Grand Rapids Airport (GRR) News and Developments

[GR8scott]

Grr- lga has been around for years via American and/or delta/northwest. Boston and jfk would be great and complete all east coast hub options. Out west, Seattle is now a Delta hub and offers a lot more Asian connections than slc could also lure Alaska On that route at some point. Allegiant is probably over due to go to lax and united to sfo is a long shot but possible as I believe they tried cities like Madison and Des Moines

[kwl]

On 6/8/2019 at 8:15 AM, MJLO said:

Not wanting to get too deep in the weeds on this one, but as a frequent traveler I wouldn't call A320's or 737's rare at GRR at all(the omnipresent MD88's are also the passenger equivalent).   Especially since two of the bigger airlines that service the airport ONLY use 737's. They are just as common at the airport as CRJ's  Every Delta flight I'm on is a plane at least that big, exceptions being when I connect to MSP, or if I end up on a mid-day flight.  I've even flown in on a 757 a time or two.  There isn't enough of a demand for a route to SLC since it's cheaper to run the western connections through Chicago, DTW, and MSP.  United's Denver route likely also makes it less feasible for Delta to run a competing route into SLC.   

 

On 6/8/2019 at 9:11 AM, Raildude's dad said:

Southwest only fly's 737's so I wouldn't say they are rare at GRR.

Yes, I was speaking out DAL in this case. SWA/AAY/FFT will all operate six-abreast equipment (737/A-320). Mainline carriers seem to only supply six-abreast during evening and early morning departures with a heavy dose of connection CRJ/E-170-175/ERJ(yuck). 

Delta's use of the of the 757 on the 10:30-11:30 DTW-GRR is peculiar. I've been on it maybe 6 or 7 times and only once has it been noticeably full. Although I usually swing for it if I see it since it all but guarantees my feeble Gold Medallion status a decent shot at a F upgrade. 

It will be exciting to see what happens in the next 2-3 years with both phase outs of MD-88/90s and eventually the 757. I expect we'll begin to see some of the A220 at some point. 

[arcturus]

Please let it be west coast -

 

[MJLO]

1 hour ago, arcturus said:

Please let it be west coast -

 

If it's Allegiant I selfishly hope one of the routes is to Jacksonville and not some place I'll ever go like Branson MO.  or something. 

[egrguy]

Los Angeles.

I am hoping the other is Seattle, but I am guessing San Francisco. 

I misread and thought Western cities.

I am still sticking with LA, but will go with Boston as my second choice.

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by egrguy
Misread the post

[Pattmost20]

Please be California. Really, really please be SFO or OAK.

[GR8scott]

My guess is both Allegiant and LAX is one of the hubs so other than that maybe return to Myrtle beach or the new hub ft Walton beach, they also seem to be doing smaller mainstream hub city’s like cincinatti , Baltimore or Newark (it doesn’t say new destinations in the announcement) 

I could see SW maybe Stl again, Dallas love, phx or Vegas

 

slim chance Delta does Boston Slc or even slimmer Seattle or jfk

[GRDadof3]

4 hours ago, arcturus said:

Please let it be west coast -

 

I don't know if it helps but on the twitter feed it says that both destinations are in the 80's and sunny today. 

[MJLO]

15 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I don't know if it helps but on the twitter feed it says that both destinations are in the 80's and sunny today. 

That sounds vacationy like more allegiant destinations.  My instincts tells me west coast is a long shot.

[GR8scott]

16 minutes ago, MJLO said:

That sounds vacationy like more allegiant destinations.  My instincts tells me west coast is a long shot.

Yeah a quick look at the weather leads me to believe that most likely it’s more seasonal destinations on Allegiant to Myrtle Beach and Fort Walton Beach, two other allegiant focus cities that happen to be in the 80s and sunny today. Unfortunately, It’s only 60s and cloudy in LA

[Guest]

Oh come on everybody!  Where does everyone in W. Michigan go for vacation? yay.... Florida.... 

[Prankster]

Jacksonville and New Orleans

[Pattmost20]

7 minutes ago, Prankster said:

Jacksonville and New Orleans

If not any west coast destination, I would take New Orleans. 

[ChevalierNoir]

23 minutes ago, Prankster said:

Jacksonville and New Orleans

Yawn... These flights are only twice a week anyway. I was hoping for a Southwest or Delta announcement with daily service. 

[MJLO]

1 hour ago, Prankster said:

Jacksonville and New Orleans

Is this a prediction or did they announce it?

EDIT: It's the announcement.  https://www.woodtv.com/news/kent-county/allegiant-air-adds-2-nonstop-flights-from-ford-airport/

Honestly I'm pretty pleased with these two cities even if they are seasonal.  I travel to both multiple times a year.  I pretty much knew it was going to be Allegiant since they are constantly trying different routes.  These are the best destinations they've added in a while.   I was worried it was going to a couple more 2nd tier beach destinations.  I'll take New Orleans and it's authenticity over Las Fake-as any day.  I think we are still one or two mid sized corporate headquarters away from being considered for daily direct west coast service.

[arcturus]

Oh well, a 4 hr drive gets you a direct flight to Vancouver, BC for pretty cheap now that Swoop flies out of London, ON.

https://www.flyswoop.com/

Edited June 18, 2019 by arcturus

[Pattmost20]

3 hours ago, arcturus said:

Oh well, a 4 hr drive gets you a direct flight to Vancouver, BC for pretty cheap now that Swoop flies out of London, ON.

https://www.flyswoop.com/

London to Halifax for under $200 Canadian round trip. Now that is tempting.

[GR8scott]

4 hours ago, arcturus said:

Oh well, a 4 hr drive gets you a direct flight to Vancouver, BC for pretty cheap now that Swoop flies out of London, ON.

https://www.flyswoop.com/

 Many smaller Canadian markets have really good international/Caribbean destination routes,  hope we can pick a few up in a couple years when the customs expands.

As for the new destinations,  i’m never going to complain about new destinations and  JAX and NO  are nice but will they last long? What’s that 10 FL destinations now? I’m not at all surprised that it was allegiant, just disappointed they still Doesnt go to LAX  while they already offer that to much smaller markets and on longer routes. 

 

Also our airport  has almost an embarrassing amount of seasonal destinations considering we are not the destination most bf the time. I realize this is pretty much allegiants business model but something like FLL where GRR is it’s only City not year round and a large enough market to support it. The main line like AA to Miami in the same market as well as other large hubs phx should be year around. 

[MJLO]

From what I can tell all Allegiant routes start as seasonal and are upgraded as demand is realized.  For the life of me I can’t tell what their methodology is for creating new routes.  Remember when Allegiant started in this market they only offered 2 flights a week to Orlando.  They now offer daily flights to both Orlando and Tampa(PIE). I’m not sure if the Mesa route is also daily now.  Sarasota doesn’t make sense to me because it’s so close to St. Pete.  It also seemed odd that they would launch a Savannah route before both JAX and NOLA.  I would think both  of these routes will have more demand than Savannah(which is less than two hours from JAX and it’s cruise port.)

There are 2.3 million people within a 60  mile radius of GRR.  If I had to guess I’d say  Allegiants focus on GR is starting to pull in travelers from as far away as South Bend and Traverse as well.  There are heavy midwestern connections to the gulf shore of Florida so those routes make sense to me.  I know Savannah is a decent sized tourist destination but I know very few people in this area who frequent it.  I’m hoping the larger markets in JAX and NOLA make it past the seasonal phase.  I already booked my first two trips on these routes lol.

[arcturus]

I'd like to think Grand Rapids and surrounding areas are just as much a tourist destination as Florida .. at least late Spring to late Fall (which this year is starting mid June lol).

Nice way to balance the winter months when it's the other way.  Maybe Allegiant's strategy is to entice residents in a state over twice the population of Michigan to visit here,  plus Jacksonville's pull to southern Georgia.

 

[GR8scott]

1 hour ago, arcturus said:

I'd like to think Grand Rapids and surrounding areas are just as much a tourist destination as Florida .. at least late Spring to late Fall (which this year is starting mid June lol).

Nice way to balance the winter months when it's the other way.  Maybe Allegiant's strategy is to entice residents in a state over twice the population of Michigan to visit here,  plus Jacksonville's pull to southern Georgia.

 

As far as I can tell Nashville is seasonal in the summer months so maybe some people there but the rest are seasonal in the winter  and doubt many Florida locals are trying to get to Michigan in the winter....Colorado maybe 

[walker]

3 hours ago, MJLO said:

. . . There are 2.3 million people within a 60  mile radius of GRR.  If I had to guess I’d say  Allegiants focus on GR is starting to pull in travelers from as far away as South Bend and Traverse as well.  

Just so happens that today Allegiant also announced new service between Traverse City and Florida:

allegiant-air-announces-new-service-with-cherry-capital-airport 

[arcturus]

2 hours ago, GR8scott said:

As far as I can tell Nashville is seasonal in the summer months so maybe some people there but the rest are seasonal in the winter  and doubt many Florida locals are trying to get to Michigan in the winter....Colorado maybe 

Right, that's why I said a balance between the attraction of Michigan in summer vs Florida's in winter.

[MJLO]

3 hours ago, walker said:

Just so happens that today Allegiant also announced new service between Traverse City and Florida:

allegiant-air-announces-new-service-with-cherry-capital-airport 

They are flying to Tampa, Orlando, and Ft. Myers.  That's the I-4 corridor, and Ft. Myers.  If someone from TVC is flying to just about any other Allegiant destination their next best option is still GRR.

[kwl]

Allegiant's hyper aggressive growth at GRR makes me a little nervous for a few reasons. 

1) I think Allegiant only has 1 or 2 gates. It's not uncommon for me to see 2-3 flights full of people waiting at that single gate since...err...Allegiant's demographic seems to be the type of people who need to show up 2-3 hours before departure. 

2) Allegiant consistently has horrible delays. I've been at the airport numerous times when they've been on 4-6 hour delays with no end in sight. Now, the elimination of older MD-8xs will undoubtably improve their on time performance, but operating out of a single gate configuration could lead to more planes sitting on the tarmac and more stress on airport services. 

3) MSY doesn't offer a tremendous amount of connection options nor is it as popular as FL when it comes to vacationers. The cruise ship port may be able to support this route and I'm uncertain if the new terminal is driving cheaper slots/gates than what is there today. 

I am excited for a few reasons: 

1) Many friends drive to DTW/ORD to catch Spirit flights. GRR could really begin to steal some of that business with Allegiant. 

2) I travel to NOLA about 3-4 times a year on DAL. I could get tickets for $175-$250 RT about 2-3 years ago and these have since ballooned to $375-$550. I'll never fly Allegiant due to OTP and the awful safety record exposed by the Tampa news a year or two ago, but this will put downward pressure on flights to NOLA out of GR.