checked and united.com has the flight for around $360 round-trip. 

Matt

[NVJunkie]

Great idea on the Thread Matt. That one had totally slipped my attention.

[KansasCityChiefs]

Has Southwest installed all leather seats yet? Are they working on it, or is that just a rumor?

[hartliss]

Southwest continues to install leather seats on all of their aircraft.  They also continue to repaint their aircraft purple, with orange bellies.

[KansasCityChiefs]

Southwest is my favorite airline for the money. They are always on time when I fly them, unlike US Air... Which is terrible.

[cityscape]

US Air is the worst airline ever.  I have never been on a flight with them that has been on time or didn't have some type of mechanical trouble and their flight attendants complain about everything. 

I am hoping that eventually either Midwest or Southwest will make KC a primary hub for them.  I think Midwest is closer to doing this than Southwest but we'll have to wait and see.

[NVJunkie]

US Airways is pretty shitty...havent really had much luck w/ them, and Phily is delay-ridden. As for Midwest, they are fantastic, and i hope they keep their product up for a while. I'd expect them to keep growing here, evenutally opening a Flight Attendant base, and maybe reopening the call center. It was rumored that they were mulling a HQ change to MCI a few years back b/c of WI government issues ore something....but expect them to stay in Milwaukee, they have a pretty decent operation up there.

[bahua]

I've flown US Airways a number of times, and I've been on time a couple of times. That said, they seem to employ some of the meanest flight attendants in the industry.

[Tosspot]

I flew US Airways to Spain and back in 2004, don't recall any specific problems.

Am flying on United Airlines for the first time right after Christmas -- your experiences?

[bahua]

After years of flying on Southwest almost exclusively, it feels like I'm in an old movie to have to walk through the first class section, with all the people trying to avoid eye contact. I almost feel like some dude is going to go around shining people's shoes. I guess the airline makes a good deal of money from these passengers, but obviously not enough to keep from getting bailed out by Uncle Sam.

United is big on the "classes." Don't hassle our first class passengers.

[Tosspot]

After years of flying on Southwest almost exclusively, it feels like I'm in an old movie to have to walk through the first class section, with all the people trying to avoid eye contact. I almost feel like some dude is going to go around shining people's shoes. I guess the airline makes a good deal of money from these passengers, but obviously not enough to keep from getting bailed out by Uncle Sam.

United is big on the "classes." Don't hassle our first class passengers.

Well, we mustn't be permissive of the bourgeoisie intermingling frequently with the sullen, lumpen unwashed hordes of workaday miscreants. That would be Un-American.