Yep, Direct Air is flying from Springfield to Myrtle Beach

1 comment February 26th, 2009

Our fine friends down at the State Journal-Register are all over it. I did a non-thorough search and missed their article from earlier today.

This is pretty cool, because it shows Direct Air is doing well enough to keep expanding…

Is Direct Air about to start flying out of Springfield?

Add comment February 26th, 2009

Not verified yet, but Springfield, IL, is now listed on Direct Air’s Web site as a city you can fly from. With a little bit of futzing around, I was able to find tickets on sale for SPI-Myrtle Beach, S.C. starting May 24.

This is interesting but not out of the realm of possibility. Direct Air has been expanding across the Midwest for a while (including, of course, RFD).

(Hat tip to TheAirDB, a Web site that collects data about airline route information from what the airlines post in their online booking systems, for the tip.)

Craig was right, the sky is the limit on new RFD destinations

12 comments February 26th, 2009

As Register Star political editor Chuck Sweeny first reported, the potential new destinations out of Chicago Rockford International Airport will be via a new-to-Rockford airline.

Frequent reader Craig Knauss noted Chuck’s comments and noted that means that the list of possible destinations is wider than I’ve been working with. Forgive me for my lack of imagination - as I told Bob O’Brien, it’s not that I doubt RFD’s ability to attract a new airline, it’s that I can’t see many airlines considering such a move right now. Looks like I’m wrong.

Here are additional details I learned from Bob today:

•  Obligatory comment he makes whenever we have this type of conversation - “I’m always cautiously optimistic. I would hate to disappoint  the community if for some reason we couldn’t deliver.”
• The airline he’s talking to would add one or two destinations.
• Bob said the destinations would elicit a “wow” from the community. These aren’t small-time destinations.
• “It’s not Southwest but Southwest could serve these places.” I take that to mean these are either cities in regions Southwest likes to serve, or secondary airports in big metro areas. Or he’s just underscoring the previous point that they’re quality destinations.
• They’re not in Florida. In fact, “They are not within hundreds of miles of any existing destination we have.”
• The announcement could come in the first two weeks of March. Flights would start before June 21.
• Bob recently started talking to a second new airline about a third potential destination.

I know, this is bordering on 20 questions (”Is it bigger than a breadbox? Is it bigger than Duluth?”), but I hope those details help. More as I get them.

After talking to Bob, here are my new “what could it be?” ideas:

• One of the New York secondary airports - Islip, Stewart or Westchester County. Oh please let it be one of those. I have two trips to NYC coming up.
• A Texas destination, possibly near the Mexican border.
• Baltimore
• New Orleans
• Buffalo/Niagara - because, dangit, I’m not giving up my first guess.

But, really, the door seems wide open. I’m just glad that, potentially, it’s a destination I’m likely to fly to … what do you folks think?

RFD says new destinations expected “very soon”

4 comments February 25th, 2009

Chicago Rockford International Airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien said today that the airport’s “Guess2Win” promotion is “quickly wrapping up as an announcement revealing the two new destinations is expected very soon.”

In a release today, he also outlined another 15 cities that are NOT the new destinations, based on “unique” guesses in the contest.  This is in addition to the 15 he listed last week. This round is more realistic … no moon shots:

Bellingham, Wash.; Charlotte, N.C.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Duluth, Minn.; Fargo, N.D.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Key West, Fla.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Paris, France; Raleigh, N.C.; Reno, Nev.; San Diego, Calif.; Savannah, Ga.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Toronto, Ontario.

Some good guesses here - Bellingham, Colorado Springs and San Diego are Allegiant cities that could someday work from RFD … but not yet. Savannah has been eyed by Allegiant as a long-term place to expand. Kalamazoo is not an option, but it is a Direct Air city, so people are paying attention….

Bob has also confirmed to me that it’s NOT LAX, Allegiant’s new destination.

I still think one of them is Niagara Falls, but I admit to being stumped, and my research is getting me nowhere. I  think other possible candidates are Newark, N.J. (a Direct Air city), any Carnival Cruise Lines port (New Orleans, New York, Norfolk and Melbourne, Fla., have been previously mentioned) and anywhere AeroMexico or Aple Vacations fly to.

Or, you know, something totally different.

Now I have “All aboard America, all aboard Amtrak” stuck in my head

3 comments February 24th, 2009

(Thanks to Infrastructurist - a new favorite blog here at the Passenger Seat - for the heads up.)

Many of these were before my time, but of course I remember that jingle. Talk about iconic.

Infrastructurist makes a good point about Amtrak, in light of the stimulus talk:

But these ads also underscore that for more than 30 years, Amtrak has been a static entity. Adjusting for hair styles and production fads, the spots from the Ford administration could still be running today. The only substantive development that your average passenger could point to in the last three decades would be the introduction of high-speed Acela service in late 2000 (a year behind schedule).

The $8 billion in rail funding that Obama demanded be in the stimulus package probably marks the beginning of a new age of rail in this country. … Which probably means Amtrak should get a new ad agency.

Bonus trivia question - who sang the “All aboard America, all aboard Amtrak” jingle?

RFD not getting flights to St. Louis … or The Moon

2 comments February 20th, 2009

Chicago Rockford International Airport just sent out a release about its “Guess our next two nonstop destinations” contest. Since it started a couple of days ago, more than 6,000 guesses have been made.

Apparently Bob O’Brien has two destinations in mind because he said, “We’ve seen  some people guess correctly and we’ve seen some people whose gueses are, let’s just say, very unique destinations.”

The “unique guesses” that are wrong are: Bangor, ME; Baton Rouge, LA; Boise, ID; Cedar Rapids, IA; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Des Moines, IA; Freeport, IL; Quebec, QC; Quincy, IL; Rome, Italy; Santa Fe, NM;  Saskatoon, SK; St. Louis, MO; Wichita, KS … and The Moon.

St. Louis isthe only one on there that I think would be a serious contender sometime. Just not this time.

My guesses, for what little it’s worth, are Direct Air destinations Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Newark, N.J. The former is a very educated guess (two of my blog readers agree), the latter is very wishful thinking.

Other candidates, I would say, are LAX, somewhere in south Texas or a Mexican destination. But Allegiant doesn’t seem ready to do RFD-LAX, and a Mexican carrier would seemingly need more time to apply for permits…

But Bob has surprised me before. Who knows.

Ireland flights still dead for now

Add comment February 18th, 2009

Just talked to Bob Nay, sales and marketing director for Kenny Tours, He said they’re holding off on plans to start scheduled charter service from airports like RFD to Shannon, Ireland, until the economy turns around … probably not before 2011. It makes sense - few people are flying so  international airfares are dropping as carriers (and their hotel and travel agency partners) try to fill seats. Hard time to undercut them with new, lower-cost service, and particularly hard time for a totally new air-service provider to start up.

But Mr. Nay said Kenny will be back looking at flights when things pick up, and will continue to eye RFD.

“There’s no question. The market is there, the money is not,” he said.

RFD to announce two new destinations … sometime

2 comments February 18th, 2009

Interesting email blast from Chicago Rockford International Airport’s MilesAhead customer rewards program:

Guess RFD’s NEXT 2 New Destinations and Win!!

Win your choice of four (4) Round-Trip Tickets* to one of RFD’s two new destinations, OR two (2) Round-Trip Tickets* to Cancun. Just guess what RFD’s next two new destinations are going to be in order and you could win. Entries will be accepted up to the evening before the announcement of the next two new destinations. Winners will be revealed at the press conference. Increase your odds by telling your friends to enter and splitting the winnings.

 So, what does Bob O’Brien got up his sleeve. Well here’s what he told me:

• “I’m certainly prepared to elaborate more early next week.”
• “We’re not using a countdown clock but … I hope the contest wouldn’t last too long.” - indicating things aren’t finalized but something is in the works.
• There are several reasons for the email blast - to get people excited about potential airport destinations, to get people’s ideas for what should be future destinations, to retain “top of mind” awareness for the 42,000+ MilesAhead members and to promote other regional events in the blast.

I have some totally uneducated guessed floating around in my head, one of which I would bet good money on. Another is totally wishful thinking on my part.  You can bet I’ll shake some trees to see what’s going on…

What do you folks think it will be?

Looks like Allegiant is going to LA

Add comment February 6th, 2009

According to the Argus Leader in South Dakota, Allegiant Air’s new “sunny” destination will be the Los Angeles area (and, no surprise, it’ll likely be one of the smaller alternatives to LAX).

This makes all kinds of sense - Los Angeles is the biggest destination in California, could provide strong traffic both inbound and outbound and has several smaller airports looking for service. I just didn’t think Allegiant was ready to make such a bold move (this should become their number 3 destination behind Vegas and Orlando) in this climate, but they very well may be.

Sadly, Rockford doesn’t get the service, at least not to start. But I know airport officials here have identified LA as a potential route eventually. Who knows what will happen? Not me; after all, I guessed San Diego.

Direct Air to use larger planes at RFD in March

1 comment February 6th, 2009

More good news on Direct Air’s service from Rockford to Punta Gorda, Fla., and Myrtle Beach, S.C. Earlier this week, they extended service through the summer because of good sales.

Turns out, according to RFD officials, they’re flying a bigger plane than planned starting in March. Instead of a 105-seat DC 9, it’ll use a 136-seat Boeing 737. Airport officials say the change adds the equivalant of 13 additional flights this spring.

And fans of the Virgin America planes that have mood lighting, in-seat entertainment centers and other fun stuff shouldn’t fret. Those planes will be back on both routes as early as May.