(YEG) Edmonton International Airport Part 4 (October 2023)

[Xelebes]

This thread is to replace the previous thread which has passed the 10,000 posts mark.

[Harrison]

Crazy that the previous thread was started over 9 years ago!

[LO 044]

From A.net after someone asked the question.

AC853 wrote:
Is KLM upguaging YEG from an A332 to 78X for winter as the next few flights are scheduled as Dreamliners?

KLM is planning to operate both B787 and B772 AMS-YEG this winter.
It starts with the B787-10 on Tuesday 10/31, but B789 is scheduled on most days in November, until the B772 takes over in December.

Source: KLM schedules

[Rocket252]

^ Sounds like we are back to KLM A330-200 in the spring - would be nice to keep the B787.

[Rocket252]

First KLM Dreamliner arriving today.

Nice

[LO 044]

Personally I love the 777's myself. They're beasts. Avgeek nerd alert: Even the spool-up of the GE90 engines give me goosebumps.

[Coldrsx]

Haha agreed in full, but the humidity and overall experience on the 87 is nice. That said, the 330s are very comfortable.

[CaptainBL]

https://airport-world.com/myron-keeh...onton-airport/

With the new CEO who has been in place for almost a full calendar year, where is the new route and airline partner growth?

AA continues to add new Canadian routes and frequencies with the omission of YEG

UA is stuck in neutral in YEG only serving DEN

Delta serves YWG, YYC, YVR, YYZ, YUL and still has no presence at YEG

Internationally, while the first year was successful, Condor is sticking with twice a week and as far as I know KLM has no plans to go daily.

Whether you are involved in the business community or not, a very large issue in the broader business community continues to be Edmonton's (lack of) connectivity to the rest of the world, especially the US and eastern US. So it begs the question, are we happy with this or is this more of the same just with a new CEO?

[YegFan]

^Nothing really to show for after one year...pretty sad to see. It's especially terrible on the US front.

[LO 044]

^Can I apply for his job? Sounds like a sweet deal.

[YegFan]

^ here's the thing....the airport is now involved in:
- real estate development
- sustainability initiatives
- business incubator
- hydrogen related business
- cargo (long term goals)
- etc...

you will see that commercial aviation is probably way down the list. So technically, this job can be filled by a variety of individuals, not in the aviation sector necessarily.

it just happens that the most critical aspect of the job relates to aviation development, but alas this is not where the focus appears to be.

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by YegFan

^Nothing really to show for after one year...pretty sad to see. It's especially terrible on the US front.

I mean, we do have service to Minneapolis and Seattle that we didn't have a year ago so it's a start.

I'm sure things are going on behind that scenes that are still being negotiated that we won't here about yet.

[EdmTrekker]

Originally Posted by TimB09

I mean, we do have service to Minneapolis and Seattle that we didn't have a year ago so it's a start.

I'm sure things are going on behind that scenes that are still being negotiated that we won't here about yet.

Alaska/Horizon has always provided 1-3 daily flights.

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by EdmTrekker

Alaska/Horizon has always provided 1-3 daily flights.

Right, forgot about Alaska/Horizon. Adding the WestJet flight helps out for sure.

[msmariner]

Originally Posted by CaptainBL

https://airport-world.com/myron-keeh...onton-airport/

With the new CEO who has been in place for almost a full calendar year, where is the new route and airline partner growth?

AA continues to add new Canadian routes and frequencies with the omission of YEG

UA is stuck in neutral in YEG only serving DEN

Delta serves YWG, YYC, YVR, YYZ, YUL and still has no presence at YEG

Internationally, while the first year was successful, Condor is sticking with twice a week and as far as I know KLM has no plans to go daily.

Whether you are involved in the business community or not, a very large issue in the broader business community continues to be Edmonton's (lack of) connectivity to the rest of the world, especially the US and eastern US. So it begs the question, are we happy with this or is this more of the same just with a new CEO?

Probably won’t see Delta with Westjet providing connectivity to delta hubs MSP & SEA

[christopherj]

Originally Posted by TimB09

Right, forgot about Alaska/Horizon. Adding the WestJet flight helps out for sure.

Does Westjet still service Seattle direct from Edmonton? I was looking for one of their flights (to SEA) recently and didn't see any offerings.

[EdmTrekker]

WS YEG-SEA is seasonal starting 2024 as stated on the WS site.

First flight: May 13, 2024 - May 19, 2024 with 2x weekly
increasing to 3 then 4 then 5 weekly and reduced to 4x weekly
from 2nd September ending on on Oct 6, 2024

https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/flights/direct-flights

Alaska - Horizon is currently 1x daily on an Embraer ERJ 175 and in the past up to 3 daily.

[ace.yyc]

There's only so much the CEO can do. He or she cannot magically make YEG a profitable destination short of subsidies. If some airlines announced YEG and they somehow fumbled the bag and service was pulled before it launched, then sure... blame the CEO. If every airline is not adding new service to YEG, it's more likely that it isn't profitable as opposed to incompetence by the Edmonton Airport Authority.

There is no airport on the planet where lack of service is blamed more on the Airport Authority instead of the actual reason, market conditions, than it is at YEG.

[CaptainBL]

Originally Posted by ace.yyc

There's only so much the CEO can do. He or she cannot magically make YEG a profitable destination short of subsidies. If some airlines announced YEG and they somehow fumbled the bag and service was pulled before it launched, then sure... blame the CEO. If every airline is not adding new service to YEG, it's more likely that it isn't profitable as opposed to incompetence by the Edmonton Airport Authority.

There is no airport on the planet where lack of service is blamed more on the Airport Authority instead of the actual reason, market conditions, than it is at YEG.

You are assuming in your statement that YEG isnt served because the routes are not profitable to launch.

Your assumption is not accurate. Before AC launched YEG to SFO, the business community and airport authority got together and compiled a business case that supported AC launching the flight, which to this day is still ongoing. Because AC didnt fly that route before was it not profitable? Or did it take getting in front of AC and lobbying and presenting a business case for AC to recognize the opportunity in the route?

It is the CEO and managements duty to get in front of airlines as much as possible and to build, with the help of various organizations, a business case for new routes and airlines, otherwise what the hell is the purpose of having management? Sign me up for that role.

That is why I do question management's time and resource allocation towards sustainable, green energy, land development, airport council, drone, autonomous vehicle pet projects given the continued lack of connections that the Edmonton community has.

[ace.yyc]

Contrary to your assessment that US carriers are adding service to western Canadian cities in droves, the reality is mostly the opposite. This ongoing idea that a rich Canadian metro of 1.4 million is off the radar of carriers and the "business community and airport authority" are the ones who successfully reminded Air Canada that Edmonton exists is laughable. Yes, the airline that formerly flew lucrative transatlantic service from Edmonton has completely forgotten it exists. The same applies to US carriers. If you believe YEG's lack of US service is because none of the legacies have gotten a call from the YEG airport authority whining about it, all the power to you. A far more logical explanation is that based on their own assessment, launching the service to YEG in current market conditions would not be profitable.

I do find myself wondering if you apply this logic to all Canadian airports, or is it just YEG. While many await the return of AC service on YVR-TPE for example, I've seen nobody blame this on YVR's negligence to approach AC about the service. How would you assess it?