Quote:
Originally Posted by CoryB
It is important to note that while it is supposed to reflect the terminal origin and destination the data is also "as reported by the airlines". So if they are not properly reporting you left YWG, landed in YYC and then connected on the PHX you could be showing as YYC-PHX instead of YWG-PHX. That also does not take into account traffic that is going Winnipeg-GFK/FAR-AZA via Allegiant due to the costs of flights out of YWG that NewLeaf could have captured.
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According to their Wikipedia entries, GFK sends 19,000 passengers a year to Phoenix, and FAR has 29,000. I'm sure a substantial part of GFK's figure includes Winnipeggers, but probably a lot less so for FAR. But even if you assumed all of those passengers were Manitobans who'd otherwise fly through YWG, the reality is that YWG would still be far behind YEG, let alone YYC in terms of the overall Phoenix O&D passenger count.
I don't know how Newleaf can be faulted for their actions when allocating their scarce resources to a Winnipeg-Phoenix flight would practically be suicidal going by those numbers. Longer flights, more fuel, smaller market... not a recipe for sure-fire success. Personally, I'd like to see Newleaf last for more than a year even if that means Winnipeg doesn't get direct service everywhere.