Richmond International Airport

[wrldcoupe4]

Maybe Norfolk a pass-through to another destination?

[Downtowner]

That’s like saying well I have to catch a flight to Petersburg don’t want to miss my flight to Petersburg. What is this madness? There is no way this is true to have a flight from a city that close to us.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Downtowner

[Icetera]

42 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

That’s like saying well I have to catch a flight to Petersburg don’t want to miss my flight to Petersburg. What is this madness? There is no way this is true to have a flight from a city that close to us.

Considering ORF is a focus airport and RIC is not, seems conceivable that this is a connecting flight much like we do with IAD (only 30mi farther than ORF by car).

[blopp1234]

Seems weird though that this would even work as a connecting flight. Most of these flights aren’t very profitable at distances this short (the flight to IAD is largely for international connections as IAD is United’s primary east coast international hub). Since ORF doesn’t have any international destinations, I’m doubting this would be a viable connecting flight. No way this flight remains more than the scheduled period as rail travel and driving are just as if not more competitive for people trying to get from Richmond to Hampton Roads. 

[eandslee]

Seems to be only for this Friday.  It's weird and can't figure it out.  Oh well...it'll be interesting to see played out in real life on my Flightradar24 app!

[Niccckk]

The delays of Breeze Airways seems to mainly be coming from staffing and A220 issues.

There have been a lot of Breeze cancellations recently, and hopefully they get their act together soon because they're having a rocky start. Also, Breeze *suspended*  a lot of flights on their schedule, thankfully, RIC was not effected at all, besides RIC - JAX was suspended for now indefinitely. Yesterday the SFO flight was cancelled and today the Las Vegas flight is delayed until 3:30pm (supposed to takeoff around 8:50am). All E190 flights appear to be operating normally so it is definitely issues with the A220 and staffing... 

[eandslee]

When do the suspensions begin because I’m still showing the RIC-JAX flight still on for today?  Man, Richmond can’t ever get a RIC-JAX route that works.  Allegiant tried this route several years ago and it was also short lived  

Also, I have family affected by the RIC-LAS flight that’s scheduled for today. They were so disappointed when we woke up this morning and saw that the flight was delayed…but at least it’s not canceled!  They will just spend some extra time in Richmond today (not necessarily a bad thing), but this is a bad look for Breeze.  I would not recommend anyone fly any of the Breeze A-220 routes right now. All of them are affected and there are many angry customers. I’m just not sure how much longer they can continue to do this without losing significant confidence in the flying public. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by eandslee

[Downtowner]

19 minutes ago, eandslee said:

When do the suspensions begin because I’m still showing the RIC-JAX flight still on for today?  Man, Richmond can’t ever get a RIC-JAX route that works.  Allegiant tried this route several years ago and it was also short lived  

Also, I have family affected by the RIC-LAS flight that’s scheduled for today. They were so disappointed when we woke up this morning and saw that the flight was delayed…but at least it’s not canceled!  They will just spend some extra time in Richmond today (not necessarily a bad thing), but this is a bad look for Breeze.  I would not recommend anyone fly any of the Breeze A-220 routes right now. All of them are affected and there are many angry customers. I’m just not sure how much longer they can continue to do this without losing significant confidence in the flying public. 

I’m just going to say this. It’s not just breeze all airliners are having the worst time in the history of flying. When you are so short on pilots and all other staff that worries me big time. It’s like we are about to go into the dark ages as far as traveling goes. May as well get a horse and covered wagon with the way things are going. I’m not just concerned for the airliner industry but a ton of different ones that are about to layoff or that are about belly up completely because nobody wants to work ever again. Also it doesn’t help with people dying left And right of every cause known to man. I think the biggest thing wrong with staffing is the sheer amount of people dying of drugs crime covid and anything else that you can die from. I feel like alot of this is self inflicted sadly. I feel like we are about to see who can survive and who can’t if this food shortage thing gets so bad we have to start to a government food kitchen for people in this country. I’m worried more than I have ever been in my entire life. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Downtowner

[eandslee]

Found out that Breeze Airways is beginning make adjustments to their routes because of the ongoing pilot shortage that is happening all over the airline industry.  Most of the announced transcon flights on the new A-220 aircraft a couple months ago have been suspended indefinitely or the aircraft have changed to E-190s.  These are the routes that Breeze will be keeping that I know about (RIC fares very well):

SFO-SDF - A220

SFO-RIC - A220

SFO-CHS - A220

 

LAS-RIC - E190

LAS-SYR - E190

LAS-RSW - E190

LAS-CHS - E190

[I miss RVA]

5 hours ago, Downtowner said:

May as well get a horse and covered wagon with the way things are going.

I totally hear you. Hell, the rate at which things are going, I'm checking to see if Amazon has any deals on a good pair of orthopedic sandals and a walking staff (think Moses' staff in "The Ten Commandments" movie)...

If I were to leave the house tomorrow and start walking southeast, with any luck, I'd make it to RVA by my birthday in October! 

Seriously - I hear where you're coming from, brother.

[Downtowner]

3 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

I totally hear you. Hell, the rate at which things are going, I'm checking to see if Amazon has any deals on a good pair of orthopedic sandals and a walking staff (think Moses' staff in "The Ten Commandments" movie)...

If I were to leave the house tomorrow and start walking southeast, with any luck, I'd make it to RVA by my birthday in October! 

Seriously - I hear where you're coming from, brother.

Yeah I’m just really nervous because my company is having a big meeting tomorrow with all of us about possible layoffs but I’ve also heard they may be cutting our schedule in half and work fewer days and less hours which sucks but the way things are I’m not sure how anyone survives nowadays. Even the people that keep having their rent raised so much how do you find the money to keep afloat from renting. Luckily I’m not renting and my wife and I have a mortgage. I make decent money for what the cost of living and wages are currenlty but my wife brings home the big bucks opposed to me so as someone like myself who used to be on their own before getting married it was very tough when prices of things got sky high or just living on my own regardless made it tough. But I’m happy to at least have a roof over my head and food on the table. If I can make it through this sky high inflation then I can get through anything. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

Yeah I’m just really nervous because my company is having a big meeting tomorrow with all of us about possible layoffs but I’ve also heard they may be cutting our schedule in half and work fewer days and less hours which sucks but the way things are I’m not sure how anyone survives nowadays. Even the people that keep having their rent raised so much how do you find the money to keep afloat from renting. Luckily I’m not renting and my wife and I have a mortgage. I make decent money for what the cost of living and wages are currenlty but my wife brings home the big bucks opposed to me so as someone like myself who used to be on their own before getting married it was very tough when prices of things got sky high or just living on my own regardless made it tough. But I’m happy to at least have a roof over my head and food on the table. If I can make it through this sky high inflation then I can get through anything. 

Oy vey! I hope everything turns out okay, mate! 

[Downtowner]

12 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Oy vey! I hope everything turns out okay, mate! 

It did I still have my job but just got my hours reduced a lot and going to have to grab a second gig to keep afloat. I’ve got some side work lined up doing different things so I will be okay thankfully. This weekend I was on edge so just glad to have some relief. 

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, Downtowner said:

It did I still have my job but just got my hours reduced a lot and going to have to grab a second gig to keep afloat. I’ve got some side work lined up doing different things so I will be okay thankfully. This weekend I was on edge so just glad to have some relief. 

Glad you're still employed. Sorry to hear about the cutbacks. Here's hoping you find what you need to keep on rolling! 

[eandslee]

Breeze did officially cut the RIC-JAX route permanently after yesterday’s flights. Also, all the RIC-PBI flights have been postponed until this fall (not just RIC, but all markets with routes to PBI).  As of right now, RIC is going to keep all of its other destinations on Breeze to include it’s two transcontinental flights between RIC-SFO and RIC-LAS (thank goodness!).  Most of the new LAX flights on Breeze have been postponed until next February (as of now). This means that ORF will not see its transcontinental flight to LAX start until, at least, February.  
 

Crazy.  Lots of cuts, but these had to happen because Breeze was clearly over extended and they couldn’t operate like they have been much longer. Seems their E-jet flights are doing fairly well (except where they made cuts), but their A220 flights were the pits!  
 

As for Breeze Airways, I’m keeping my fingers crossed hoping they survive. 

[eandslee]

Airport statistics were released today for May and I have to say...I'm encouraged.  For May 2002, RIC saw the most passengers since November 2019 (just barely) with 186, 835 passengers enplaned and 185, 272 deplaned for a total of 372, 107 passengers served!  Folks, this isn't bad and is about 20k less served than May 2019 (the airport's busiest year)!  The airport is well on its way to a full recovery and in many ways (based on the statistics), has fully recovered based on years prior to 2019.  However, I don't ever want to think that we should be below the banner 2019 year for the airport, so in my mind, there's still more work to do.

I've kept you all up-to-date on the status of Breeze Airways at RIC in my previous posts, but for the other airlines, generally speaking - expect flights to be canceled and/or routes to get eliminated to and from RIC in the near future as the airline industry adjusts to the post pandemic demand for air travel and the lack of pilots and equipment to do it.  Hopefully, there won't be much more of this and things will begin to adjust to the new normal.  This may affect passenger numbers, but again, this is out of RIC's control.  I'll be interested to see any news in the media in the next couple days on the 33.45% year-over-year growth for May and what the projection for June looks like.  Sometimes, Mr. Bell gives us some other tidbits of information in those media releases as well, so stay tuned.  I would love to hear the status of the new cargo facility and other movements (such as the Army National Guard facility) to make room for another runway.  If I see anything, I'll post it here.  As always, here is the passenger growth chart I post each month for your enjoyment:

[georgeglass]

Just to add to the comments about Breeze...

We were scheduled to fly out on Breeze 7/21 to New Orleans and return 7/25. Unfortunately, they cancelled our outbound flight because they are no longer flying on Thursday. Due to plans we already had and being now short notice we had to rebook on Spirit out of BWI. I know it's not Breeze's fault and at least they gave us 2 weeks notice and I was able to get a refund. I really want them to do well, but it's just difficult for all airlines right now. Also, I really really really hate not using RIC 

[Niccckk]

4 hours ago, georgeglass said:

Also, I really really really hate not using RIC 

I'm the same way haha, but sometimes I have no choice. Wanted to get a flight out of RIC to Orlando with Southwest but flights with them are crazy expensive out of here right now and they're much cheaper in DCA. I

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, Niccckk said:

I'm the same way haha, but sometimes I have no choice. Wanted to get a flight out of RIC to Orlando with Southwest but flights with them are crazy expensive out of here right now and they're much cheaper in DCA. I

That cost disparity has been a problem (and unfortunately, a reality) for decades. It's a thorn in our side, particularly from the standpoint of wanting to significantly grow traffic at RIC.

[Shakman]

7 hours ago, georgeglass said:

Just to add to the comments about Breeze...

We were scheduled to fly out on Breeze 7/21 to New Orleans and return 7/25. Unfortunately, they cancelled our outbound flight because they are no longer flying on Thursday. Due to plans we already had and being now short notice we had to rebook on Spirit out of BWI. I know it's not Breeze's fault and at least they gave us 2 weeks notice and I was able to get a refund. I really want them to do well, but it's just difficult for all airlines right now. Also, I really really really hate not using RIC 

Oh yeah.  The flying school bus.  Sorry for travel troubles.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Shakman

[benstyree]

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/u-s-money-for-new-customs-facility-at-ric-opens-window-for-international-flights/article_def252dc-99c0-5674-9dad-fb1c58d7cfd7.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

HUGE for RIC!  Federal funding approved to build a new customs facility for international routes.  Construction is supposed to be finished by this time next year, and most importantly the spokesman indicates that airlines are already showing interest in international destinations from RIC.  This could be a game changer.

[eandslee]

20 minutes ago, benstyree said:

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/u-s-money-for-new-customs-facility-at-ric-opens-window-for-international-flights/article_def252dc-99c0-5674-9dad-fb1c58d7cfd7.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

HUGE for RIC!  Federal funding approved to build a new customs facility for international routes.  Construction is supposed to be finished by this time next year, and most importantly the spokesman indicates that airlines are already showing interest in international destinations from RIC.  This could be a game changer.

Notice that they mentioned "airlines" (plural).  I know that Breeze is considering international flights to and from RIC.  I wonder what other airlines are considering the same?  JetBlue was my first thought, but outside of those two airlines, I'm not sure which airlines these could be.   Also, I'm interested in knowing which destinations (probably the Caribbean and Mexico is my guess.  Anywhere in Europe would just be awesome!).  Either way, it doesn't sound like any international flights will start until, at least, next summer.  That means that we could hear an announcement sometime as late as next late winter/spring.  

[I miss RVA]

32 minutes ago, benstyree said:

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/u-s-money-for-new-customs-facility-at-ric-opens-window-for-international-flights/article_def252dc-99c0-5674-9dad-fb1c58d7cfd7.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

HUGE for RIC!  Federal funding approved to build a new customs facility for international routes.  Construction is supposed to be finished by this time next year, and most importantly the spokesman indicates that airlines are already showing interest in international destinations from RIC.  This could be a game changer.

This absolutely IS huge! Perhaps this will open up service and help elevate RIC out of the level of being just a "regional airport" - which the RT-D story made sure to use as a descriptive for RIC. Reading that was quite a gut punch, even if, quite unfortunately, it is the truth. Hopefully this new facility, and the associated upswing in direct international service, will go a long way to changing that.

7 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Notice that they mentioned "airlines" (plural).  I know that Breeze is considering international flights to and from RIC.  I wonder what other airlines are considering the same?  JetBlue was my first thought, but outside of those two airlines, I'm not sure which airlines these could be.   Also, I'm interested in knowing which destinations (probably the Caribbean and Mexico is my guess.  Anywhere in Europe would just be awesome!).  Either way, it doesn't sound like any international flights will start until, at least, next summer.  That means that we could hear an announcement sometime as late as next late winter/spring.  

Canada perhaps could be on the destination list. How much of a stretch would it be to add Toronto?

Edited July 8, 2022 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

12 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

s could be on the destination list. How much of a stretch would it be to add Toronto?

Not a stretch at all.  RIC used to have direct flights to Toronto some time ago, but not sure how much demand there is for this destination these days.  Would love to see the greatest demanded destinations from RIC without current service.  I'm sure Toronto is on that list somewhere, but I doubt it's near the top.  Just a guess though.

[Downtowner]

My only worry is what will ORF in Norfolk  get to try and out do us and be the annoying fly that never goes away. I’m very excited for this this is very big. I’m very excited to see this finally come to fruition.