Richmond International Airport

[eandslee]

The RIC-LAX route was served by JetBlue, which temporarily ended the service due to equipment and pilot shortages. That service starts back up in early September (can’t remember the exact date) and are on sale now. Looks like there will be 3x-4x weekly service. 

[Niccckk]

On 6/2/2022 at 5:57 PM, eandslee said:

Okay, it's that time again for your monthly RIC update.  It took longer than usual to get the airport statistics this month because their monthly commission meeting took place on Tuesday (the last day of the month).  Okay, so here's the skinny straight from @flack4ric:

The passenger total for April 2022 represents a 93.8% recovery of traffic versus April 2019, RIC’s best-ever April.  Richmond International Airport (RIC) reports 349,078 passengers for April 2022, a 66.7% increase over the same month a year ago.  For the first ten months of fiscal year 2022 (FYTD22), traffic has increased 131.3% year over year, amounting to a gain of nearly 1.8 million travelers – about 6,000 extra travelers each day!

New destinations:

- Nonstop service between RIC-SFO started last week with little media fanfare (RIC served as a BreezeThru).  Reason is because Breeze's newest aircraft (A220) was to be used for the first time on this RIC-SFO route and Breeze ran into some issues getting the aircraft certified in time (which it finally did).  So to avoid a PR disaster, Breeze chose not to involve the media.  Incidentally, that same aircraft did not fly the RIC-SFO route last Wednesday because there was an issue with Breeze's A220 aircraft (a maintenance issue is suspected) and therefore had to charter an A320 to fly the route.  In the process, these flights were delayed by several hours in each direction (not a very good PR story).  As Breeze works out the kinks, it should smooth out operations eventually and I've heard that on 8 July, Breeze will involve the media (even though the RIC-SFO route was the first Breeze transcon flight and the first of Breeze's new A220s)!

Upcoming new destinations on Breeze:  Hartfort, CT starts on 3 Jun (tomorrow) and Providence, RI apparently started today (I thought the original plan was for 30 June?). ..okay!

Some of my observations and news I've heard in the aviation community:

- Flights between ATL-RIC appear to be upgrading the equipment from Boeing 737s to Boeing 757s (the "Flying Pencil") starting this month - something I saw just prior to the start of COVID when passenger traffic at airport was at its prime

- American Airlines appears to be cutting its LGA-RIC route in November of this year (equipment/pilot shortage and focus in other markets?).  Hopefully, there is a solution soon and this cut doesn't actually happen

- No word yet on when/if Southwest will restart its route between RIC-DEN.  Hoping it starts back up soon. 

- Work on the Concourse B Apron Expansion continues and will take about 18 months (from the start of construction) to complete

As usual, here is the passenger traffic line graph so that we can see the passenger number trends at RIC.  It appears that the trend is moving up and getting back to the pre-pandemic numbers, but there is more to go to meet the same numbers the airport was producing 2 years ago.  We on the right track though and these new Breeze destinations should help!

Great news!!!

So now we got 3 transcon routes now (including the jetBlue LAX route which is supposed to resume in November). JetBlue used to do the Las Vegas route but got rid of it, but it's great that Breeze brought that route back

I also noticed the 757 upgrade... haven't seen that since late 2019 haha.. shows that passengers are definitely back!! Also super nice that Richmond is now a "Breeze Thru" city. Genuinely excited for RICs future growth. All I hope is that Southwest resumes Denver soon. Does anyone have word about Southwest's RIC - MCO route? I see it's "seasonal" but it has not flown in quite a while. It used to be a daily flight back in the days... I don't know if Spirit and JetBlue taking over those routes caused Southwest to back out but I used to take that route with them a lot and now I gotta connect through Atlanta.

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Niccckk

[eandslee]

7 hours ago, Niccckk said:

Great news!!!

So now we got 3 transcon routes now (including the jetBlue LAX route which is supposed to resume in November). JetBlue used to do the Las Vegas route but got rid of it, but it's great that Breeze brought that route back

I also noticed the 757 upgrade... haven't seen that since late 2019 haha.. shows that passengers are definitely back!! Also super nice that Richmond is now a "Breeze Thru" city. Genuinely excited for RICs future growth. All I hope is that Southwest resumes Denver soon. Does anyone have word about Southwest's RIC - MCO route? I see it's "seasonal" but it has not flown in quite a while. It used to be a daily flight back in the days... I don't know if Spirit and JetBlue taking over those routes caused Southwest to back out but I used to take that route with them a lot and now I gotta connect through Atlanta.

 

November?  I thought they were restarting the RIC-LAX in September?  I saw that they were in September when I did some mock bookings. 
 

Heard that the Southwest RIC-MCO route was going away this month. It still shows up like once a week or so, not frequent at all!  Hate that Southwest flies to Atlanta…now everything goes through Atlanta.  

[I miss RVA]

8 minutes ago, eandslee said:

November?  I thought they were restarting the RIC-LAX in September?  I saw that they were in September when I did some mock bookings. 
 

Heard that the Southwest RIC-MCO route was going away this month. It still shows up like once a week or so, not frequent at all!  Hate that Southwest flies to Atlanta…now everything goes through Atlanta.  

I think everything has gone through Atlanta since the time of Abraham. 

[Merrittk92]

Here is an interesting article on Breeze’s “Inaugural” flight from RIC to SFO. 
 

First Class on Breeze RIC-SFO

[benstyree]

Well it appears the LAX flight has either been yanked or further delayed. I was scheduled for 9/17 and got an email this morning reporting me via Boston.

I looked around my scheduled date and then a few dates later in the year and didn’t find any nonstops. Huge bummer if this route was canceled AGAIN. 
 

ETA: based on further search, nonstops appear to be showing up again starting in January. In any case, sucks for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Edited June 14, 2022 by benstyree

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, benstyree said:

Well it appears the LAX flight has either been yanked or further delayed. I was scheduled for 9/17 and got an email this morning reporting me via Boston.

I looked around my scheduled date and then a few dates later in the year and didn’t find any nonstops. Huge bummer if this route was canceled AGAIN. 
 

ETA: based on further search, nonstops appear to be showing up again starting in January. In any case, sucks for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Yeah, this is very frustrating - thanks for the info.  I've been all over Reddit telling folks that nonstops were starting again in September...which they were until now (I suppose).  I guess I'm going to appear to be a liar.  I did look at some of the available seating for those nonstops early in September and the bookings didn't look so good - there were so many seats still available.  Part of the problem is that virtually no one knew about them.  JetBlue has to get a grip on this problem.  It's killing ridership at RIC and it doesn't do much for their reputation...and I've always really liked JetBlue.  I loved flying with them.

[blopp1234]

Sorry to hear bensytree.
 

It would suck if JetBlue cancelled the route altogether but staffing issues have taken such a role that most established airlines don’t want to jump into starting up new routes until it is resolved. Early estimates that I’ve heard floated around in articles say it could be until  later next year that we have these issues due to poor management by the airlines during the pandemic and their inability to anticipate travel demand rebounding following the pandemic.

I wouldn’t be too worried about them restarting this route as routes everywhere have been getting cancelled due to crew shortages. My parents recently flew to Atlanta (which sees the highest traffic of all routes from RIC) and had their flight back to RIC cancelled due to the lack of a crew. I’m sure JetBlue doesn’t want to embark on starting any new routes until they can sort out staffing on their existing routes.

If JetBlue does end up permanently scrapping this route, look for Breeze to jump on it immediately, as this market has shown high demand potential and fits Breeze’s MO as a medium sized market that doesn’t have direct service to a large market. This route is  an attractive, unserved route so look for another airline to swoop in if JetBlue pulls out.

 

 

 

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

Sorry to hear bensytree.
 

It would suck if JetBlue cancelled the route altogether but staffing issues have taken such a role that most established airlines don’t want to jump into starting up new routes until it is resolved. Early estimates that I’ve heard floated around in articles say it could be until  later next year that we have these issues due to poor management by the airlines during the pandemic and their inability to anticipate travel demand rebounding following the pandemic.

I wouldn’t be too worried about them restarting this route as routes everywhere have been getting cancelled due to crew shortages. My parents recently flew to Atlanta (which sees the highest traffic of all routes from RIC) and had their flight back to RIC cancelled due to the lack of a crew. I’m sure JetBlue doesn’t want to embark on starting any new routes until they can sort out staffing on their existing routes.

If JetBlue does end up permanently scrapping this route, look for Breeze to jump on it immediately, as this market has shown high demand potential and fits Breeze’s MO as a medium sized market that doesn’t have direct service to a large market. This route is  an attractive, unserved route so look for another airline to swoop in if JetBlue pulls out.

 

 

 

I think Breeze should swoop in now and take advantage of those looking for a nonstop flight to LAX.  Who knows, by the time JetBlue wants to restart this route, their opportunity would have come and gone.  I think this is a great opportunity for another airline like Breeze to get a step ahead of some of the others.  However, Breeze (the last couple transcon flights to and from RIC) have been hours behind their scheduled departure times.  Thank goodness they haven't cancelled a flight yet to/from RIC, but 7.5 hours late on a departure is a huge disappointment (happened a few days ago on the RIC-SFO route).

Also, regarding the LAX route.  Breeze will be serving that route nonstop next month at ORF and I can see many who would use RIC to fly that route, go down to ORF to catch the nonstop flight to LAX.  This is bad.  RIC needs to land its own, reliable route to and from LAX soonest so that it does not hemorrhage potential passengers!

[wrldcoupe4]

How many passengers do we hemorrhage to Norfolk? I would never think to drive 2 hrs east to the coast to pick up a flight to the west coast. I'd probably go to DC instead if the connecting flights were terrible or something.

[I miss RVA]

5 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

How many passengers do we hemorrhage to Norfolk? 

THANK YOU!!! This HAS to stop!! There is NO reason whatsoever that RVA metro should give our business to ORF. Period!

Well said, Coupe.

[blopp1234]

I don’t know a single person in the Richmond  area, or even in Williamsburg that would drive to Norfolk for a flight over going to RIC unless they had no other choice. Imagine how many people from Norfolk travel to  RIC for flights to San Francisco per say and that’s probably similar to the amount of people that ORF poaches. I don’t think it’s as big of a problem as it’s made out to be. As for losing passengers to DC, I think that used to be the case but with traffic the way it is on the interstate, it’s almost easier to pay alittle extra to fly out of RIC and connect through an airport than to do the 2:30+  slog up I-95 to DC. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by blopp1234

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

How many passengers do we hemorrhage to Norfolk? I would never think to drive 2 hrs east to the coast to pick up a flight to the west coast. I'd probably go to DC instead if the connecting flights were terrible or something.

Obviously, I don't have any firm numbers, but I know it happens.  I've seen comments all the time on Reddit where someone has taken flights out of ORF and live in RVA.  I'm sure there are a few from the Williamsburg area, but the poaching may be increase due to increased offerings at ORF (Breeze has quite a few nonstop destinations from ORF).  I, personally, wouldn't make that drive to catch a flight there, but some people would...or do.  It may not be a huge number, but any customer lost is one too many to me.  RIC has the nonstop flights to SFO and ORF will soon have the nonstop flights to LAX on Breeze.  I'd like to know how many will make the trip to ORF to catch the LAX flight there instead of wrestling the traffic up in DC.  It's all interesting.  I know that there is still quite a bit of hemorrhaging of passengers to the DC airports.  I would like to see that be a thing of the past.

[Icetera]

18 hours ago, blopp1234 said:

I don’t know a single person in the Richmond  area, or even in Williamsburg that would drive to Norfolk for a flight over going to RIC unless they had no other choice. Imagine how many people from Norfolk travel to  RIC for flights to San Francisco per say and that’s probably similar to the amount of people that ORF poaches. I don’t think it’s as big of a problem as it’s made out to be. As for losing passengers to DC, I think that used to be the case but with traffic the way it is on the interstate, it’s almost easier to pay alittle extra to fly out of RIC and connect through an airport than to do the 2:30+  slog up I-95 to DC. 

I have taken Amtrak to BWI and DCA for flights, but often it is because I am coordinating with DC friends or taking advantage of DC amenities that we now lack (sports, concerts) within travel plans.

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Icetera said:

I have taken Amtrak to BWI and DCA for flights, but often it is because I am coordinating with DC friends or taking advantage of DC amenities that we now lack (sports, concerts) within travel plans.

Back in the late '90s, I drove to BWI to fly to St. Louis because of no direct flights from Richmond to St.L and I didn't feel like a long layover in Chicago. (Who knew I'd end up living in Chicago then!)

[Brent114]

I picked up a friend (and drove them back for their departing flight)  at  BWI that flew in from St Louis (the engine on my truck blew up in Woodbridge on the drive back to Richmond). 
 

I’ve also flown to Denver from there.  It’s seems crazy now but RIC used to be so expensive (and I was so young) that driving up 95 was a no brainer lol. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

I picked up a friend (and drove them back for their departing flight)  at  BWI that flew in from St Louis (the engine on my truck blew up in Woodbridge on the drive back to Richmond). 
 

I’ve also flown to Denver from there.  It’s seems crazy now but RIC used to be so expensive (and I was so young) that driving up 95 was a no brainer lol. 

Truck engine: Oy vey! I hate it when that happens! I snapped the timing chain/belt one afternoon/evening northbound on I-95 just about at Belvidere Street - I was in the center lane and the state trooper who assisted said the backup began all the way back beyond the Maury Street exit. Boy - did THAT feel good to know... 

Costs: Yeah - there was a GULF in terms of just how great the cost difference was back in the day. Thank GOD that the fare gap has closed dramatically over the last decade or so - a real plus for RIC.

[Niccckk]

Hey all. 

Southwest opened up their schedule for reservations through early January 2023, and there seems to be some promising news for RIC - DEN.

It appears according to their schedule that the flight will return service on September 4th, with a late non-stop flight leaving for denver at 7:20pm. It will only operate on Sundays. However the flight appears to suspend service again on November 6th, and it doesn't return for nonstop at all for the rest of the current schedule.

Southwest non-stops to Atlanta appear to be increasing in frequency as well after Septermber 3rd. Unfortunately still no sign of the RIC-MCO route returning this year at all. Frequencies for MDW appear unchanged.

That's ya southwest schedule update

https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/results.html?departureDate=2022-09-04&destinationAirportCode=DEN&originationAirportCode=RIC&scheduleViewType=weekly&timeOfDay=ALL_DAY

Edited June 16, 2022 by Niccckk

[eandslee]

4 hours ago, Niccckk said:

Hey all. 

Southwest opened up their schedule for reservations through early January 2023, and there seems to be some promising news for RIC - DEN.

It appears according to their schedule that the flight will return service on September 4th, with a late non-stop flight leaving for denver at 7:20pm. It will only operate on Sundays. However the flight appears to suspend service again on November 6th, and it doesn't return for nonstop at all for the rest of the current schedule.

Southwest non-stops to Atlanta appear to be increasing in frequency as well after Septermber 3rd. Unfortunately still no sign of the RIC-MCO route returning this year at all. Frequencies for MDW appear unchanged.

That's ya southwest schedule update

https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/results.html?departureDate=2022-09-04&destinationAirportCode=DEN&originationAirportCode=RIC&scheduleViewType=weekly&timeOfDay=ALL_DAY

Thanks for the report @Niccckk!  I’m bummed that the daily RIC-DEN route is not going to start for the foreseeable future (except those particular Sundays).   Increased flights between RIC-ATL…meh…I think folks are tired of flying through ATL…on Delta and now on Southwest, but it may be a sign of more passengers being served at RIC…or just the passengers that would have taken a nonstop flight between RIC-DEN, but now have to go thru ATL.   Anyway, thanks again for the report. Let us know if there are any changes!

The airlines HAVE to solve the pilot shortage and equipment issues sooner rather than later - it’s killing the confidence of the flying public!

[Hike]

Well, this is unfortunate.

https://www.nbc12.com/2022/06/18/thousands-flight-cancelations-impact-richmond-couples-return-home/

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, Hike said:

Well, this is unfortunate.

https://www.nbc12.com/2022/06/18/thousands-flight-cancelations-impact-richmond-couples-return-home/

Definitely not a good look for Breeze. Been noticing the issues the past few weeks.  Just seems Breeze is spread too thin right now.  They have to get a hold of this situation now!

[Hike]

21 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Definitely not a good look for Breeze. Been noticing the issues the past few weeks.  Just seems Breeze is spread too thin right now.  They have to get a hold of this situation now!

Exactly. No confidence will cut into bookings which will eliminate the route. 

[I miss RVA]

5 hours ago, Hike said:

Exactly. No confidence will cut into bookings which will eliminate the route. 

That's a snowball effect that we just flat can't afford to have happen. 

[Downtowner]

6 hours ago, eandslee said:

Definitely not a good look for Breeze. Been noticing the issues the past few weeks.  Just seems Breeze is spread too thin right now.  They have to get a hold of this situation now!

This all airlines right now. With the way there are too few pilots I fear a lot of airlines are really going to be losing big money and make it hard for the average person to fly now. 

[eandslee]

Found this on Twitter and thought this was interesting.  I have no explanation…what?!