867 replies to this topic

[Go Gators]

Poonther, your finally getting that DFW route you've been asking for:

Airport Adds New Service To Dallas-Fort Worth
March 24
Service on American Eagle Airlines Begins June 11 - Tallahassee Regional Airport (TLH) announced today that American Eagle, an affiliate of American Airlines, would initiate one daily flight between its Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's (DFW) hub and Tallahassee beginning on June 11, 2009. American Eagle will operate the new flight using its ERJ-140 aircraft (44 seats).

"The addition of this new service offers Tallahassee area citizens the ability to connect to western US destinations and provides even more options for connecting internationally. This new service represents another successful partnership resulting from our efforts to bring new and enhanced air service to Tallahassee," said Mayor John Marks.

The schedule for the new DFW service is as follows (all times local):


DFW to TLH: Flight # 3237, Departs 9:50am, Arrives 1:10pm
TLH to DFW: Flight # 3238, Departs 1:35pm, Arrives 2:50pm
In March 2008, American Eagle began service at TLH with two flights to Miami International Airport (MIA). Due to the tremendous success of the new service, the airline added a third flight to Miami earlier this month. The expanded service came as a result of good performance of the existing two flights between TLH and MIA and provided a welcomed addition for the spring legislative season. American Eagle's new service to DFW demonstrates a growing confidence in the Tallahassee market.

"We have been very pleased with the community's support and our success to date in Tallahassee, and we look forward to adding new service from Florida's capital to our DFW hub," said Peter Bowler, American Eagle President and CEO. "Connecting to the north and west via American Airline's vast network will now be even easier for all of our Tallahassee customers."

American Eagle is one of five major commercial air carriers servicing the Tallahassee market, including Continental, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlink, and US Airways Express. To view flight schedules or book a flight go to www.aa.com.

In other news, Delta officials recently informed the City, County and State Consortium, a joint partnership to address air service challenges, that the TLH-DCA (Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC) service will not come to fruition. The Consortium was informed that there is currently no gate available to accommodate the service between TLH and DCA.

"We continue to work aggressively with the airlines in a very volatile market to expand options for our air travelers," said Mayor Marks. "While we are disappointed that Delta is unable to move ahead with the DC service, we believe the new intrastate flights as well as this exciting new opportunity to Dallas and beyond will help address business and travel needs for Tallahassee. The challenge now is to ensure we all utilize these new flights and our existing service so that the airlines see that an investment in Tallahassee is a wise decision."

The Airport encourages the regional community to take advantage of air travel opportunities to promote the stability of established air service and generate demand for new service in the future.

The Tallahassee Regional Airport is operated and maintained by the City of Tallahassee. For more information on the Tallahassee Regional Airport, please visit www.flytallahassee.com.

Contact
Philip F. Inglese, Assistant Director of Aviation, 891-7802; or Michelle Bono, Assistant to the City Manager, 891-8200

[Piedmont Airlines]

I was flying out of the airport over the weekend and a delta flight from ft. Lauderdale landed in nwa airlink livery. nwa airlink is still flying out of the airport for northwest but it wont be long before that route to Memphis is lost.

[unc81]

The airport remains one of the few major negatives about living in Tallahassee.

The American flight is a start.  However, the return flight is not a a great time.  In order for the route to be truly convenient, morning, afternoon, and evening flights are needed.   I attempted to try to fly from San Antonio last weekend.  I wanted to leave about 1:00 pm after my conference ended.  I could have gotten to Dallas that afternoon.  However, I would have had to spend the night in the airport or in a hotel to fly non-stop to Tallahassee.

The explanation for dropping the Washington flight on Delta is very weak.  I suspect that the gate availability wasn't a true issue.  They likely wanted the plane for another route.  I was estatic about that route.  However, my hopes were dashed.

I try to use the Tallahassee airport.  However, the drive to Jacksonville is often the much better choice.  You can fly non-stop to more locations.  You don't have to gamble on the rare evening flight from Atlanta or Charlotte.  You have to pray that your connection to TLH is not late, there is no weather, or the flight is not cancelled.  I know others from Tallahassee who make the drive to Atlanta, Orlando, or Tampa to catch a plane.  The situation is not good.

The lack of late night flights from TLH is also a problem.  There are few flights after 7 pm.  Thus, you often have to leave work early to catch an afternoon flight via Atlanta.  I believe that USAir has one flight after 8:00 pm to Charlotte.

A start might be for each airline to fly regularly to and from at least 2 out-of state hubs.  Flights to Chicago, Washington, Newark, Houston, Cleveland, Philadelpia would be a start.  If you are in a city outside of Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis (for now), and Dallas, there is usually only one route back to Tallahassee.  A cancelled flight is a major problem.  After Christmas, I had many colleagues who were stuck in Memphis for at least a couple of days.  Others rented cars in Memphis and drove back to Tallahassee.  

The chance of industry choosing Tallahassee are just not good with such limited service.  

By the way, why does it take 20-30+ minutes to get baggage after a flight at TLH.  It isn't that far to the baggage claim area from the gate, and there are few connecting flights through Tallahassee.  Much larger airports do a much faster and better job.

See you in JAX!

[blueheronNC]

More good news for those hoping to break the Delta monopoly in Tallahassee: American Eagle has announced an additional Dallas flight just two weeks after the first one started, because of strong demand:

http://www.tallahass...t due to demand


---

As for people driving to Jacksonville, I never understood that.  That's about, what, 5 1/2 hours of driving time on top of flying?  I know of nowhere else in the country where people are willing to do that for the sake of saving extra bucks (probably because their time is more valuable?).  and yes, a lot of places have much worse service than Tallahassee.   I mean, after taking into consideration loss of time (5 1/2 hours of downtime instead of being productive), plus gas costs, plus wear and tear on your automobile (which is generally calculated at about 50 cents per mile - so about $150 for driving to and from Jacksonville), I don't see how it's worth it, ever.

[unc81]

As for people driving to Jacksonville, I never understood that.  That's about, what, 5 1/2 hours of driving time on top of flying?  I know of nowhere else in the country where people are willing to do that for the sake of saving extra bucks (probably because their time is more valuable?).  and yes, a lot of places have much worse service than Tallahassee.   I mean, after taking into consideration loss of time (5 1/2 hours of downtime instead of being productive), plus gas costs, plus wear and tear on your automobile (which is generally calculated at about 50 cents per mile - so about $150 for driving to and from Jacksonville), I don't see how it's worth it, ever.
[/quote]

My rule is that I will fly out of Jacksonville if I can get a nonstop flight.   There are no nonstop flights from TLH outside of the flight to the 1 hub per airline (outside of Florida).  I violated my rule during my last trip to San Antonio.  The connection via Houston was much tighter and much cheaper than the connections from TLH.

The drive to Jacksonville is about 2 1/2 hours from my house in NE Tallahassee.   TLH is about 30 minutes e at least.  The 4 hours of extra driving is often worth it to me.  Others would find that unacceptable.  I would love it if JAX or ATL were 90 minutes or so away.

The RDU area is my home area.  The air connections are pretty good.  However, the north-south connections were much better when American (and Midway to a much lesser extent) had a hub at RDU.  You can at least fly to Washington, NYC, Chicago.  I don't know if the LA flight has survived.  That is a much better situation than TLH.

[blueheronNC]

According to the new fall schedule, Delta is canceling its Tallahassee-Orlando and Tallahassee-Tampa flights starting October.  This, if you recall, is the one that Mayor Marks touted as a major victory and was heavily subsidized by local/state government.  That sure lasted long!

One bright spot - Delta's Tallahassee-Ft. Lauderdale route will remain and will be upgraded from turboprop to regional jet.  probably to continue competing with American Airlines' regional jet service to Miami.

[unc81]

It appears that flights to Washington are coming via a deal between USAir and Delta.  ;-)

The next steps would be for the airport to add New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and possibly Salt Lake City.  Having 2 or more hubs per airlines would help our options in actually getting to a destination or returning home.  Of course, I would love to have Southwest as well.

Anyway, I am happy about Washington!

[unc81]

unc81, on Aug 17 2009, 06:39 AM, said:

It appears that flights to Washington are coming via a deal between USAir and Delta.  ;-)

The next steps would be for the airport to add New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and possibly Salt Lake City.  Having 2 or more hubs per airlines would help our options in actually getting to a destination or returning home.  Of course, I would love to have Southwest as well.

Anyway, I am happy about Washington!

The other aspect is that having a less than adequate airport hurts the area's meager efforts to recruit industry.  It is also hard to recruit executives since travel is such a hassle.