Richmond International Airport

[flack4ric]

I sure do miss Eric and flack.

Hey, Burt, don't sweat it - I'm still around.

The FSD release was a formaility as the announced "new" FSD has been on the job at RIC since June.

The thing to watch with Ryanair is an aircraft order for trans-Atlantic-capable equipment; they tend to buy on the downturn, taking advantage of lower capital costs. The Ryanair fleet today is all Boeing 738s, with a seating configuration for 189 pax. We had a "taste" of the Ryanair way of conducting business with Skybus, who had some ex-Ryanair execs involved with original business model. I think you could safely assume that Virginia EDP would track developments on this front closely.

flack4ric

Edited December 29, 2008 by flack4ric

[flack4ric]

We had a "taste" of the Ryanair way of conducting business with Skybus....

Speaking of Skybus, the airline's former CEO is writing a book, as promised when he resigned earlier in the year. Read more here: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/s...&ana=e_vert

flack4ric

[burt]

USAir flight 1549 from LGA to CLT had emergency landing in The Hudson River here in NYCity about 6 blocks away from my apartment. Apparently there are no fatalities. Ferries and other boats are swarming around the plane which is still partially afloat. It happened about 3:45pm.

The plane hit a flock of geese.

There were 147 passenger and 5 crew on the flight. Details are coming in on all channels.

It's reported all passengers and crew have been evacuated and are being taken to area hospitals for treatment of hyperthermia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5:10PM: The plane hit the Hudson at about 50th Street and at this moment, it and all surrounding vessels have drifted with the tide as far south as Chambers Street oposite the Tribeca district...about 3 miles The fuselage is still afloat. It's reported that had the plane left LGA on any other runway, the flight plan would have crossed the Hudson at the GW bridge and it would have had to ditch over Newe Jersey rather than the river. Needless to say, the pilot is being lauded for his heroric expertise.

Note in the original postiing my UP clock is still on Daylight time. I typed in the time in the adendum and it is correct.

Edited January 16, 2009 by burt

[Shakman]

The Captain was an ex-military pilot who flew F-4's.

It is amazing that the plane remained fully intact, yet kept floating down river. Eventually ending up near Battery Park; four miles away from impact. The plane was then anchored to the shored.

Edited January 16, 2009 by Shakman

[Asace888]

I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but does ExpressJet use RIC as some sort of "Mid-Atlantic" storage site for replacement aircraft. The last few times I have driven by the south end of the airport there have been at least three or four of the Miami Dolphin color livery E145's sitting on the tarmac by the Continental Express (which I know is operated by ExpressJet) hanger. I also noticed on Flightaware.com that several of the ExpressJet flights were to destinations such as Hartford, Myrtle Beach, Baltimore, etc. Could these have been charter flights or planes sent to replace temporarily grounded Continental Express aircraft? Just wondering why the sudden abundance in these particular aircraft.

ExpressJet Picture

[burt]

Asacre, flack could answer this in a New York minute.

[eandslee]

I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but does ExpressJet use RIC as some sort of "Mid-Atlantic" storage site for replacement aircraft. The last few times I have driven by the south end of the airport there have been at least three or four of the Miami Dolphin color livery E145's sitting on the tarmac by the Continental Express (which I know is operated by ExpressJet) hanger. I also noticed on Flightaware.com that several of the ExpressJet flights were to destinations such as Hartford, Myrtle Beach, Baltimore, etc. Could these have been charter flights or planes sent to replace temporarily grounded Continental Express aircraft? Just wondering why the sudden abundance in these particular aircraft.

ExpressJet Picture

Continental has a maintenance facility at RIC. That could be the reason.

[flack4ric]

Continental has a maintenance facility at RIC. That could be the reason.

This is correct, the facility dates back 7-8 years. Also, ExpressJet stopped scheduled flying under its own brand late last year, so having a few temporarily parked is not so surprising.

Additional note - looks like we had a 40% post-inauguration boardings bump today. While this is likely to be short-lived and related specifically to inauguration celebrants using RIC as an alternative airport for DC, it's most certainly welcome.

flack4ric

Edited January 21, 2009 by flack4ric

[burt]

This is correct, the facility dates back 7-8 years. Also, ExpressJet stopped scheduled flying under its own brand late last year, so having a few temporarily parked is not so surprising.

Additional note - looks like we had a 40% post-inauguration boardings bump today. While this is likely to be short-lived and related specifically to inauguration celebrants using RIC as an alternative airport for DC, it's most certainly welcome.

flack4ric

Looks like January will be a record-setter, thanks to the inaugural ceremonies in DC. Anxious to see the numbers at the end of the month.

What were boarding figures for December?

[flack4ric]

Looks like January will be a record-setter, thanks to the inaugural ceremonies in DC. Anxious to see the numbers at the end of the month.

What were boarding figures for December?

Burt, I don't want to set expectations too high - we would need several days of heavy post-inauguration traffic to be in record territory. But, today was a nice jump, hopefully some of the same tomorrow.

December traffic was down less than 2%, boosted by a late Thanksgiving. We'll post official numbers next week after the monthly Commission meeting.

flack4ric

[flack4ric]

RIC reported December 2008 and CY2008 traffic today at monthly meeting of the Capital Region Airport Commission:

DEC08 Total Passengers: 278,062 (1.7%)

CY2008 Total Passengers: 3,490,356 (4.0%)

Obviously, we would have preferred stronger numbers, but given the current environment (Air4Casts reported US traffic down 9.4% in DEC08), traffic at RIC is performing better than domestic industry as a whole.

Traffic data should post on www.flyrichmond.com later today, and the RTD already has a brief post up at http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/loca...-093007/189824/ .

flack4ric

[burt]

Thanks, flack for the traffic report. Here's Peter Bacque's updated story from today's R-TD.

Booty Armstrong says the figures have not yet hit the bottom. But, with the nationwide decline in traffic, RIC seems in better shape than most airports.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/...-212016/190518/

Edited January 28, 2009 by burt

[burt]

I suppose this should be in a different thread, but as stated in the story's last paragraph, the growth at Ft. Lee probably will impact traffic at RIC.

From today's R-TD:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/loca...-232504/192886/

[flack4ric]

I suppose this should be in a different thread, but as stated in the story's last paragraph, the growth at Ft. Lee probably will impact traffic at RIC.

From today's R-TD:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/loca...-232504/192886/

Mr. Bailey is correct. We expect to see an uptick as well with Ft. Lee's growing importance as a training facility. One of the local bright spots....

flack4ric

[crashvt03]

I've read rumors that Delta will be ending their service to Laguardia this spring. flack4ric, can you confirm this?

[MicoMiles]

I've read rumors that Delta will be ending their service to Laguardia this spring. flack4ric, can you confirm this?

Delta's non-stop service from RIC to LGA ends March 31. RIC was the 4th busiest airport in Virginia in 2008.

[burt]

Why the exodus from LGA? AirTran pulled out and Delta is next. Won't that leave USAir as the only carrier between LGA and RIC?

Isn't NYCity the top destination for RIC?

Are Virginia's top four in this order: Dulles, Reagan, Norfolk and Richmond, or is Reagan the busiest?

[burt]

How are Jet Blue flights doing between RIC and JFK? And how about Continental's loads between RIC and EWR?

Edited February 3, 2009 by burt

[flack4ric]

Why the exodus from LGA? AirTran pulled out and Delta is next. Won't that leave USAir as the only carrier between LGA and RIC?

Isn't NYCity the top destination for RIC?

Are Virginia's top four in this order: Dulles, Reagan, Norfolk and Richmond, or is Reagan the busiest?

Confirming DL exit from RIC-LGA, as stated previously. US will be sole RIC-LGA operator. New York remains top destination from RIC, but don't underestimate the power of a tough economy. When RIC was seeing 25-26 daily departures to LGA/JFK/EWR, you could argue that it was an overserved market, just a matter of who would "blink" first.

Following DL LGA exit, RIC will see 19x daily departures to the New York area: JFK-7 (JetBlue-3, Delta-4), LGA-7 (all US), and EWR-5 (all CO).

Regarding status/loads for flights to any destination, New York or otherwise, most routes would welcome a few more passengers. General demand is not strong ATM, and this is not a problem unique to this market.

Per FAA enplanements ranking (CY2007 is most recent posted), the correct order is IAD, DCA, ORF & RIC.

flack4ric

[Shakman]

Why the exodus from LGA? AirTran pulled out and Delta is next. Won't that leave USAir as the only carrier between LGA and RIC?

Isn't NYCity the top destination for RIC?

Are Virginia's top four in this order: Dulles, Reagan, Norfolk and Richmond, or is Reagan the busiest?

2008 estimates show Dulles (IAD) is still the busiest in VA. IAD handles about 4 million more passengers than Reagan National (DCA). Interesting to note is that I have seen DC Fire and Rescue on the grounds of DCA instead of Arlington County. The airport authority is located within DCA and has its address city listed as Washington DC, yet the the airport authority website has DCA as being located in Arlington County.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Shakman

[Shakman]

A Richmond bound United Express flight makes an emergency landing in Charlottesville:

http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=9796486

Edited February 5, 2009 by Shakman

[burt]

Confirming DL exit from RIC-LGA, as stated previously. US will be sole RIC-LGA operator. New York remains top destination from RIC, but don't underestimate the power of a tough economy. When RIC was seeing 25-26 daily departures to LGA/JFK/EWR, you could argue that it was an overserved market, just a matter of who would "blink" first.

Following DL LGA exit, RIC will see 19x daily departures to the New York area: JFK-7 (JetBlue-3, Delta-4), LGA-7 (all US), and EWR-5 (all CO).

Regarding status/loads for flights to any destination, New York or otherwise, most routes would welcome a few more passengers. General demand is not strong ATM, and this is not a problem unique to this market.

Per FAA enplanements ranking (CY2007 is most recent posted), the correct order is IAD, DCA, ORF & RIC.

flack4ric

Here's Peter Bacque's story from today's R-TD which elaborates on flack's info:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/...-212204/200408/

[Shakman]

ariportbusiness.com also has an article relative to the end of RIC - LGA by Delta.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Shakman

[burt]

ariportbusiness.com also has an article relative to the end of RIC - LGA by Delta.

On a Delta flight that arrived LGA yesterday around 10:25am there were about 10 passengers. The airline probably has good and valid reasons to suspend service on this particular route.

[Shakman]

On a Delta flight that arrived LGA yesterday around 10:25am there were about 10 passengers. The airline probably has good and valid reasons to suspend service on this particular route.

It was been noted in various articles is that RIC to the NYC area maybe a bit too staturated with flights; especially since the demand of flying has come down. Hopefully the airfare "war" out West will make its way towards the East Coast.