Metro Orlando Airport News

[codypet]

5 hours ago, jrs2 said:

So, like, if someone in Broward flies to South America, they'll leave FTL and connect at MCO, right?

They might have to take some kind of train

[shardoon]

5 hours ago, codypet said:

They might have to take some kind of train

True, if theu are married to wanting Southwest airlines........ but there are so many other airlines that fly out of South Florida to international destinations, that the majority of the Southwest international connections at MCO will come from other cities like Nashville, Memphis, Kansas City etc. 

[jrs2]

10 hours ago, codypet said:

They might have to take some kind of train

I meant fly; I was thinking about Spirit flights to Central America that used to connect (or still do) at FTL- would a FTL passenger then fly to MCO and connect from there... 

[shardoon]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

I meant fly; I was thinking about Spirit flights to Central America that used to connect (or still do) at FTL- would a FTL passenger then fly to MCO and connect from there... 

My opinion of the spirit potential merger with jet blue is that they will slowly move major international connections to Orlando from FTL. Terminal C is too much of a good connections setup for Jet Blue. Just as good as terminal 5 at JFK. 

[jrs2]

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/11/16/nearly-21m-people-expected-to-travel-through-mco-as-airport-preps-for-holidays/

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/11/16/allegiant-will-begin-flying-out-of-orlando-international-airport-next-year/

Now, Allegiant will be flying out of three airports in CFLA Extended- OSI, MCO, and Melbourne. 

[shardoon]

14 hours ago, jrs2 said:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/11/16/nearly-21m-people-expected-to-travel-through-mco-as-airport-preps-for-holidays/

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/11/16/allegiant-will-begin-flying-out-of-orlando-international-airport-next-year/

Now, Allegiant will be flying out of three airports in CFLA Extended- OSI, MCO, and Melbourne. 

Interesting. They tried this in the past and couldn't handle the extra costs of the MCO fees. Wonder what changed?

[jrs2]

On 11/18/2023 at 8:47 AM, shardoon said:

Interesting. They tried this in the past and couldn't handle the extra costs of the MCO fees. Wonder what changed?

I hope they don't pull out of OSI.  

[FLClarkKent]

On 11/18/2023 at 8:47 AM, shardoon said:

Interesting. They tried this in the past and couldn't handle the extra costs of the MCO fees. Wonder what changed?

I recall that they publicly blamed the fees, but that they also received a lot of pushback from customers who didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of traveling through MCO (versus the relative ease of SFB). Many folks, myself included, would rather have a longer drive to a less crowded airport than vice versa.

And it’s that relative ease (smaller airports, direct flights) that’s the main benefit of Allegiant. It’s not like you choose to fly them for their luxury seats or award winning customer service. It’s no frills / no fun travel. They practically make you get out and push the plane to the gate these days (and charge you a fee for the privilege).

That being said, SFB was pretty hopping the last time I was there. Not overwhelmed, but close. And they just don’t have much in the way of amenities (food, beverage, etc.), pre or post security. That new wing has a good court, but it’s never open.

 

 

 

[shardoon]

29 minutes ago, FLClarkKent said:

I recall that they publicly blamed the fees, but that they also received a lot of pushback from customers who didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of traveling through MCO (versus the relative ease of SFB). Many folks, myself included, would rather have a longer drive to a less crowded airport than vice versa.

And it’s that relative ease (smaller airports, direct flights) that’s the main benefit of Allegiant. It’s not like you choose to fly them for their luxury seats or award winning customer service. It’s no frills / no fun travel. They practically make you get out and push the plane to the gate these days (and charge you a fee for the privilege).

That being said, SFB was pretty hopping the last time I was there. Not overwhelmed, but close. And they just don’t have much in the way of amenities (food, beverage, etc.), pre or post security. That new wing has a good court, but it’s never open.

 

 

 

I have never tried them before and am a little intrigued. My only concern is they do not have redundancies in place if something goes wrong. I had a friend on a random non holiday weekend that was in Asheville trying to get home. The plane broke and they had no replacement. The best they could do was put them on a flight 3 days later because they didn't have room on their flights the next 2 days. They ended up renting a car and driving home. 

[FLClarkKent]

2 hours ago, shardoon said:

I have never tried them before and am a little intrigued. My only concern is they do not have redundancies in place if something goes wrong. I had a friend on a random non holiday weekend that was in Asheville trying to get home. The plane broke and they had no replacement. The best they could do was put them on a flight 3 days later because they didn't have room on their flights the next 2 days. They ended up renting a car and driving home. 

Yep, that’s their business model. Fine when everything works (plane, weather, etc.) but a real crapshoot if something goes wrong. 

[shardoon]

So strange. By next week, MCO is gonna be 3 months behind in releasing any traffic data. Last month released was August. Usually they release the prior month the third week of the month. 

[shardoon]

So I complained on here, and they update it lol. Still waiting for October which is also late. 

Rolling 12 months through September 2023 is 55,998,369. This was about a 600K passenger jump. If we estimate 500k for the remaining 3 months, we should be at 57.5 million for the year. Would love to see us break 58 million. 

[jrs2]

3 hours ago, shardoon said:

So I complained on here, and they update it lol. Still waiting for October which is also late. 

Rolling 12 months through September 2023 is 55,998,369. This was about a 600K passenger jump. If we estimate 500k for the remaining 3 months, we should be at 57.5 million for the year. Would love to see us break 58 million. 

Did you email them and complain about it too?

Also, what was the 2019 numbers pre-covid at its height?

I think among other things, with the transferring of intl flights for Southwest from FTL will add a lot of "trips" not part of the typical growth we've been seeing; that and also some of those duplicate route Allegiant flights recently announced.

[shardoon]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

Did you email them and complain about it too?

Also, what was the 2019 numbers pre-covid at its height?

I think among other things, with the transferring of intl flights for Southwest from FTL will add a lot of "trips" not part of the typical growth we've been seeing; that and also some of those duplicate route Allegiant flights recently announced.

I'll dig deeper into the numbers. As far as my complaint, I only did it here, but I do believe some UP members are connected to the airport, so that probably helped

[blt23]

3 hours ago, jrs2 said:

Did you email them and complain about it too?

Also, what was the 2019 numbers pre-covid at its height?

I think among other things, with the transferring of intl flights for Southwest from FTL will add a lot of "trips" not part of the typical growth we've been seeing; that and also some of those duplicate route Allegiant flights recently announced.

Calendar 2019 was 50.61 million passengers; rolling 12 months through February 2020 was 51.28 million.

[shardoon]

Rolling 12 months through October 2023 is 56,491,946. Continue to be on track for 57.5 million for 2023 unless we have blowout November and December numbers. 

Air traffic as a whole has gone up everywhere, but I think Orlando rose a lot higher than others. Using last years numbers, with an estimate of 57.5 million, this would be enough to bump Orlando up to being top 10 worldwide by displacing Paris Charles de Gaulle from #10. 

[jrs2]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:03 AM, shardoon said:

I have never tried them before and am a little intrigued. My only concern is they do not have redundancies in place if something goes wrong. I had a friend on a random non holiday weekend that was in Asheville trying to get home. The plane broke and they had no replacement. The best they could do was put them on a flight 3 days later because they didn't have room on their flights the next 2 days. They ended up renting a car and driving home. 

 

23 hours ago, shardoon said:

Rolling 12 months through October 2023 is 56,491,946. Continue to be on track for 57.5 million for 2023 unless we have blowout November and December numbers. 

Air traffic as a whole has gone up everywhere, but I think Orlando rose a lot higher than others. Using last years numbers, with an estimate of 57.5 million, this would be enough to bump Orlando up to being top 10 worldwide by displacing Paris Charles de Gaulle from #10. 

Top10 worldwide is pretty amazing...

[shardoon]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

 

Top10 worldwide is pretty amazing...

Las Vegas currently ahead of us by 200k passengers for the calendar year, but then again they cheat with their numbers and included 800,000 general aviation passengers to their total. 

[shardoon]

Also checked the airports ahead of us, apparently air traffic is booming across everywhere. Paris is averaging 5.5 to 6 million passengers a month. Same with JFK.  However, Miami continues to run behind Orlando considerably, but I think that is due to Fort Lauderdale

[jrs2]

On 12/5/2023 at 1:03 PM, shardoon said:

Las Vegas currently ahead of us by 200k passengers for the calendar year, but then again they cheat with their numbers and included 800,000 general aviation passengers to their total. 

That's insane; whomever tallies these lists should filter out General Aviation since the breakdown is already given to them, right?

I think when the expansion currently underway at Terminal C opens with those 4/8 new gates, that will really boost passenger numbers even more...  and the more time that passes, the more efficient Terminal C will operate and that should affect frequency of flights some as well, right?

[shardoon]

37 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

That's insane; whomever tallies these lists should filter out General Aviation since the breakdown is already given to them, right?

I think when the expansion currently underway at Terminal C opens with those 4/8 new gates, that will really boost passenger numbers even more...  and the more time that passes, the more efficient Terminal C will operate and that should affect frequency of flights some as well, right?

They do it cause they can and it makes them look better. Vegas is the only major airport that would see a considerable passenger count from general aviation. All other major cities have general aviation airports that take the bulk. 

[jrs2]

https://www.orlandoairports.net/press/2023/12/04/orlando-international-airport-expands-customer-parking-options-with-two-new-lots/

[shardoon]

Gonna be a nail biter on whether we pass 58 million. Had a 647K jump year over year with November 2023 factored in. 12 month rolling now at 57,138,805. My prediction will be about 57.7 million for the year. 

[codypet]

Looks like JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit was blocked.  That will make things interesting for a while.  Rumor is Spirit needs a dance partner and quick.

[shardoon]

43 minutes ago, codypet said:

Looks like JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit was blocked.  That will make things interesting for a while.  Rumor is Spirit needs a dance partner and quick.

Honestly, it's complete bullcrap. I'm not for or against the merger per se...... however, how this merger on the small scale is unable to go through, but the govt allowed AA to eat American West and US Air. United and Continental merging was allowed. Delta and NWA allowed to merge. 

However, this much small merger isn't allowed is utter BS and smells of corruption. The Big legacy airlines were behind this lobbying to the govt. It's govt mixing with corporate corruption. 

You can't allow something to go through on a much bigger scale while at the same time making all those pertinent arguments to succeed on blocking a much smaller merger. 

Will be interesting to see if Hawaiin airlines is able to be bought by Alaska airlines. 

Will also be interesting to see if Frontier makes a renewed bud and if the federal govt allows that to go through since every one of the arguments cited by the judge would once again apply.

Edited January 17 by shardoon