AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[MAH4546]

Originally Posted by Dom"n"Converse

United does Seattle to SA direct and US and whatever WN is do SA to Seattle direct.

They fly San Antonio-Seattle direct, which means one flight number. That does not mean non-stop. No airline flies it non-stop.

Originally Posted by sammyk

I don't know where his info comes from but it makes sense. If true, Jetblue is looking to capitalize on part of the 200+ seat void left by American. Didn't American use a 757 on that route?

They used an MD80, though that's besides the point because there is no "void" left in this market, especially in today's economy.

[sammyk]

Well there's no big void if they were using an MD-80 but it if was a 757 that they were barely filling then there would have been. jetBlue might be able to make it work with an E190.

[ATXboom]

It was an MD-80. I have been on this flight a few times. It usually ran about 80% full.

It will leave a market void because of all the work between Microsoft and Dell... with current fuel costs probably not enough of a void to justify a direct from a spoke and hub laggard airline. Jetblue may be able to make it work as it doesn't have to worry about logisitically gethering fleets at hubs... and they state they want to route cross country flights through Austin.

The 757's run between San Jose and Austin.

[M1EK]

JetBlue actually said they want to route California/Florida traffic through Austin; not cross-country traffic in general, if I remember correctly.

[AustinTex]

I have friends who work at Jetblue, and they gave me some inside info.

Here's the deal: JetBlue operates 2 kinds of aircraft, Airbus A320s and Embraer 190s. The A320s have 150 seats, the E-190s have 100 seats. The A320s can fly cross country without stopping to refuel, but the E-190s cannot. They need a midway point. The E-190s are GREAT planes because they have a lot of room, the windows are positioned higher than other similar sized aircraft, and they can serve less-trafficed routes yet still fill the plane.....without feeling like you're on a smaller plane. They have engines underneath the wings and have a Boeing 737 kind of feel, or for aviation enthusiasts, a reduced sized version of the A320/318.

Because they DO have a need for the E-190s to service routes (especially in these gas sensitive times and less passengers willing to travel), these E-190s have become very valuable to the airline. They searched for a midway point, a refueling city, a passenger exchange city, and it came down to Houston and Austin. JetBlue already like the business boom it saw when they started AUS service and stated the demographics made the city perfect to serve as it's E-190 coast to coast midway point. Mind you, the other airline model similar to JetBlue would be Southwest, and they do the most business out of AUS.

So, JetBlue announced to their staff they would use Austin as the midway city, and immediately, a number of pilots and their families jumped on the opportunity to move out of snow-locked Boston, and they bought homes here. The plans are, as they were, to slowly expand service out of AUS taking on Southwest. American dropped the Seattle and Orange County flights, not due to a lack of Austin traffic, but the other way around. Orange County (SNA) was on the national news the other night as being one of the most prominent airports in the nation to actually suffer badly due to having LAX and Long Beach so close with a gas price hike, and airlines are needing to consolidate and focus routes most efficiently. SNA (Orange County) is expected to lose A LOT of their service. The extent of the losses have not been realized yet, but the news is NOT good.

As for JetBlue, they could not have landed this structure any more timely. Yes, they will be adding routes. Which ones will be added are under wraps, but being that they use the E-190s out of AUS, they could potentially add a good number more since demand for the smaller aircraft will be of great importance in saving money overall. And yes, they will be taking up whatever valuable routes other airlines cannot maintain out of AUS. The only downside: they don't have too many E-190s. So, if traffic does demand, they may have to incorporate some A320s into the mix as well.

Again, this is not an Austin issue. This is an airline issue - and the cities losing the most flights are Chicago O'Hare, Boston, San Juan P.R., SNA, and 16 others, AUS not being one of them listed. If I can locate the list again, I'll post it.

But yes, Austin is the Coast to Coast connector city for JetBlue though it's in its initial phase right now. It may not look like a lot, but when pilots move their families for work, you know there are changes coming that would justify such a decision.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by AustinTex

As for JetBlue, they could not have landed this structure any more timely. Yes, they will be adding routes. Which ones will be added are under wraps, but being that they use the E-190s out of AUS, they could potentially add a good number more since demand for the smaller aircraft will be of great importance in saving money overall. And yes, they will be taking up whatever valuable routes other airlines cannot maintain out of AUS. The only downside: they don't have too many E-190s. So, if traffic does demand, they may have to incorporate some A320s into the mix as well.

Good news for both ABIA and JetBlue! (I, for one, will be taking my first flight with them on Friday, and I'm pretty excited about it)

However, surely any JetBlue expansion plans will be quite muted in the short-term with the severe lack of gate space. So first, I'd like to see them stick it out on their new routes like SFO and MCO, where I believe they face some pretty committed competition (UA hub traffic to Asia on the one hand, the behemoth Southwest on the other). If they can excel there, I think only then can they make the business case to expand.

That said, however, I believe--if without hard data--that the market is there for E190 service to IAD and SEA (once AA drops it, which I believe is planned). But the secret's out on AUS: we are remarkably well-served and so there are very few diamonds in the rough as they existed back when JetBlue first entered the market.

It'll be interesting all the same. Thanks for the thorough post!

[hookem]

Mikey711, you'll love it. I'm flying JetBlue for the 3rd time next month.

The E190s are pretty awesome. With only 2 seats on each side of the aisle, and the leather seating... it feels very close to first class on the legacy carriers. Also, the personal direct TV and satellite radio are great. They are always on, from taxi out to taxi in... no having to wait until you can turn on your electronic devices, or waiting for the flight crew to press play on the "in flight entertainment"... you can start watching a TV show/movie while boarding and pretty much keep watching it through takeoff, landing, taxi to your gate. I love it. We're lucky to have Jet Blue here.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by hookem

Mikey711, you'll love it. I'm flying JetBlue for the 3rd time next month.

The E190s are pretty awesome. With only 2 seats on each side of the aisle, and the leather seating... it feels very close to first class on the legacy carriers. Also, the personal direct TV and satellite radio are great. They are always on, from taxi out to taxi in... no having to wait until you can turn on your electronic devices, or waiting for the flight crew to press play on the "in flight entertainment"... you can start watching a TV show/movie while boarding and pretty much keep watching it through takeoff, landing, taxi to your gate. I love it. We're lucky to have Jet Blue here.

Indeed we are. That's why I look to support them any time that I can, which, honestly, isn't all that often (at least by comparison with the amount I travel).

As it were, I'm flying on the only A320 service AUS currently has*, so I'll miss out on the E190 experience with 2 across seating per side of the aisle. But if they take from Gordon Bethune's playbook, my suspicion is that they're dilligent on a consistent product regardless of airliner flown.

* And here's hoping I get extra lucky and get the internet-wired one!

[LoneStarMike]

News Brief from the Austin American Statesman

Airport traffic hits record in May


Austin-Bergstrom passenger traffic hits record

Passenger traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport set a record in May.

Almost 836,700 people flew into or out of the airport, topping the previous record of 832,400 in July 2007.

Among major carriers, traffic was up 6 percent at Southwest Airlines, down 3.8 percent at American Airlines and down 10 percent at Continental Airlines.

The biggest percentage gain was at JetBlue Airways, which carried 39,913 passengers, up 74 percent from a year ago. The airline added several nonstops from Austin in recent months.

I've seen a couple of promos for KVUE's 10 PM newscast tonight and this is one of the stories they'll be covering.

[Major AWACS]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

News Brief from the Austin American Statesman

Airport traffic hits record in May


Austin-Bergstrom passenger traffic hits record

Passenger traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport set a record in May.

Almost 836,700 people flew into or out of the airport, topping the previous record of 832,400 in July 2007.

Among major carriers, traffic was up 6 percent at Southwest Airlines, down 3.8 percent at American Airlines and down 10 percent at Continental Airlines.

The biggest percentage gain was at JetBlue Airways, which carried 39,913 passengers, up 74 percent from a year ago. The airline added several nonstops from Austin in recent months.

I've seen a couple of promos for KVUE's 10 PM newscast tonight and this is one of the stories they'll be covering.

Great news for KAUS. Again this is due to Austin becoming a focus city for jetBlue getting some Florida traffic to connect out west via AUS. CO is cutting Cleveland (more due to CLE not AUS) and both CO and AA are using some smaller aircraft but frequencies are still good for both CO and AA at AUS.

Overall Good news for AUS in the current market downturn. As I said in some analysis of ABIA in some other threads, it is well poised for future growth.
The "Low cost" terminal is another story but I will say that for later.

Ciao,
AWACS

[sammyk]

That's excellent news. I remember hearing they had issues with those E190s early on, I guess they resolved them or found a better way to use them.

---

On a ABIA related note, anyone know if there was a last minute runway switch? Planes usually fly parallel to my house when landing on 17L but tonite around 9PM they were perpendicular and then hung a left to land on 17R. Looked like a couple of AA MD80s.

[sammyk]

Originally Posted by sammyk

On a ABIA related note, anyone know if there was a last minute runway switch? Planes usually fly parallel to my house when landing on 17L but tonite around 9PM they were perpendicular and then hung a left to land on 17R. Looked like a couple of AA MD80s.

Quoting myself but on my way home yesterday I saw big X sign lit up in front of 17L, wonder if there was any runway damage that caused it to be closed. I guess this questions really for A.net...

[ATXboom]

The data from ABIA's website itself says 3% increase... I would trust the actual airport media release over Austin Chronicles...

[texastarkus]

Originally Posted by ATXboom

The data from ABIA's website itself says 3% increase... I would trust the actual airport media release over Austin Chronicles...

Trust me...go with the news release posted on the ABIA web site.

[texastarkus]

Originally Posted by sammyk

Quoting myself but on my way home yesterday I saw big X sign lit up in front of 17L, wonder if there was any runway damage that caused it to be closed. I guess this questions really for A.net...

There is a pretty big runway/taxiway rehab project going on that'll last almost a year to complete. This will cause both runways to close for extended periods...the same for various taxiways and ramps while concrete panels are replaced or spalls repared. This project also included some lighting work on the east side and some perimeter roadwork and roads to the PAPI's. Runway 17L/35R should open this afternoon with displaced thresholds and will be a daylight runway for a couple of months. Hope that answers your question.

Keep up with closures by NOTAMs....https://www.notams.faa.gov/dinsQueryWeb/

[sammyk]

Originally Posted by texastarkus

There is a pretty big runway/taxiway rehab project going on that'll last almost a year to complete. This will cause both runways to close for extended periods...the same for various taxiways and ramps while concrete panels are replaced or spalls repared. This project also included some lighting work on the east side and some perimeter roadwork and roads to the PAPI's. Runway 17L/35R should open this afternoon with displaced thresholds and will be a daylight runway for a couple of months. Hope that answers your question.

Keep up with closures by NOTAMs....https://www.notams.faa.gov/dinsQueryWeb/

Thanks for that!

[Jdawgboy]

Any data regarding how the new low cost terminal is doing?

[AustinTex]

You're flying on an A320 JetBlue???? since when?! If you are, then that is brand new and I am not aware of that.

If that is now SCHEDULED service, then JetBlue did what I thought they would - demand has now brought them to integrate the A320s. That is brand new because I keep a tight pulse on AUS and they have not had A320s as of yet. I need to check their info and find out if this is here to stay or a temporary move. But, it very well could be the beginning of the A320 / E190 mix-in. Freakin nice!!

[AustinTex]

There's your E-190.

hey, Mikey, where are you flying to on JetBlue? They don't list anything about an A320 so I'm curious what route they're using it on.

thanks.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by AustinTex

hey, Mikey, where are you flying to on JetBlue? They don't list anything about an A320 so I'm curious what route they're using it on.

JetBlue 1264 - AUS-BOS - has operated as an A320 since 5/1/08. (source) It surprised me to see it there too, but it's been in place since I booked the trip a few months ago, so it's definitely not a last-minute equipment swap.