GSP International

[gman430]

39 minutes ago, apaladin said:

Yep 17 delays and 7 cancellations at gsp today. My daughter flew to Canada today and was supposed to get there at 11:55 this morning, She finally got there at 9 tonight after changing itinerary 3 times. 

It’s that way all over the country thanks to Southwest Airlines. USDOT is about to get involved it looks like. Not good for that airline. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by gman430

[NewlyUpstate]

For anyone dealing with airline delays and cancellations, the new DOT Customer Service Dashboard is quite helpful to better understand the differing levels of service that each airline provides in the event of a controllable (non-weather related) delay or cancellation.

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-customer-service-dashboard

[jarvismj]

I flew in on United from Boston on Sunday. We were screwed coming from Newark but that was because Republic couldn’t get their crap together and get a crew together but landing at GSP was nice. I can’t wait for the UA mainline to start service just not happy that it’s not going to be for Newark as I like to stay in one time zone. Needless to say the airport is looking good and hopefully you guys get a direct to BOS soon.
I will add that by the crew that was running the flight was exemplary and they let my daughters and I all sit in first (yay for Star Gold)

[gman430]

Why is the United mainline to Denver only going to last a few weeks? Goes back to regional plane before the end of March. Odd. 

[rssgvegas]

10 hours ago, gman430 said:

Why is the United mainline to Denver only going to last a few weeks? Goes back to regional plane before the end of March. Odd. 

United's flight schedule is only confirmed until the end of March.  That may or may not change before it is finalized.

[PuppiesandKittens]

On 12/9/2022 at 12:28 PM, gman430 said:

However, the good news always comes with the bad. Contour is leaving GSP: https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/221208-lfjan23bna That didn’t last long and honestly isn't surprising. Luckily, they were very small planes with very little weekly service so not a big loss IMO. They are currently only flying on Mondays and Fridays once a day with planes that only hold 30 people. 

gman430, after traveling from GSP today, I now understand all of your criticisms of the airport and the airlines that it has.

At gate A1, it’s really shocking: the carpet squares in the boarding lanes are not aligned, so the lines and shapes on one square don’t flow seamlessly with the next square.  How can this airport be taken seriously with this flaw (the first impression that many people have of Greenville) and how can Greenville ever make it to the next level?

During my layover at another airport, at the Admirals Club, there was a make-your-own taco bar,  but there was no meat there.  I had to wait six minutes for taco meat. How can such terrible service be tolerated and why would GSP be satisfied with a carrier such as American Airlines, with that level of service?

So, gman430, I hear you loud and clear and I think that your constant criticisms of GSP and its airlines are, consistent with my experiences today, completely valid.

 

[gman430]

Yeah, it’s a nice airport but that’s about all it is. Like putting lipstick on a pig. Why does it only cost me 60,000 miles to fly to Australia or New Zealand from Atlanta but out of GSP it’s double that for the same dates? Somebody answer that one for me. I also saved hundreds of dollars flying to Dubai, Hawaii and San Francisco out of Atlanta than GSP. However, on the flip side it was cheaper for me to fly to London and Alaska out of GSP than Atlanta so I guess it just varies by destination and airline. 

And I don’t understand why people are okay with GSP losing service. Seems odd to me. There’s always room for improvement. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by gman430

[NewlyUpstate]

3 hours ago, gman430 said:

Yeah, it’s a nice airport but that’s about all it is. Like putting lipstick on a pig. Why does it only cost me 60,000 miles to fly to Australia or New Zealand from Atlanta but out of GSP it’s double that for the same dates? Somebody answer that one for me. I also saved hundreds of dollars flying to Dubai, Hawaii and San Francisco out of Atlanta than GSP. However, on the flip side it was cheaper for me to fly to London and Alaska out of GSP than Atlanta so I guess it just varies by destination and airline. 

And I don’t understand why people are okay with GSP losing service. Seems odd to me. There’s always room for improvement. 

Flying international out of hubs will always be substantially cheaper

[gman430]

Starts January 16th. $18 million. Two years to build.

Info: https://gspairport.com/trip/

 

194,426 passengers for November.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

Surprisingly Dec passengers down a tick from previous Dec; 178,699 vs 180,966 respectively.  

Despite that, yearly total for 2022 was up 21.58% to 2,187,884, compared to 1,799,887 from 2021.

This beats 2017s 2.137 MM but falls short of 2018s 2.317 MM and 2019s 2.612MM. 

[gman430]

All of the flight cancellations no doubt played a factor in the lower passenger numbers for December. My flight was one of them sadly. If all of the extra seats being added get filled for 2023, I expect this year to be the highest ever for pax numbers. 

Edited January 20, 2023 by gman430

[gman430]

Good article here: 

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/airfreight-operators-skip-the-line-at-americas-crowded-airports-11674595989

[gman430]

Silver Airways increased service from GSP to Orlando (MCO) and Tampa (TPA) from two weekly flights to three times a week starting January 2023. Nonstop flights to both destinations will operate on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays through at least August 31, 2023. The flights are operated by 47-seat ATR-42 aircraft. 

GSP has launched a major initiative to land new and increased service from current airlines at the airport along with trying to land new ones. This is already happening with American, United, Delta, Southwest, and now Silver. 

Providing a look forward into the service levels for February 2023 is a schedule comparison for the month vs the same month last year, including flights and seats by airline and non-stop markets served. Currently in the schedules, GSP flights are down at 15.6%, and seats are down at 4.0%. Expect this seat percentage number to go positive in March 2023 compared to March 2022. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

3 hours ago, gman430 said:

Silver Airways increased service from GSP to Orlando (MCO) and Tampa (TPA) from two weekly flights to three times a week starting January 2023. Nonstop flights to both destinations will operate on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays through at least August 31, 2023. The flights are operated by 47-seat ATR-42 aircraft. 

GSP has launched a major initiative to land new and increased service from current airlines at the airport along with trying to land new ones. This is already happening with American, United, Delta, Southwest, and now Silver. 

Providing a look forward into the service levels for February 2023 is a schedule comparison for the month vs the same month last year, including flights and seats by airline and non-stop markets served. Currently in the schedules, GSP flights are down at 15.6%, and seats are down at 4.0%. Expect this seat percentage number to go positive in March 2023 compared to March 2022. 

Some good nuggets in there but i am very surprised to hear that flights and seats are down, i thought multiple flights had been added just in the past 6 months.

[gman430]

1 hour ago, distortedlogic said:

Some good nuggets in there but i am very surprised to hear that flights and seats are down, i thought multiple flights had been added just in the past 6 months.

March-May is when you will see the new flights and seats really start to ramp up. 

[gman430]

Here you go @distortedlogic

https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/business/greenville-spartanburg-airport-adds-seats-on-united-delta-silver-routes/article_f70c2704-a186-11ed-8c6c-8b7200893bf0.html?fbclid=IwAR17Z0vkm0__PqlvausgEwKc2A_7EPrtRy_P9ziPBmafKKMHMRTakBiQC-g&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

 

United will soon phase in larger aircraft for three of its routes. On March 4, flights to Denver, Houston and Chicago will split from using 76-seat Embraer 175 and instead use either Boeing 737s, Airbus 319s or Airbus 320s.

Specifically, fights to Denver will be operated by 126-seat Airbus 319 and 166-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Houston flights will be on 150-seat Airbus 320 and 179-seat Boeing 737-900. Chicago will swap its three 76-seat aircraft for two 126-seat Airbus 319. While the route to Newark/New York will not add larger planes, it will add a third Embraer 175.

These changes increase United’s number of seats by 48 percent, airport director of communications Tom Tyra said. The number of United daily departures will remain the same, just on bigger jets. 

On March 4, Delta will add a second daily flight to Detroit on a 110-seat Boeing 717. It will also trade its current Boeing 737 for a larger to be used for flights to Atlanta.

Available seats at the Upstate airport will be 18.4 percent higher in March 2023 than one year prior. 

Starting in January, Florida-based Silver Airlines increased service from GSP to Orlando and Tampa from two times a week to three. The 47-seat flights are offered on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays through Aug. 31 with the possibility to be extended through the end of the year, Tyra said. 

“We’re hoping that’s a good sign moving forward as we kind of continue to put distance between us and the pandemic,” Tyra said. “We will hopefully see some other announcements at GSP in later 2023.” 

American Airlines announced late last year its plan for two additional nonstop daily flights from GSP to New York’s LaGuardia Airport while Columbia added one daily flight there. The flights will start May 5. 

As of Jan. 9, Contour Airlines pulled out from the Upstate airport, nearly two years since it announced it would offer nonstop flights to Nashville.

The decision was not due to lack of demand, Tyra told the Post and Courier. Rather, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Contour Airlines routes in a subsidized program called Essential Air Service where it pays airlines to fly planes from small communities to larger ones.

Tyra said the Greenville-Spartanburg market was not included in the government program, calling the subsidized routes potentially a “better deal” for Contour. 

While it only operated for a little more than a year, the Nashville route “stimulated more passengers,” Tyra said. The airport is marketing the route to other airlines and is “hopeful that we will see this route at GSP again in the future.” He said there is also a chance Contour could one day be back if it grows its fleet.  

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by gman430

[gman430]

Two of South Carolina’s largest airports on opposite sides of the state want lawmakers to allocate nearly $700 million to help pay for expansion projects.

Officials from Charleston International and Greenville-Spartanburg International asked a subcommittee of state budget-writers Feb. 7 for $681.5 million to fund construction work over the next four years to meet growing demands for passenger travel and air cargo.

In the Upstate, GSP wants to build a parking garage and rental car pavilion, cargo facility, commercial aviation maintenance operation, automated shuttle service and updated baggage handling at a total cost of $409.7 million.

Greenville-Spartanburg officials want the state to allocate $264.5 million. The remainder would come from reserves, in-house financing and federal grants.

Greenville saw 2.19 million ticket holders coming and going last year. The Upstate airport expects its passenger level to grow nearly 40 percent to more than 3 million by 2037.

Kevin Howell, chief operating officer at GSP, noted the Upstate airport handles billions of dollars in cargo each year, with manufacturers shipping products made in South Carolina to Europe, Asia and Mexico.

He also said hardly a day goes by that one or both of the parking decks at GSP are full.

“The importance of airport infrastructure is critical to the state’s economy,” Howell said.

The airport probably won’t know until the legislative session ends in May if funding will be provided. That’s when lawmakers wrap up talks on the state’s spending plan for the new budget year, which starts in July.

Edited February 7, 2023 by gman430

[gman430]

Southwest will be ending Saturday service to HOU in early September. However,  a second BWI flight on Sunday’s will be added around the same time so it breaks even. Everything else remains the same including the additional ATL flight and HOU service on Sunday’s. 

Edited February 9, 2023 by gman430

[gman430]

Projects at GSP over the next five years: 

 

[gman430]

Allegiant announces new non-stop direct service from Phoenix to ASHEVILLE.   Keep up the great work GSP.  

https://wlos.com/amp/news/local/asheville-regional-airport-announces-direct-flight-may-2023-allegiant-airlines-phoenix-sky-harbor

Edited February 22, 2023 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

1 hour ago, gman430 said:

Allegiant announces new non-stop direct service from Phoenix to ASHEVILLE.   Keep up the great work GSP.  

https://wlos.com/amp/news/local/asheville-regional-airport-announces-direct-flight-may-2023-allegiant-airlines-phoenix-sky-harbor

This continues to be frustrating for GSP. Last year AVL was within 300k passengers of GSP, and we're talking about a population base one third the size. It may well pass GSP this year in total numbers. Tourism or not, its hard to make sense of those numbers. COVID really did a number on the momentum GSP had and I guess tourism has really taken off again; hence AVL and CHS. And the upstate has seen a tremendous amount of growth from other areas as well but service remains stagnant. Now we have to compete with 3 airports with more service.  

Edited February 22, 2023 by distortedlogic

[gman430]

2 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

This continues to be frustrating for GSP. Last year AVL was within 300k passengers of GSP, and we're talking about a population base one third the size. It may well pass GSP this year in total numbers. Tourism or not, its hard to make sense of those numbers. COVID really did a number on the momentum GSP had and I guess tourism has really taken off again; hence AVL and CHS. And the upstate has seen a tremendous amount of growth from other areas as well but service remains stagnant. Now we have to compete with 3 airports with more service.  

Yep. GSP just isn’t aggressive enough to land new carriers and service. I miss the GSP that fought tooth and nail to land Southwest.  Now it’s like they don’t even care. Sad. I feel like I live in Columbia. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by gman430

[rssgvegas]

10 hours ago, gman430 said:

Yep. GSP just isn’t aggressive enough to land new carriers and service. I miss the GSP that fought tooth and nail to land Southwest.  Now it’s like they don’t even care. Sad. I feel like I live in Columbia. 

Keep your eyes and ears out.  GSP should be announcing a new carrier soon.  Service is going to start in June.   Maybe a mid-March announcement?

[gman430]

1 hour ago, rssgvegas said:

Keep your eyes and ears out.  GSP should be announcing a new carrier soon.  Service is going to start in June.   Maybe a mid-March announcement?

Great to hear. Hopefully an airline better than Contour and Silver as in bigger planes and to more destinations that aren’t within a few hours drive away.

[distortedlogic]

I see someone has been asking around for the scoop on an airliner forum!

 

If it's a new carrier I am guessing the sky may turn blue, or it's going to be extra sunny?

I doubt the frontier will be explored through an adventurous spirit or breezey avelo.

Edited February 22, 2023 by distortedlogic