Saskatoon and Regina Air Service

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Robag

Denver makes the most sense to have a direct, non-stop flight. It is centrally located so you can fly both east and west from there. We used the United service a lot in the short time it served YQR. My vote would be to have AC to Den as it's an easy 2 hour flight, and a Star Alliance member with United makes for good connections.

But yes, LAX and MCO (Orlando) would be nice to have's as well, but unlikely.

I do not see AC doing anything. They want us to fly through their main hubs to get the States.

[Robag]

Originally Posted by Stormer

I do not see AC doing anything. They want us to fly through their main hubs to get the States.

I agree with you. They want us to fly to either Calgary or Toronto. But it would be a nice option to have.

[Dan0myte]

Originally Posted by Robag

Denver makes the most sense to have a direct, non-stop flight. It is centrally located so you can fly both east and west from there.

The only problem is that United tried that and failed. I can't see another carrier saying that it sounds like a good idea.

It's time for a fresher option for the direct. One where some people may take it not as a connecting flight but as a destination. There might have been the odd person who went to Denver to ski but nobody goes there for a summer vacation. Whoever this carrier is will be fighting with the fact that it's easier and cheaper to connect through Toronto or Calgary from Regina so the only way a direct to the States is going to make any sense is if you can fill half the plane up with connecting passengers and the other half with vacationers.

I like the idea of direct to Orlando as you could easily pad your ticket sales with families going to Disneyworld, although as a connecting flight the only benefit to going through Orlando would be maybe if you're travelling to eastern Mexico or the Caribbean. It would be a poor connector for Europe or anywhere else in the US as you're flying in the wrong direction. It would add a lot of hours in the air compared to a Toronto connector.

I thought of LAX as it would be a faster way of getting to Hawaii than going through Calgary, and have a lot more Asian flight choices compared to Calgary, plus a lot of people would just travel to LA for the heck of it and do some vacationing around that area (San Diego, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Anaheim (Disneyland), etc). I think you could easily fill a plane to LAX once a week.

[Dan0myte]

Another interesting alternative could be the L.A. Ontario airport.

The route fees would be significantly cheaper than LAX, making a direct from Regina make more sense financially for the airline. Air Canada already flies here so they already have a terminal set up and there's lot of interesting connector flights all over the US through Southwest and Delta. It would also be a shorter drive to Disneyland for families looking to vacation there.

[Robag]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

The only problem is that United tried that and failed. I can't see another carrier saying that it sounds like a good idea.

I don't think United failed at all. The biggest reasons we are losing the service from American based airlines, is the week Canadian dollar, and the lack of pilots for regional planes. Because of the lack of pilots, they are retiring the smaller regional planes, and adding bigger ones. It was stated in the paper, that bookings on Delta grew 45% last fall, and that is why they increased the size of the plane. However, they can make more money on that plane flying between point A and B in the US rather than crossing the border. United was in the same boat as Delta. Because of the dollar, we lost the service of the American based airlines in Regina. Saskatoon has managed to hold on to their Delta flights for now, but I wouldn't doubt that after the big fall hunting season, that Delta will consider pulling out of their as well.

You are seeing the same thing happen across Canada. American Based airlines have or are in the process of pulling a lot of their flights out of Canada. London, Ont lost their Delta flights, Waterloo, Ont is losing their American Airlines flights, Edmonton has lost a good chunk of their flights on Delta and United, but have still managed to keep some. Halifax and Quebec City have lost flights as well. But, a Canadian based airline would probably make a lot of these flights work, but it has to make sense for them to consider it, and AC won't consider it at all. WestJet will fly, but they will only do vacation destination type of routes, so LAX, Orlando, New York are options that maybe WestJet will consider

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

Another interesting alternative could be the L.A. Ontario airport.

The route fees would be significantly cheaper than LAX, making a direct from Regina make more sense financially for the airline. Air Canada already flies here so they already have a terminal set up and there's lot of interesting connector flights all over the US through Southwest and Delta. It would also be a shorter drive to Disneyland for families looking to vacation there.

I don't think Air Canada flies into ONT. They have connections on United to get you there, but not them directly. As stated by Stormer earlier, AC will not fly direct to the US from any of their non-hub stations in Canada, so it's a moot point anyway. I was just saying that to me, it would make the most sense for us, as Den is a great connecting airport, and AC and United are Star Alliance members, so connections at Denver airport would make the most sense, as you can fly all over the USA from there.

The two biggest vacation destinations (USA) that travelers travel to from Regina are Phoenix and Vegas, not necessarily in that order. Other big travel destinations are Orlando, Los Angeles and New York. Who knows what, if anything we will get. Maybe Frontier, Allegiant, Southwest, or Alaska would have some interest, but if the big legacy carriers pulled out of here, not sure these other carriers would come in.

All in all, any new service from Regina to any airport in the States would be welcome, so if an LAX service starts up, I hope we are able to make it work.

[SkydivePilot]

United didn't "fail" in Regina and Saskatoon. The reason United pulled out was because that they wanted to utilize their aircraft on shorter runs in order to gain additional $$$/day due to shorter-distance legs --- resulting in more flights/day per aircraft within the continental U.S. (Even though the seat-mile costs are higher.) Also, the U.S. economy was beginning to improve.

The Saskatoon-Chicago leg was the longest-distance leg in their North American network. (Regina-Chicago leg was up there as well.)

With Delta beginning to pull out, you guys pretty well hit on the reasons as to why that is so though.

[SkydivePilot]

Oh.

Regina will NEVER, ever see a non-stop flight to ONT, LAX, SFO, JFK, MIA, etc.; they are not North American continental hubs. SLC, DEN, MSP are the three ideal airports that could serve YQR's needs as U.S. hubs ---- due to their proximity. (Although, it would still be nice.)

PHX and LAS don't count, since those are normally destination airports for SK travellers. (Unless one is now desperate to use those two facilities as "hubs" for accessing southwestern states. (We may yet have to! Lol!))

Air Canada will also NEVER fly YQR direct to U.S. destinations either. I'd say there would be a slightly greater chance that WestJet could step up to the plate ---- but that's not likely either.

[micheal]

[QUOTE=SkydivePilot;7488955]Oh.

Regina will NEVER, ever see a non-stop flight to ONT, LAX, SFO, JFK, MIA, etc.; they are not North American continental hubs. SLC, DEN, MSP are the three ideal airports that could serve YQR's needs as U.S. hubs ---- due to their proximity. (Although, it would still be nice.)

PHX and LAS don't count, since those are normally destination airports for SK travellers. (Unless one is now desperate to use those two facilities as "hubs" for accessing southwestern states. (We may yet have to! Lol!))

Air Canada will also NEVER fly YQR direct to U.S. destinations either. I'd say there would be a slightly greater chance that WestJet could step up to the plate ---- but that's not likely either.

I flew united Airlines to Denver for business all the time when the flight was available and it was pretty much full everytime. I think westjet and air Canada should offer this. The demand is there.

[casper]

[QUOTE=micheal;7488987]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Oh.

Regina will NEVER, ever see a non-stop flight to ONT, LAX, SFO, JFK, MIA, etc.; they are not North American continental hubs. SLC, DEN, MSP are the three ideal airports that could serve YQR's needs as U.S. hubs ---- due to their proximity. (Although, it would still be nice.)

PHX and LAS don't count, since those are normally destination airports for SK travellers. (Unless one is now desperate to use those two facilities as "hubs" for accessing southwestern states. (We may yet have to! Lol!))

Air Canada will also NEVER fly YQR direct to U.S. destinations either. I'd say there would be a slightly greater chance that WestJet could step up to the plate ---- but that's not likely either.

I flew united Airlines to Denver for business all the time when the flight was available and it was pretty much full everytime. I think westjet and air Canada should offer this. The demand is there.

PHX makes sense as a transit hub. It use to be a major hub for US Airways and is still a hub to some sort under American airlines. With WestJet and American as partners I think there is some potential. Las Vegas is marginal as it is not realy a hub for any US carrier, connections there are by accident and not design.

Air Canada has zero incentive to connect Regina with LAX or SFO. For flights to asia it is a longer trip and they will make little money on the connection. They make far more money forcing area connection via Toronto or Vancouver.

[SkydivePilot]

[QUOTE=micheal;7488987]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Oh.

Regina will NEVER, ever see a non-stop flight to ONT, LAX, SFO, JFK, MIA, etc.; they are not North American continental hubs. SLC, DEN, MSP are the three ideal airports that could serve YQR's needs as U.S. hubs ---- due to their proximity. (Although, it would still be nice.)

PHX and LAS don't count, since those are normally destination airports for SK travellers. (Unless one is now desperate to use those two facilities as "hubs" for accessing southwestern states. (We may yet have to! Lol!))

Air Canada will also NEVER fly YQR direct to U.S. destinations either. I'd say there would be a slightly greater chance that WestJet could step up to the plate ---- but that's not likely either.

I flew united Airlines to Denver for business all the time when the flight was available and it was pretty much full everytime. I think westjet and air Canada should offer this. The demand is there.

There certainly is demand, you got that right!

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Alaska Airlines to Denver, Minneapolis or Seattle from YQR? Which route IF they were the airline to step forward would you think might be a possibility?



"Alaska becomes a Western Powerhouse

The immediate scale in Los Angeles and San Francisco help turn Alaska into a power in the western United States while further diversifying the network away from the Pacific Northwest. Alaska now has a hub or focus city in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego (you can also throw in Anchorage if you’d like) which is absolutely blanketing the West Coast of the US. In fact no other airline can match the breadth of Alaska’s coverage (Southwest comes closest but is weak in the Pacific Northwest) in the region."

https://airwaysmag.com/industry/alaska-airlines-buys-virgin-america/

[jmt18325]

A while back I made the point that Winnipeg has expanded their facility. The airport is approaching 4M passengers. The point was, other than token flights to London and Halifax we've gotten no new service. Don't hold your breath.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

Alaska Airlines to Denver, Minneapolis or Seattle from YQR? Which route IF they were the airline to step forward would you think might be a possibility?



"Alaska becomes a Western Powerhouse

The immediate scale in Los Angeles and San Francisco help turn Alaska into a power in the western United States while further diversifying the network away from the Pacific Northwest. Alaska now has a hub or focus city in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego (you can also throw in Anchorage if you’d like) which is absolutely blanketing the West Coast of the US. In fact no other airline can match the breadth of Alaska’s coverage (Southwest comes closest but is weak in the Pacific Northwest) in the region."

https://airwaysmag.com/industry/alaska-airlines-buys-virgin-america/

I wish, but their hubs are Sea-Tac, Portland and Anchorage, none of which make sense.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Stormer

I wish, but their hubs are Sea-Tac, Portland and Anchorage, none of which make sense.

How does Seattle make any less sense than Denver or Chicago as a connecting hub? The key is that a route to Seattle would open up Alaska's formidable western US network. I'd love to have Alaska open up a route to Winnipeg for that reason.

[wacko]

Looking at the map, Alaska Airlines only flies to MSP and DEN via Seattle (although with the acquisition of Virgin there's now also SFO-DEN). So if Alaska Airlines were to expand to YQR, it would most likely be YQR-SEA only. Which would be a very nice option if going anywhere along the West Coast, but would be fairly useless for accessing the rest of the United States.

I actually flew Alaska Airlines last fall, from YYC to SFO via SEA. Nice airline, and great meals in first class (the first-class fares between SEA and SFO were absurdly cheap, so I sprung for a seat both ways).

Just like many in here, I wish some airline would step up and at least offer flights to DEN and/or MSP. Colorado is a state I'd like to see more of, and MSP is ideal for eastward connections.

[Robag]

Originally Posted by wacko

Looking at the map, Alaska Airlines only flies to MSP and DEN via Seattle (although with the acquisition of Virgin there's now also SFO-DEN). So if Alaska Airlines were to expand to YQR, it would most likely be YQR-SEA only. Which would be a very nice option if going anywhere along the West Coast, but would be fairly useless for accessing the rest of the United States.

My point exactly! Denver is perfect for flights both east and west. I am not going to fly to Seattle to get to Florida!

[Dan0myte]

Thanks for the schooling on the airline industry. This is interesting stuff!

[Missinglink]

As a frequent business traveler and recreational traveler to the USA and beyond, loosing the MSP connection is a horrendous loss. This is such a important connection to gateway airports such as ATL,IAH and MIA. this had the ORD and DEN connections beat hands down. This is going to have serious repercussions on southern Sask. The sad thing is I think the real story is not being told completely.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Missinglink

As a frequent business traveler and recreational traveler to the USA and beyond, loosing the MSP connection is a horrendous loss. This is such a important connection to gateway airports such as ATL,IAH and MIA. this had the ORD and DEN connections beat hands down. This is going to have serious repercussions on southern Sask. The sad thing is I think the real story is not being told completely.

To get to ATL, IAH or MIA the options are now YYZ on Air Canada or WestJet. Both as reasonable as YYZ is a good hub for connections to all three of those cities.

Alaska Airlines is making Seattle work as a connecting hub from Calgary or Edmonton. If anyone comes into Regina I think it would Alaska. The SEA connection only works for serving California, the Pacific Northwest or Hawaii.

Seattle does have its problem. Connections in Seattle are pretty good if you are coming from an airport with pre-clearance. If you are clearing customs in Seattle depending on time of day it can be painful. There are a number of widebody flights from Asia or Dubai that generate long lines.

[Missinglink]

Originally Posted by casper

To get to ATL, IAH or MIA the options are now YYZ on Air Canada or WestJet. Both as reasonable as YYZ is a good hub for connections to all three of those cities.

Alaska Airlines is making Seattle work as a connecting hub from Calgary or Edmonton. If anyone comes into Regina I think it would Alaska. The SEA connection only works for serving California, the Pacific Northwest or Hawaii.

Seattle does have its problem. Connections in Seattle are pretty good if you are coming from an airport with pre-clearance. If you are clearing customs in Seattle depending on time of day it can be painful. There are a number of widebody flights from Asia or Dubai that generate long lines.

Sorry Casper but YYZ is a train wreck and AC is nothing but junk wont fly them. Ill go back to driving to Minot , don't like it but did it for years before and willing to do it again. I only have 2yrs left till retirement then its good by Sask.