FAT looks to be out to bust all records in 2018. Better than 10% growth in Q1 and that's before the additional frequencies that kick in starting with F9's new service, UA to ORD, AS hikes to SAN, and another hike to GDL by Y4 and AM. GDL growth is very much stretching the FIS beyond capacity. It was never intended to serve more than a single flight and now, there's a couple times a week that a 738 and 320 on the ground at the time time. Having sat on Y4 on the ground for close to 30 minute waiting for customs to empty out from a very full 738, they need to start working on a bigger international arrivals area.

https://flyfresno.com/airport-sets-reco ... rter-2018/

Currently 4th largest US to GDL market. Pretty impressive for a smaller airport.

The FIS is going to be even busier this summer according to that press release. Frequencies are increasing for summer:

New airline choices, expanded flight and destination options for travelers flying through Fresno Yosemite International Airport this summer include:

Twice daily departures to Guadalajara, Mexico beginning June 16 on Volaris.
Daily service to Guadalajara, Mexico on AeroMexico starting June 1.

Congrats FAT. So what would be the top 5 unserved markets that would be most viable to/from FAT?

OzarkD9S wrote:

Congrats FAT. So what would be the top 5 unserved markets that would be most viable to/from FAT?

INTL: BJX, MEX, SJD
DOM: SNA, MSP, HNL

whatusaid wrote:

FAT looks to be out to bust all records in 2018. Better than 10% growth in Q1 and that's before the additional frequencies that kick in starting with F9's new service, UA to ORD, AS hikes to SAN, and another hike to GDL by Y4 and AM. GDL growth is very much stretching the FIS beyond capacity. It was never intended to serve more than a single flight and now, there's a couple times a week that a 738 and 320 on the ground at the time time. Having sat on Y4 on the ground for close to 30 minute waiting for customs to empty out from a very full 738, they need to start working on a bigger international arrivals area.

https://flyfresno.com/airport-sets-reco ... rter-2018/

After increasing parking (which is way short of demand, even with the new employee lot), the #1 priority is new int’l gates behind the current ticket counters, according to the new master plan update. Will accommodate 3 a/c at a time (although not sure if customs will be able to process that many at once).

flyfresno wrote:

After increasing parking (which is way short of demand, even with the new employee lot), the #1 priority is new int’l gates behind the current ticket counters, according to the new master plan update. Will accommodate 3 a/c at a time (although not sure if customs will be able to process that many at once).

I believe the master plan calls for the new gate area extending behind the terminal to be 1 full-time domestic gate and 2 international/domestic swing (flex) gates. See page 17, 18, 19 at
http://www.fresnoairportsmasterplan.com/fresno/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/04/FAT-Ch6-AlternativesAnalysis-Website.pdf

FATFlyer wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

After increasing parking (which is way short of demand, even with the new employee lot), the #1 priority is new int’l gates behind the current ticket counters, according to the new master plan update. Will accommodate 3 a/c at a time (although not sure if customs will be able to process that many at once).

I believe the master plan calls for the new gate area extending behind the terminal to be 1 full-time domestic gate and 2 international/domestic swing (flex) gates. See page 17, 18, 19 at
http://www.fresnoairportsmasterplan.com/fresno/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/04/FAT-Ch6-AlternativesAnalysis-Website.pdf

My mistake, although they can always alter the plan, and perhaps they will if the int'l trend continues. Sounds like there could be 4 int'l flights some nights (3 to GDL and 1 to MLM), and a third int'l gate would help with both capacity and timing should delays cause ground times to overlap more than planned.

flyfresno wrote:

OzarkD9S wrote:

Congrats FAT. So what would be the top 5 unserved markets that would be most viable to/from FAT?

INTL: BJX, MEX, SJD
DOM: SNA, MSP, HNL

I would add IAH..perhaps a daily E-175 or so..could even be a red-eye like the new upcoming ORD service.

Maybe someday an ATL flight on DL?

Tan Flyr wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

OzarkD9S wrote:

Congrats FAT. So what would be the top 5 unserved markets that would be most viable to/from FAT?

INTL: BJX, MEX, SJD
DOM: SNA, MSP, HNL

I would add IAH..perhaps a daily E-175 or so..could even be a red-eye like the new upcoming ORD service.

Maybe someday an ATL flight on DL?

Yes to IAH, maybe to ATL...I think the order of any new DL service would be SEA, MSP, then a crap shoot between LAX and ATL. I do, however, think that the most likely new service at this point domestically is to airports already served by other airlines: LAS (Spirit or Frontier or Southwest), SEA (Delta), PHX (Southwest), ORD (American).

With the California strong campaign WN doing I know FAT on the short list. But the All the other available slots around the USA and Hawaii launch probably pushed FAT chance for 2018/19.

Flyguy

Maybe AS will entertain mainline service between SEA-FAT someday...afterall, they are using mainline to SBA.

I feel like the OO hangar almost puts FAT at a disadvantage with UA, I would love to see something bigger than a miserable CR2 4 times a day to DEN. Would love to see at least E75/Mainline. I’d also love to see the ORD service turn year round or at least be operated with a 319. Almost 5 hours in a E75 is a little long in the tooth. But kudos to my hometown airport! Glad to see growth and the new terminal master plan

dc10co wrote:

I feel like the OO hangar almost puts FAT at a disadvantage with UA, I would love to see something bigger than a miserable CR2 4 times a day to DEN. Would love to see at least E75/Mainline. I’d also love to see the ORD service turn year round or at least be operated with a 319. Almost 5 hours in a E75 is a little long in the tooth. But kudos to my hometown airport! Glad to see growth and the new terminal master plan

I know OO has a little control over flights for this reason, so I think it’s a possibility. I don’t think the ORD flight is affected as it’s basicalky a turn, but AA’s PHX RON and the UA’s DEN RON could well be larger aircraft if not for this...

dc10co wrote:

I feel like the OO hangar almost puts FAT at a disadvantage with UA, I would love to see something bigger than a miserable CR2 4 times a day to DEN. Would love to see at least E75/Mainline. I’d also love to see the ORD service turn year round or at least be operated with a 319. Almost 5 hours in a E75 is a little long in the tooth. But kudos to my hometown airport! Glad to see growth and the new terminal master plan

What? SMF-DEN is 2x mainline and 2x 175

As someone who does a lot of E75 flying (albeit, not for four plus hours), I have to say it is becoming one of my favorite birds. Without it, I doubt Alaska is operating SAN-SMF, nor is United operating FAT-CHI. With it, and should this long-awaited new service to Chicago prove successful, look for United to introduce service to IAH in 2019. What a great time for FAT and the city of Fresno. Question for locals: because of the airport code, I refer to Fresno as "FAT City." It's not meant as an insult. I think It's kinda cool actually. Would Fresnan's take offence at FAT City?

flyguy84 wrote:

dc10co wrote:

I feel like the OO hangar almost puts FAT at a disadvantage with UA, I would love to see something bigger than a miserable CR2 4 times a day to DEN. Would love to see at least E75/Mainline. I’d also love to see the ORD service turn year round or at least be operated with a 319. Almost 5 hours in a E75 is a little long in the tooth. But kudos to my hometown airport! Glad to see growth and the new terminal master plan

What? SMF-DEN is 2x mainline and 2x 175

Disregard. Not sure why I was thinking SMF over FAT.

williaminsd wrote:

As someone who does a lot of E75 flying (albeit, not for four plus hours), I have to say it is becoming one of my favorite birds. Without it, I doubt Alaska is operating SAN-SMF, nor is United operating FAT-CHI. With it, and should this long-awaited new service to Chicago prove successful, look for United to introduce service to IAH in 2019. What a great time for FAT and the city of Fresno. Question for locals: because of the airport code, I refer to Fresno as "FAT City." It's not meant as an insult. I think It's kinda cool actually. Would Fresnan's take offence at FAT City?

Would Fresnan's take offence at FAT City?[/quote] LOL...Maybe the overweight ones??

A few years back the airport tried/petitioned the the FAA (as I recall) to change the code to FYI..Fresno Yosemite International..when the official name of the airport was changed from Fresno Air Terminal.
The request was denied, but I don't recall the reason given.

Tan Flyr wrote:

williaminsd wrote:

As someone who does a lot of E75 flying (albeit, not for four plus hours), I have to say it is becoming one of my favorite birds. Without it, I doubt Alaska is operating SAN-SMF, nor is United operating FAT-CHI. With it, and should this long-awaited new service to Chicago prove successful, look for United to introduce service to IAH in 2019. What a great time for FAT and the city of Fresno. Question for locals: because of the airport code, I refer to Fresno as "FAT City." It's not meant as an insult. I think It's kinda cool actually. Would Fresnan's take offence at FAT City?

Would Fresnan's take offence at FAT City?

LOL...Maybe the overweight ones??

A few years back the airport tried/petitioned the the FAA (as I recall) to change the code to FYI..Fresno Yosemite International..when the official name of the airport was changed from Fresno Air Terminal.
The request was denied, but I don't recall the reason given.[/quote]

Legend has it that a lady got really offended once when a check-in agent put a luggage tag on her bag that said “FAT”. She thought they were insulting her body type.

That would have to be a reflection more on the lack of intelligence of some passengers though.

If I remember, FAT has a nice little terminal complete with replicas of Sequoia trees.

Tan Flyr wrote:

A few years back the airport tried/petitioned the the FAA (as I recall) to change the code to FYI..Fresno Yosemite International..when the official name of the airport was changed from Fresno Air Terminal.
The request was denied, but I don't recall the reason given.

Basically because of all of the updates and impacts to things like charts, etc. Supposedly it takes a major airport change to get approval for a code change.

BoeingGuy wrote:

If I remember, FAT has a nice little terminal complete with replicas of Sequoia trees.

Yes, the indoor forest is between the ticket counters and security. Here is a picture.
http://flyfresno.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/airport21006-copy.jpg

flyfresno wrote:

dc10co wrote:

I feel like the OO hangar almost puts FAT at a disadvantage with UA, I would love to see something bigger than a miserable CR2 4 times a day to DEN. Would love to see at least E75/Mainline. I’d also love to see the ORD service turn year round or at least be operated with a 319. Almost 5 hours in a E75 is a little long in the tooth. But kudos to my hometown airport! Glad to see growth and the new terminal master plan

I know OO has a little control over flights for this reason, so I think it’s a possibility. I don’t think the ORD flight is affected as it’s basicalky a turn, but AA’s PHX RON and the UA’s DEN RON could well be larger aircraft if not for this...

And AS for that matter too. The only reason they run the crummy CR2 on the morning SEA departure is for MX purposes

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

flyfresno wrote:

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

Is the ORD flight ending or just a seasonal suspension? Granted that would be a more challenging flight westbound during the winter months.

flyfresno wrote:

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

I was on the FAT>SFO flight earlier this year. The morning flights I think had a completely filled A319...but the evening flight in was pretty empty. Perhaps they decided the numbers were just too inconsistent to be worthwhile.

TYSflyer wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

Is the ORD flight ending or just a seasonal suspension? Granted that would be a more challenging flight westbound during the winter months.

Seasonal and not confirmed yet for next season. It’s completely full at least 1/2 the time, and has rarely gone out with more than a handful of open seats. I think many people were hoping for mainline next summer, but this big capacity cut doesn’t bode well for that. As enchoed elsewhere on here, butts in seats doesn’t always mean high yield.

Could fix the winter thing by having A319 do ORD-FAT (RON) -SFO and then E175 SFO-FAT-ORD, although SFO flow could really screw that routing up.

Wow, what a blow to Fresno. Perhaps F9 is eating their lunch on the DEN route? So now we only have mainline from one of the Big 4.

WN732 wrote:

Wow, what a blow to Fresno. Perhaps F9 is eating their lunch on the DEN route? So now we only have mainline from one of the Big 4.

They have extended their service through February, which is a good sign, but is not really a lot of seats at only 3X per week. I feel like they are going to have to grow (either through more frequency, or another market like LAS, or both) if they are going to stay in the market long term.

DEN is actually the one market for UA that didn't change. It's still at 4X CR2s. While there have been CR7s and E175s on the route in the past, it's been all -200s for the last few months.

Re reductions; doesn't make sense, the SFO 319 carries good loads both in and out of FAT, and I thought UA saved overnight fees by using FAT vs. SFO for that aircraft. The morning DEN flights carry good loads also and should be something other than the CR2 with the requirement to wait to retrieve gate checked bags for pax connecting to the busy DEN morning banks. People seem to like FAT, light TSA lines, decent uncrowded waiting areas, altho slow bag delivery to
baggage claim area.

EChid wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

I was on the FAT>SFO flight earlier this year. The morning flights I think had a completely filled A319...but the evening flight in was pretty empty. Perhaps they decided the numbers were just too inconsistent to be worthwhile.

Perhaps because it is so late in the evening? IF UA had scheduled that 319 for say a 9:30 or 10Pm arrival, my hunch is any light load factors would be taken care of quickly.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for AA to beef up service a notch? Maybe at least 1 mainline on a year round basis to PHX? Perhaps scheduling the evening DFW to FAT a bit later to catch a few more inbounds? a 9Pm arrival is just fine. Maybe even look at up gauging next year to a 321?

Re FAT UA mainline; I think the SFO-FAT-SFO bird would just otherwise RON overnight at SFO, and I have flown this flight SFO-FAT about 8 times in the past year, and it always seems to have a good load. It was full the other night, probably mostly with connections. Only negative is the SFO taxi times at 2300 are horrible, taxi takes almost the same time as the flight, and then a 30 minute wait for bags at FAT is also annoying, when the only other activity at FAT at midnight is the Volaris GDL flight boarding. UA needs to lean on the FAT contract ground staff a little; I've witnessed inbound holds for the gate due to insufficient wing walkers.

friendlyskies22 wrote:

Re FAT UA mainline; I think the SFO-FAT-SFO bird would just otherwise RON overnight at SFO, and I have flown this flight SFO-FAT about 8 times in the past year, and it always seems to have a good load. It was full the other night, probably mostly with connections. Only negative is the SFO taxi times at 2300 are horrible, taxi takes almost the same time as the flight, and then a 30 minute wait for bags at FAT is also annoying, when the only other activity at FAT at midnight is the Volaris GDL flight boarding. UA needs to lean on the FAT contract ground staff a little; I've witnessed inbound holds for the gate due to insufficient wing walkers.

Actually, there is usually a lot more than that going on at midnight. On the busiest nights, there are red-eyes leaving around midnight to ORD, MLM, DFW, and 2X GDL.

flyfresno wrote:

friendlyskies22 wrote:

Re FAT UA mainline; I think the SFO-FAT-SFO bird would just otherwise RON overnight at SFO, and I have flown this flight SFO-FAT about 8 times in the past year, and it always seems to have a good load. It was full the other night, probably mostly with connections. Only negative is the SFO taxi times at 2300 are horrible, taxi takes almost the same time as the flight, and then a 30 minute wait for bags at FAT is also annoying, when the only other activity at FAT at midnight is the Volaris GDL flight boarding. UA needs to lean on the FAT contract ground staff a little; I've witnessed inbound holds for the gate due to insufficient wing walkers.

Actually, there is usually a lot more than that going on at midnight. On the busiest nights, there are red-eyes leaving around midnight to ORD, MLM, DFW, and 2X GDL.

I don't get too excited about UA schedule changes. Mainline to SFO does great April to October, then struggled. That OO won't run a 6am for a couple weeks this winter is likely due to something related to OO maintenance. Come on, no 6am to SFO is just a dumb move. UA just handed AS more PNW traffic. As to LAX, the 4X a day was just 3X a day last winter, so it appears they're just returning to last year's schedule, which is happening in PHX and elsewhere.

The one's to watch is ORD and DEN. Will it come back next year and in what form. FAT is doing well with red-eyes. Realistically, let's throw the F9 to DEN as a red-eye, as the connections are all midnight from DEN. What I am hearing is that F9 is running about 90% with the 321s. Hard to imagine that they're doing that well with limited connections. That UA hasn't responded at all to F9 tells me they're pretty happy with their LF and yield with 4X CRJs - and to hell with their frequent flyers and first class traffic.

There's a reason that I took my 100K miles to other than UA. They've earned my lack of business. Once again, they're reaffirmed my decision.

Tan Flyr wrote:

EChid wrote:

Perhaps because it is so late in the evening? IF UA had scheduled that 319 for say a 9:30 or 10Pm arrival, my hunch is any light load factors would be taken care of quickly.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for AA to beef up service a notch? Maybe at least 1 mainline on a year round basis to PHX? Perhaps scheduling the evening DFW to FAT a bit later to catch a few more inbounds? a 9Pm arrival is just fine. Maybe even look at up gauging next year to a 321?

I think the reason the flights were so late is that they were utilizing the aircraft before this and wanted to save fees by overnighting the A319 at FAT. So, once they're done for the day with other, more profitable routes, they send it out to FAT to bring back morning connections. Also, the purpose of the connection time may be to catch the late-day transcons landing in at SFO. If they sent the A319 over too early they'd be missing out on utilization opportunities, and I doubt anyone would want to take a super late flight back to SFO. At least when you land late in FAT you can get out of the airport and where you are going pretty quickly.

whatusaid wrote:

I don't get too excited about UA schedule changes. Mainline to SFO does great April to October, then struggled. That OO won't run a 6am for a couple weeks this winter is likely due to something related to OO maintenance. Come on, no 6am to SFO is just a dumb move. UA just handed AS more PNW traffic. As to LAX, the 4X a day was just 3X a day last winter, so it appears they're just returning to last year's schedule, which is happening in PHX and elsewhere.

They also removed what E175s were on the schedule and replaced them with CR2s. One is ORD, but there was also an SFO and an LAX. It's possible that the SFO mainline flight is a glitch or just a seasonal deletion and it will return, which will be good, but it's also a bit surprising to see such a drop-off of premium and total capacity even if that flight isn't going away.

Tan Flyr wrote:

Perhaps because it is so late in the evening? IF UA had scheduled that 319 for say a 9:30 or 10Pm arrival, my hunch is any light load factors would be taken care of quickly.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for AA to beef up service a notch? Maybe at least 1 mainline on a year round basis to PHX? Perhaps scheduling the evening DFW to FAT a bit later to catch a few more inbounds? a 9Pm arrival is just fine. Maybe even look at up gauging next year to a 321?

The SFO flight used to get in slightly earlier (it arrived around 23:45), I suspect the even later arrival is due to a/c routing. There is already an 8pm-ish arrival in a CR2, so I doubt they want to move it too close to that.

I wonder whether AA would ever try CLT. They seem to be doing really well there and adding a lot of west coast capacity. I would imagine ORD would come first, but maybe not. Their current rising costs issues will certainly limit any expansion though.

flyfresno wrote:

In a somewhat surprising move, UA will dramatically cut capacity in FAT starting this winter. The mainline flight to SFO will end, as will one LAX flight. All other flights will be on CRJ-200s, meaning there will be *NO* first class or economy plus at all to/from FAT on UA. This will be the first time no premium class has been offered from FAT on UA in over a decade and will be a total cut of about 230 seats over what’s offered right now. This is especially surprising as UA has been filling both the ORD flight and the morning mainline to SFO many days, and FAT reported a record traffic jump last Q1. Some seasonal drop is expected, but this is about 1/3 of the current UA capacity and starts in November, way before the very slow months of Jan and Feb. Things could still change, but this is definitely a disheartening move that halts recent upward momentum.

I think that this is a filing error, the inbound schedule from SFO still shows an E75 on two of the inbounds. Still the loss of mainline is disheartening

This from an RFP put out by the the airport for environmental work. Looks like a parking garage and a permanent int’l arrivals building with jetways is on the way soon as per the master plan.

Short term Projects (within five years) that are anticipated to occur within this recruitment period include planning and environmental efforts necessary to comply with both NEPA and CEQA, and include but are not limited to:
1. A multi-level parking structure, roadway and other related work.
2. Terminal and Concourse expansions including a new international arrivals facility and related work.
3. Aircraft apron and ramp rehabilitation and expansion
4. An Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting facility
5. Runway 29L holdpad
6. Taxiway rehabilitations and reconfigurations
7. Runway 29R/11L Rehabilitation

In more good news:

“This past fiscal year was a record breaker for Fresno Yosemite International Airport, which served 1.63 million travelers.
The number of people served from July of last year to the end of June of this year marked a 6.3-percent increase over the 1.53 million passengers who went through the airport over the prior fiscal year, which had previously been the record year, airport officials report.”

https://thebusinessjournal.com/fresno-y ... er-record/

flyfresno wrote:

In more good news:

“This past fiscal year was a record breaker for Fresno Yosemite International Airport, which served 1.63 million travelers.
The number of people served from July of last year to the end of June of this year marked a 6.3-percent increase over the 1.53 million passengers who went through the airport over the prior fiscal year, which had previously been the record year, airport officials report.”

https://thebusinessjournal.com/fresno-y ... er-record/

This article has a chart showing FAT's passenger counts dating back to 2003-04. It helps to see the growth as well as the quick recovery from the recession.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article216379505.html

FATFlyer wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

In more good news:

“This past fiscal year was a record breaker for Fresno Yosemite International Airport, which served 1.63 million travelers.
The number of people served from July of last year to the end of June of this year marked a 6.3-percent increase over the 1.53 million passengers who went through the airport over the prior fiscal year, which had previously been the record year, airport officials report.”

https://thebusinessjournal.com/fresno-y ... er-record/

This article has a chart showing FAT's passenger counts dating back to 2003-04. It helps to see the growth as well as the quick recovery from the recession.
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article216379505.html

Glad to see that FAT recovered (and is growing beyond that). I think that Fresno could have easily gone either way after the recession: grow, or languish like some other smaller airports have (such as BFL).

The next couple years will be interesting. We’ll see what happens with UA (are they truly retreating, or is it a filing error...also, will ORD return?), F9 (will they add more DEN frequency and/or LAS), AS (mainline to SEA and/or another destination like HNL?), and DL (will we finally see a 2nd destination like SEA?).

Also, I’m curious to see if there will be any more Mexico growth after the new FIS is completed.

flyfresno wrote:

Tan Flyr wrote:

Perhaps because it is so late in the evening? IF UA had scheduled that 319 for say a 9:30 or 10Pm arrival, my hunch is any light load factors would be taken care of quickly.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for AA to beef up service a notch? Maybe at least 1 mainline on a year round basis to PHX? Perhaps scheduling the evening DFW to FAT a bit later to catch a few more inbounds? a 9Pm arrival is just fine. Maybe even look at up gauging next year to a 321?

The SFO flight used to get in slightly earlier (it arrived around 23:45), I suspect the even later arrival is due to a/c routing. There is already an 8pm-ish arrival in a CR2, so I doubt they want to move it too close to that.

I wonder whether AA would ever try CLT. They seem to be doing really well there and adding a lot of west coast capacity. I would imagine ORD would come first, but maybe not. Their current rising costs issues will certainly limit any expansion though.

just a thought along these lines..with recent schedule changes announced, as well as some aircraft delivery & retirements postponed it appears to me AA has taken the foot off the gas on significant expansion..maybe even tapped the brakes a tad.

My son has had some booked flights changed for later this year from Sacramento, including one using the DFW red-eye from there..dropped in November. I would still hope that AA also would see the value in offering an E-170 to ORD at some point in the next year. As far as CLT, I would say doubtful, but it would offer some significant connection opportunities. While I know AA top scheduling and management gurus abhor multi-stop flights, I would still think , for example a CLT-FAT-SBA or SJC or? evening westbound, then a red-eye from whichever turnaround point, stop at FAT, load up, top off the Jet-A and be on the way to CLT for an early AM arrival.

All in all good news for Fresno..kudos to all involved!

Tan Flyr wrote:

flyfresno wrote:

Tan Flyr wrote:

Perhaps because it is so late in the evening? IF UA had scheduled that 319 for say a 9:30 or 10Pm arrival, my hunch is any light load factors would be taken care of quickly.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for AA to beef up service a notch? Maybe at least 1 mainline on a year round basis to PHX? Perhaps scheduling the evening DFW to FAT a bit later to catch a few more inbounds? a 9Pm arrival is just fine. Maybe even look at up gauging next year to a 321?

The SFO flight used to get in slightly earlier (it arrived around 23:45), I suspect the even later arrival is due to a/c routing. There is already an 8pm-ish arrival in a CR2, so I doubt they want to move it too close to that.

I wonder whether AA would ever try CLT. They seem to be doing really well there and adding a lot of west coast capacity. I would imagine ORD would come first, but maybe not. Their current rising costs issues will certainly limit any expansion though.

just a thought along these lines..with recent schedule changes announced, as well as some aircraft delivery & retirements postponed it appears to me AA has taken the foot off the gas on significant expansion..maybe even tapped the brakes a tad.

My son has had some booked flights changed for later this year from Sacramento, including one using the DFW red-eye from there..dropped in November. I would still hope that AA also would see the value in offering an E-170 to ORD at some point in the next year. As far as CLT, I would say doubtful, but it would offer some significant connection opportunities. While I know AA top scheduling and management gurus abhor multi-stop flights, I would still think , for example a CLT-FAT-SBA or SJC or? evening westbound, then a red-eye from whichever turnaround point, stop at FAT, load up, top off the Jet-A and be on the way to CLT for an early AM arrival.

All in all good news for Fresno..kudos to all involved!

Yeah, I purposefully left AA off the list because of their current financial issues. I would be shocked to see much more than increased LAX/PHX frequency/capacity and maybe bringing back the 3rd DFW for the summer and (longer shot) the holidays. At this point, based on their new strategy, I think CLT is more likely than ORD (but still unlikely). I really don’t see them doing tag-on CLT legs though, short of some sort of grant to do it. AA has competition to both Chicago and Dallas out of SMF, but reducing ORD/DFW from Sac isn’t necessarily a good omen for increased FAT service nonetheless.

I noticed the discussion of the discontinuation of mainline SFO-FAT-SFO service. Off topic, but not entirely non-analogous, SBA loses it's mainline SFO service over roughly the same period.

Unfortunate that the service didn't become year-round, but I'd be reluctant to somehow ascribe this as a failure. As another poster upthread remarked, there seems to be evidence of seasonality. Absent that, winter has always seen network wide reductions in flying that, as a corollary, presented opportunities for increased maintenance activity.

The SFO-FAT-SFO mainline qualified for FAT's incentive program.

One of the qualifying categories is "Enhanced Service & Capacity – enhanced passenger service through the replacement of regional jet aircraft with narrow-body jets with a minimum capacity of 107 seats.".

Replacing a regional jet with mainline should have resulted in a waiver of FAT landing fees.

Looks like DL will be up-gauging its flights to all CRJ-700s starting in January. Not a huge number of extra seats, but the increase in premium is nice, and this might be the first time since mainline DL operated into FAT (20 years ago?) that every DL flight into FAT has had first class.

More good news: Frontier has extended their schedule from FAT into April. Still just 3X per week to DEN (will anxiously wait to see if they add a 4th flight to DEN for the summer, and/or still hoping to see them as another LAS option), but a good sign none-the-less.

Also, according to data published on the airport's website, as of the last day of June, FAT was up 13% on enplaned passengers (YTD) for 2018 vs 2017, with a 20% rise for the month of June 2018 from the previous June. As stated earlier in this thread, the airport also reported a FY 2017/2018 record of 1.63 million, up 6.5% over FY 2016/2017.

Combined with AS keeping the third flight to SAN into October (plus the holidays) and adding an extra PDX starting in November (basically maintaining at least 6 total flights per day from FAT through the end of the year and going up to 7 for the holidays), more capacity on DL to SLC, and even with UA pulling way back in December, it would appear that FAT is headed for another record in 2018 that will be close to 1.7 million total passengers.

Construction is almost complete on the 7th jetway and boarding area remodel, and while I am certainly not happy with the disjointedness of the projects that are planned and/or under construction (some of that is necessary to keep the airport operating at current capacity), it's good to see so many projects on the near horizon (more parking, further expanded security, a new international facility, and a food court, in addition to a few major airfield improvements).

Some seasonal adds and subtractions that have recently been announced:

1) AA will go to 3X per day to DFW (737-800) for about 3 weeks during the holidays, and will even run 4X to DFW on January 2nd (I think this will be the first time ever that AA has had a day with 4X to DFW from FAT). After the holidays, it appears they will not bring back the A319 to PHX they had run in the past, but will go back up to 5X to LAX.

2) While the airline's current schedule does not reflect this, an airport press release states that AS would operate 4X (E175) to SEA through the holiday season, in addition to the regularly scheduled 2X to PDX and 3X to SAN. PDX will stay at 2X and SAN at 3X through the winter, SEA will drop to 2X.

3) Seasonal increases to Mexico will happen just as they have in the past, with up to 4X per night to Mexico (3X to GDL and 1X to MLM on certain days).

4) DL will not add any capacity over the holidays, maintaining their current schedule, and UA will actually reduce their capacity during the holidays vs this month, with an A320 to SFO being downsized to a CRJ-200, an E-175 to LAX being downsized to a CRJ-200, and one CRJ-200 to LAX completely going away (a total loss of over 150 seats). DL was scheduled to go to all CR7s to SLC, but it appears that has been pushed back to March. UA will trim an additional 1-2 flights per day starting in January, dropping to as low as just 9 CRJ-200s on some days, a tremendous drop from summer.

Full release here: https://flyfresno.com/airport-and-airli ... ay-travel/

flyfresno wrote:

Some seasonal adds and subtractions that have recently been announced:

Full release here: https://flyfresno.com/airport-and-airli ... ay-travel/

That will add to another record breaking year.

Since January 2018, the annual passenger count has been running about 13%-14% higher than in 2017.

Even more impressive, since May passenger counts have been about 20% higher for each month compared to the same month in 2017.

Calendar year 2017 saw about 1,538,000 passengers use FAT.

I will not be surprised if calendar year 2018 finishes at over 1,800,000 passengers.

flyfresno wrote:

Some seasonal adds and subtractions that have recently been announced:

1) AA will go to 3X per day to DFW (737-800) for about 3 weeks during the holidays, and will even run 4X to DFW on January 2nd (I think this will be the first time ever that AA has had a day with 4X to DFW from FAT). After the holidays, it appears they will not bring back the A319 to PHX they had run in the past, but will go back up to 5X to LAX.

2) While the airline's current schedule does not reflect this, an airport press release states that AS would operate 4X (E175) to SEA through the holiday season, in addition to the regularly scheduled 2X to PDX and 3X to SAN. PDX will stay at 2X and SAN at 3X through the winter, SEA will drop to 2X.

3) Seasonal increases to Mexico will happen just as they have in the past, with up to 4X per night to Mexico (3X to GDL and 1X to MLM on certain days).

4) DL will not add any capacity over the holidays, maintaining their current schedule, and UA will actually reduce their capacity during the holidays vs this month, with an A320 to SFO being downsized to a CRJ-200, an E-175 to LAX being downsized to a CRJ-200, and one CRJ-200 to LAX completely going away (a total loss of over 150 seats). DL was scheduled to go to all CR7s to SLC, but it appears that has been pushed back to March. UA will trim an additional 1-2 flights per day starting in January, dropping to as low as just 9 CRJ-200s on some days, a tremendous drop from summer.

Full release here: https://flyfresno.com/airport-and-airli ... ay-travel/

UA's 320 to SFO has been running 85% LF or better for months now. Most times I've been on it, it's been full. That said, the winter is tough on traffic and the cutback to SFO isn't limited to FAT, as they are pulling the 737's off SMF-SFO as well. Would appear they have sufficient RON space now at SFO? UA, though, is becoming less and less a factor as AA adds more capacity. It would appear that AA decided to add departures to DFW this winter instead of the usual upgrade of a single PHX flight from a CRJ900 to a 319. (319 did well last year, btw). The 3rd RT to DFW (a red eye) last summer did surprisingly well, not eroding the AA numbers at all. Bottom line - FAT is solidly an AA market with AS now commanding the #2 position in many months and UA will fade if they don't step up. I doubt if AS is done with their adds at FAT, which tend to come when you least expect it, such as the second RT to PDX starring in winter (start with long odds and succeed mentality!). DL seems to have written off anything of substance at FAT.

As to Mexico, best to avoid FAT after 10 pm this Christmas season. Having 4X to Mexico means lines out the doors. Customs will be backed up as well, just as they always are now when there's more than one arrival within an hour of another. FAT seriously needs to expand the international side.

Yep, 1.8 million is not out of the question. Who would have thought that F9 would fill a 321 most nights to DEN with little connecting traffic, unless people parked on the floor at DEN overnight for the early morning bank East. Pent up demand seems to be the rule these days. Add a flight and it will fill up. With Fresno's economy on a clear uptick and thousands of new homes going up in the next year or so across the river as Fresno is running out of building space, it's an exciting time for FAT. Hello WN, are you listening?

whatusaid wrote:

As to Mexico, best to avoid FAT after 10 pm this Christmas season. Having 4X to Mexico means lines out the doors. Customs will be backed up as well, just as they always are now when there's more than one arrival within an hour of another. FAT seriously needs to expand the international side.

Supposedly 2 new swing gates for international and domestic flights along with the FIS expansion will not open until 2022/2023. It will be a few more years of late night international passenger crowds.

whatusaid wrote:

Yep, 1.8 million is not out of the question.

Passenger numbers are running several years ahead of the projections done just last year for the new airport master plan.

FATFlyer wrote:

whatusaid wrote:

As to Mexico, best to avoid FAT after 10 pm this Christmas season. Having 4X to Mexico means lines out the doors. Customs will be backed up as well, just as they always are now when there's more than one arrival within an hour of another. FAT seriously needs to expand the international side.

Supposedly 2 new swing gates for international and domestic flights along with the FIS expansion will not open until 2022/2023. It will be a few more years of late night international passenger crowds.

whatusaid wrote:

Yep, 1.8 million is not out of the question.

Passenger numbers are running several years ahead of the projections done just last year for the new airport master plan.

Not sure if either of you two commented on the master plan, but I sent a long email about how ridiculous I think it is that one of the master plan’s main goals is to not produce a “series of disjointed projects,” but then goes on to propose just that. No one is asking for SMF’s giant terminal, but the lower airside level is showing its age, and adding just two gates (phase 1) behind the current ticket counters is, IMHO, far too conservative, especially considering these numbers. Adding 4 (jetway) gates behind the ticket counters, 3 of which are int’l capable, should be in the works right now at a bare minimum.