Walls99

There were many factors that led to LIT losing several routes (including but not limited to NYC) from main carriers. The recession, repeal of the Wright Amendment (only affecting SWA out of DAL), and airline consolidation all converged at the same time and hit LIT pretty hard in the realm of air travel. We lost Newark & Cleveland from Continental, Salt Lake City, Orlando, & Cincinnati from Delta, Houston-Hobby, Chicago-Midway, & Baltimore from Southwest, Minneapolis from Northwest, Kansas City from US Air, and New York-LGA from American. Memphis was lost after Delta "de-hubbed" it when it was acquired from Northwest. Though these route losses reflect on bleaker times, recent passenger boarding increases out of LIT have me very optimistic for our future. Boardings have been up just about every month for the last two years putting LIT back on the rise towards the pre-recession boarding numbers. I would be shocked if LIT does not see more routes from major carriers and/or increased plane size (maybe mainline in the case of AA to DFW) in the foreseeable future. Although not included as one of the four major carriers, the successful return of Frontier with their relatively two new routes and Allegiant continuing to add new destinations shows promising signs for central Arkansas. If United truly wants to grow their market share, they need to add routes to one (or more) of their major hubs in either Newark, LA, or San Francisco and/or upgrade current aircraft to E175s (as AA has done). It would not be out of the realm of possibility to maybe take a larger market share here than Delta. Delta has nearly a quarter of the traffic through LIT on effectively one route (90% of their passengers are to ATL with the other 10% are through DTW). Delta seems to have neglected LIT with only one flight per day (very early in the morning) to a non-ATL hub on a CRJ and lack of convenient travel to the west with no routes to any of their hubs in SLC, LAX, or SEA. American seems to be doing a better job of catering to the LIT market and are reaping the dividends by overcoming Delta to become the largest carrier by total passengers at LIT. United could easily boost their numbers by doing the same things AA has: increase plane size allowing for more amenities to attract more passengers, increase flight schedules for more convenient travel times, and addition of new routes. Personally, I would love to see some new routes out of LIT. Our close proximity to Southwest's focus city of Nashville, as well as Southwest's legacy of success in LIT, would make a LIT-BNA route desirable. Lack of westward travel on Delta would make SLC, LAX, or SEA viable options. Lack of any flights to NYC is not good, and I think United stands to benefit from revitalizing the LIT-EWR route.

Total passengers at Clinton National Airport reached 2,140,981 for the 2018 calendar year. This is a 5.5% increase from 2017. This is a good sign for LIT moving forward and will hopefully lead to more new routes out of Little Rock. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jan/18/news-in-brief-20190118/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morning-1-18-19&utm_content=morning-1-18-19+CID_7692d4ed49efa2d3481a099fbeb14d93&utm_source=Email Marketing Platform&utm_term=Fliers top 21 million at Little Rock airport in 18

I agree. Why continue the trend of sprawl in suburban areas rather than build a tower downtown as a large project? Would be good for brand recognition (having their name plastered on a 300-400ft building) and would help continue bringing more business attraction downtown. West Cantrell does not need another suburban office development.

Speaking of Chi’s, their location at Markham and Shackelford has permanently closed. I am not sure as to why, but I would assume that it had something to do with its location up and out of the way of most traffic (led to the downfall of other restaurants there as well, namely Cozumel’s and Macaroni Grill).

Total passengers at LIT reached 1,015,438 year-to-date as of June. This is a 2.4% increase over numbers from 2017. June 2018 was the first month since July 2014 to have over 200,000 total passengers in one month (204,651 to be exact in June 2018). These numbers are a good sign for LIT as boardings continue to increase over the lower numbers from more recent years.

I’m assuming LAS and PHX additions are in reference to MEM since LIT already has service to both places on Southwest?

I agree. I’m actually somewhat surprised this hasn’t happened by now. If I’m not mistaken, there were not even SW flights out of LIT to BNA even before the repeal of the Wright Amendment (odd considering LIT would have been a good stop between DAL and BNA). Oklahoma City is getting service to Nashville on Southwest beginning in October.

The Little Rock Airport Commission announced at their meeting today that American Airlines mainline service will resume to DFW beginning on July 5.

While driving north along US 67/167 (future I-57), I noticed a plane on final approach to LIT that was much larger than the usual regional jet or 737 that we see on a regular basis. Upon checking Flight Aware, it showed the plane as being a Delta 757-200 from ATL. Any insight as to whether this is a permanent upgrade? LIT has not serviced 757’s for quite sometime if this is true. I provided a screenshot from Flight Aware to document the encounter. Being a “plane nerd” myself, I was more than excited to discover this!

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Ruth’s Chris have an interest in a downtown location near Robinson a couple years back? It would be nice to have one in town, however I too worry that it would undercut Arthur’s in the realm of high-end steakhouses in Little Rock considering market size and relative proximity (should they move into the Promenade as rumored). Ha! Now wouldn’t that be something?

Progress being made on the building of the supposed Chili’s relocation at Markham and Chenal

Dickey’s BBQ off of Maumelle Boulevard has closed permenantly. The one remaining in Bryant seems to still be open.

Ramono’s Macaroni Grill on Markham has closed permanently as of last night. Found out when trying to eat lunch and everything was being carted out of the restaurant. The manager came out and spoke to us apologizing. It was the only one in the state of Arkansas.

It seems a little odd that they would move their location farther away from the interstate.

According to the LIT Wikipedia page, the LIT-DTW route is a seasonal route only. Of course we all know how reliable Wikipedia can be

Glad to see their return!

Are there still plans for direct flights from LIT to international destinations, such as Mexico most likely? There have been rumors about them for years, and I was wondering what the status on this is. The slight decline in traffic over the past few years probably did nothing to help our cause, but the even more recent traffic increases (even though they are small) have me feeling optimistic.

Is there not still the United flights to Reagan National in DC or were those canceled as well?

I have heard rumors about this.