Des Moines airport

[richey24]

Which dates is the OP choosing? I found direct from DSM for $500. Still a lot, but not $900

I think he meant he found $900 for 2, or $450 each. Unless that's what you meant too, in which case, that's quite a bit less, where'd you find it?

 

[mplscyclone]

I think he meant he found $900 for 2, or $450 each. Unless that's what you meant too, in which case, that's quite a bit less, where'd you find it?

I think you're right. I found $800 together connecting in Milwaukee.

I did find a better one in Kansas City, where for 2 you can fly direct for $280.

I do wonder though the benefits of flying out of Omaha and here's why:

You have to drive 2 hours to get there, you have to get to the airport an hour early, and you fly for 1.5 hours, you spend about .5 hours waiting for your luggage, and another .5 hours to get to wherever you are staying. Assuming there are no delays, you spend 11 hours getting to Denver and back to Des Moines for $400 plus 270 miles worth of gas (probably about $30 assuming you have a fuel efficient car), plus at least $15-$20 for parking at the airport.

You spend 11 hours for about $450 roundtrip.

If you drive, you spend 18 hours getting to Denver and back to Des Moines, driving about 1340 miles or about $150 on gas.

You spend 18 hours for about $150.

I guess the question about driving vs. parking is a matter of whether those 8 additional hours are worth $300 (or more) to you.

Since I'm broke, I'd road trip it, plus I find airports to be a hassle, plus I hate waiting at a gate for the flight crew, or because of a mechanical problems with a plane...

 

[Cyclonepride]

We've found KC to be the best value.

 

[simply1]

Love Lyons! Oskar Blue's rocks so hard. Too bad the brewery moved down to Littleton though

I have to admit we didn't see much of Lyons, haha.

 

[simply1]

I think he meant he found $900 for 2, or $450 each. Unless that's what you meant too, in which case, that's quite a bit less, where'd you find it?

Yeah, for labor day weekend each ticket was over $400, versus half that for flying out of Omaha.

 

[capitalcityguy]

We need Southwest in DM do shake it up a little.

As long as people are willing to drive to Omaha or KC, they have ZERO incentive to come to DSM.

This is a good lesson in the old saying regarding "seeing the forest for the trees". In other words, the airlines will land (no pun intended) where the demand exists.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Are you serious? A two hour drive is nothing with or without the kid. You pop a movie in the DVD and you're home.

As far as safety, sure I suppose it adds some risk, but isn't there a risk everytime we get into the car? I think you are over analyzing this.

You can call it over analyzing. I prefer to characterize it as putting a higher emphasis on practicality or do I dare say.....safety?

 

[simply1]

As long as people are willing to drive to Omaha or KC, they have ZERO incentive to come to DSM.

This is a good lesson in the old saying regarding "seeing the forest for the trees". In other words, the airlines will land (no pun intended) where the demand exists.

The competitive advantage point comes in when Southwest says look at the number of people driving to Omaha, and buying United or U.S. Air, or Frontier. If we go straight to D.M. we can cut that off.

There are a lot of ways to look at it, really your point is to create a huge cash cow by overpaying until we get better service.

 

[CyinCo]

You can call it over analyzing. I prefer to characterize it as putting a higher emphasis on practicality or do I dare say.....safety?

So do you ever leave your house, or is that unsafe?

 

[b3r3m]

I see what you're saying now Simply1.

Did some checking - directly flight (United) from DSM to DEN runs well above 400/ticket, which is what you were saying.

Thought that odd - as my wife often flies to LAX through DEN and we never have paid that much. So I checked those as well.

You can get a ticket for DSM-DEN-LAX for about $260. The DSM-DEN leg alone will cost about $420.

Go figure.....

along these same lines... we've flown from Des Moines to destinations in mexico a couple times now. Each times our flights have been fairly cheap - $300-500 round trip. On one of these occassions, we flew back from Puerto vallarta to PHX to Des Moines. But oddly enough, you can never get a direct flight from Des Moines to PHX! They were connect you through PHX all the time, but never a direct flight. so weird.

 

[b3r3m]

We need Southwest in DM do shake it up a little.

Can't remember if I read an article or where I saw this, but as to why Southwest does not fly to DSM...
Southwest will only flight in cities where they can expect to have 2500 travellers in one day - that's just on Southwest flights alone. Des Moines does not even have 2500 travellers in one day out of all airlines. My numbers might be off a bit, but you get the gist.
Bottom line, Southwest will never be in Des Moines.

 

[cytech]

Can't remember if I read an article or where I saw this, but as to why Southwest does not fly to DSM...
Southwest will only flight in cities where they can expect to have 2500 travellers in one day - that's just on Southwest flights alone. Des Moines does not even have 2500 travellers in one day out of all airlines. My numbers might be off a bit, but you get the gist.
Bottom line, Southwest will never be in Des Moines.

That just leaves more room for low cost airlines like allegiant to come in and add more direct flights.

Can fly to vegas direct for under $200 and for around $200 to goto phoenix.

 

[jumbopackage]

The competitive advantage point comes in when Southwest says look at the number of people driving to Omaha, and buying United or U.S. Air, or Frontier. If we go straight to D.M. we can cut that off.

There are a lot of ways to look at it, really your point is to create a huge cash cow by overpaying until we get better service.

I can guarantee you that the number of people doing that will in no way justify any airline doing anything in this economy. All of the airlines - Southwest included - are cutting capacity at the moment.

along these same lines... we've flown from Des Moines to destinations in mexico a couple times now. Each times our flights have been fairly cheap - $300-500 round trip. On one of these occassions, we flew back from Puerto vallarta to PHX to Des Moines. But oddly enough, you can never get a direct flight from Des Moines to PHX! They were connect you through PHX all the time, but never a direct flight. so weird.

You can get plenty of direct flights from DSM to PHX. It'll probably cost you more, and you're going to likely be stuck on a CRJ for 3 hours.

Just a quick look on Kayak.com, and you can fly from DSM to PHX on Delta for around 230 bucks with a stop. Non-stop on US Airways will run you around 420 bucks.

Can't remember if I read an article or where I saw this, but as to why Southwest does not fly to DSM...
Southwest will only flight in cities where they can expect to have 2500 travellers in one day - that's just on Southwest flights alone. Des Moines does not even have 2500 travellers in one day out of all airlines. My numbers might be off a bit, but you get the gist.
Bottom line, Southwest will never be in Des Moines.

And add to it that Southwest doesn't maintain a hub and spoke network like the "legacy" airlines do, and you actually need a fairly large number of people - 122 or so minimum per flight - who want to go between a good number of points - most of their locations have at least 10 destinations. That's a bare minimum of 1200 or so people a day wanting to go somewhere (and return). Des Moines just isn't big enough for that.

It's also the reason they don't service a lot of "big, empty" states. Southwest Airlines Interactive Route Map
They mainly have airports in cities with large populations (aside from their traditional locations in Texas).

 

[dmclone]

I'm surprised they are not in Atlanta.

Des Moines metro is as big or bigger than Boise, Jackson, and Lubbuck. However that doesn't mean that DM has more air travel. DM is around 90th in air travel but I also think it would be higher if everyone wasn't forced to go to Omaha/KC to find cheap flights.

 

[dmclone]

BTW-I just found some other stats.

Busiest Airports

DM-90th-947,393 passengers in 2006. 2,600 passengers/day
Jackson, MS-98th
Boise 71st
Lubbock-Not top 100
Little Rock 83rd

 

[jumbopackage]

I'm surprised they are not in Atlanta.

Des Moines metro is as big or bigger than Boise, Jackson, and Lubbuck. However that doesn't mean that DM has more air travel. DM is around 90th in air travel but I also think it would be higher if everyone wasn't forced to go to Omaha/KC to find cheap flights.

Atlanta (Hartsford anyway) is the busiest airport in the world, and basically has no open slots. It's cost prohibitive for them to go there, and I assume there isn't a reasonable secondary airport in the area that can service them.

I don't think DM would be significantly higher in air travel even with cheap flights. It's just simply not a very big metro. And I don't think it's always about the metro area either. It has to do with other airlines already in the market, existing routes and a bunch of other factors in addition.

In short, I'm sure there are good reasons that Southwest isn't here, nor will it probably be here anytime soon.

 

[capitalcityguy]

So do you ever leave your house, or is that unsafe?

Yes I do leave home and guess what I see? A landscape made up of numerous various different colors.

My world is not black and white.

Anyway to a couple points made by others.

The airport has done studies and there is a definite negative affect on both prices and routes offered by the "leakage" out of DSM to neighboring airports. That is why you hear the sometimes annoying ads on the radio that encourage people to fly out of DSM. We do negative affect our own access to local airline travel (and options) by not supporting our local airport whenever it is possible.

Also something I learned recently (that I can tell there is some confusion on).
Direct flight = same airline from origination to destination. Most US flights are "direct" out of any decent sized airport (including DSM).
Nonstop = just what is says.

Bottom-line: direct flight doesn't necessarily equal nonstop flight.

 

[dustinal]

Also something I learned recently (that I can tell there is some confusion on).
Direct flight = same airline from origination to destination. Most US flights are "direct" out of any decent sized airport (including DSM).
Nonstop = just what is says.

Bottom-line: direct flight doesn't necessarily equal nonstop flight.

I thought a direct flight was a flight from origination to destination on the same plane (not just the same airline)--but again, not necessarily nonstop.

 

[capitalcityguy]

The competitive advantage point comes in when Southwest says look at the number of people driving to Omaha, and buying United or U.S. Air, or Frontier. If we go straight to D.M. we can cut that off.

There are a lot of ways to look at it, really your point is to create a huge cash cow by overpaying until we get better service.

It really isn't that complicated and also, to think SW airlines analyzes DSM to the degree is a bit naive. All the airline care about is the number of people that fly out of an airport. If the numbers aren't' there, they're not interested.

To your other point. It is econ 101. Supply and demand. It is really no different that comparing prices for bascially the same product on the shelf at Wal-mart verse your local corner hardware store (or similar). Volume creates ecomonies of scale.

 

[capitalcityguy]

I thought a direct flight was a flight from origination to destination on the same plane (not just the same airline)--but again, not necessarily nonstop.

Your correct. Sorry. The point being, a direct flight may have stops though. Thx.