sonicruiser wrote:

usxguy wrote:

and I-4 isn't expanding anytime soon. What was once a 40 minute drive Tampa/Orlando (Disney) is now varying between 75 to 120+ minutes. Add in a car crash, and you are sitting for another 2 hours.

Could not agree more.

Driving on I-4 is horrible at best and only getting worse. The freeways in Tampa and Orlando proper are never at normal speed even Sunday mornings. I'm guessing there is a number of people living east or Tampa proper and west of Orlando proper that would utilize LAL. Perhaps more on leisure than business, but remember that Lakeland not only has Publix but many national auto parts, Pepperidge Farm, Rooms to Go, GEICO, Mosaic, etc.

Good for AA in kicking the tires.

When I went to Sun N Fun, what should have been a 1-2 hour drive on I4 turned into a nearly 5 hour drive due to accidents and weather.

Scarebus34 wrote:

Less than an hour to TPA and an hour to MCO.

Proximity is completely irrelevant. Just look at CVG, DAY and CMH as an example. Heck, DL serves two different airports in the same city (MDW and ORD as an example). If there is demand then the service will come.

ctrabs0114 wrote:

enilria wrote:

There were two big stories in two days out of LKL. One was Amazon putting a "hub" in LKL and the other was AA. The odds that a market that has not had a major development in air service almost ever would make significant progress on both at the same moment is really really really low. It is more likely that appearing to show progress was necessary for something: keeping a job, securing funding for something, etc.

It certainly doesn't hurt development in LAL that Florida doesn't have a state income tax, which makes it more attractive for businesses to set up shot in that state, especially in an area between two of the state's major cities.

Sure but there are other places that could make that same claim that also don't have air service.

sargester wrote:

I'm making this a separate thread on its own, any thoughts on why DL wouldn't want to look at LAL in the same light as AA would? Either way AA will get a nice incentive package for doing this of course if they go through with it, does anyone else think 3x daily is a bit much to start with though?

Food for thought Lads, J

https://www.theledger.com/news/20190520 ... al-flights

DL wouldn't be able to price gouge like they do in other smaller, more isolated markets (Tallahassee comes to mind). If DL had service to LAL and charged exorbitant fares, passengers would revert back to the tried and true TPA/MCO which wouldn't hurt their bottom line either way.

My son drives I-4 for business every day between Tampa and Lakeland. I showed him this thread with all the I-4 horror stories. He laughed. "Overstated drama much" was his reply.

TVNWZ wrote:

My son drives I-4 for business every day between Tampa and Lakeland. I showed him this thread with all the I-4 horror stories. He laughed. "Overstated drama much" was his reply.

That's because the worst part of I-4 is between Orlando and Lakeland. The part of I-4 near Disney in particular I firmly believe to be among the most congested stretches of road at any given time in the US. There's almost no time of day that the traffic isn't nightmarishly bad on that stretch. It sucks because for those of us going in and and out of Orlando whether to Tampa or Lakeland, there's only one way in and one way out and it's through that hellacious and dreaded section of I-4.

I visit LAL every year for Sun N Fun. This area is growing big time. NOAA moved its hurricane hunter flight ops there. Amazon is moving its flight ops there. Amazon already has a major distribution center there and continues to grow. Publix HQ is next door to the airport, and it continues to grow. I've seen several new housing communities go up over the past few years. No state tax and access to Tampa and Orlando will continue to draw. A terminal ready to go to handle a few flights. It's just a matter of time before someone starts service there - even if you consider the drawbacks.

jonnyclam123 wrote:

When I went to Sun N Fun, what should have been a 1-2 hour drive on I4 turned into a nearly 5 hour drive due to accidents and weather.

Can confirm this from firsthand experience.

n92r03 wrote:

Driving on I-4 is horrible at best and only getting worse. The freeways in Tampa and Orlando proper are never at normal speed even Sunday mornings. I'm guessing there is a number of people living east or Tampa proper and west of Orlando proper that would utilize LAL. Perhaps more on leisure than business, but remember that Lakeland not only has Publix but many national auto parts, Pepperidge Farm, Rooms to Go, GEICO, Mosaic, etc.

Good for AA in kicking the tires.

Tell me about it. Until they finally finish the Orlando-Lakeland-Tampa rail link, driving on I-4 SUCKS big time and everyone in CFL knows it.

sonicruiser wrote:

That's because the worst part of I-4 is between Orlando and Lakeland. .

Yes. That is the worse. So, day in and day out, Lakeland and western polk/eastern Hillsborough are an easy commute to TPA. Heck southern Lakeland can jump on the Selmon. And IMHO TPA is one of the easiest airports in the country to get in and out of.

sonicruiser wrote:

jonnyclam123 wrote:

When I went to Sun N Fun, what should have been a 1-2 hour drive on I4 turned into a nearly 5 hour drive due to accidents and weather.

Can confirm this from firsthand experience.

n92r03 wrote:

Driving on I-4 is horrible at best and only getting worse. The freeways in Tampa and Orlando proper are never at normal speed even Sunday mornings. I'm guessing there is a number of people living east or Tampa proper and west of Orlando proper that would utilize LAL. Perhaps more on leisure than business, but remember that Lakeland not only has Publix but many national auto parts, Pepperidge Farm, Rooms to Go, GEICO, Mosaic, etc.

Good for AA in kicking the tires.

Tell me about it. Until they finally finish the Orlando-Lakeland-Tampa rail link, driving on I-4 SUCKS big time and everyone in CFL knows it.

I'm a big proponent of mass transit, especially rail. However, I don't believe that Virgin using Florida HSR ROW will do anything for I-4 traffic except run nice shiny trains down the median and feed MCO.

I’m not sure, but didn’t EA fly into Lakeland many moons ago?

sonicruiser wrote:

TVNWZ wrote:

My son drives I-4 for business every day between Tampa and Lakeland. I showed him this thread with all the I-4 horror stories. He laughed. "Overstated drama much" was his reply.

That's because the worst part of I-4 is between Orlando and Lakeland. The part of I-4 near Disney in particular I firmly believe to be among the most congested stretches of road at any given time in the US. There's almost no time of day that the traffic isn't nightmarishly bad on that stretch. It sucks because for those of us going in and and out of Orlando whether to Tampa or Lakeland, there's only one way in and one way out and it's through that hellacious and dreaded section of I-4.

Going into Tampa, I think it is the I4 and 75 interchange.

Comair offered service from Lakeland to Orlando that began in December 1987, but was short lived (if I recall it was less than 6 months) due to load factors. The service was a part of an effort to ramp up service to a handful of small Florida cities. The service didn't make sense at the time as driving was far easier and population density was significantly different.

727LOVER wrote:

Had Skybus lasted, they would've probably served LAL

For all their vacation destination targeting, I was always surprised that they never tried Orlando or Las Vegas.

DeltaAir wrote:

Comair offered service from Lakeland to Orlando that began in December 1987, but was short lived (if I recall it was less than 6 months) due to load factors.

I'm surprised that idea made it off the ground, literally.

canyonblue17 wrote:

I visit LAL every year for Sun N Fun. This area is growing big time. NOAA moved its hurricane hunter flight ops there. Amazon is moving its flight ops there. Amazon already has a major distribution center there and continues to grow. Publix HQ is next door to the airport, and it continues to grow. I've seen several new housing communities go up over the past few years. No state tax and access to Tampa and Orlando will continue to draw. A terminal ready to go to handle a few flights. It's just a matter of time before someone starts service there - even if you consider the drawbacks.

LAL is also close for skydivers going to Zephyrhills. Nine minutes closer than TPA and less driving hassles. Driving from TPA I know a few shortcuts avoiding I4 but most people do not.

After living in LA and then moving to Atlanta, I can say ATL traffic has nothing on LA.

Then moving from ATL to Tampa, all I can say is Tampa and Central Florida have nothing on ATL.

There may be some good reasons for LAL service (central Florida snow birds, the businesses based there), but I4 traffic itself is not one of them. If that were the case the Dawson Forest Airport in north Atlanta wouldn’t just be a paper airport and ONT would be thriving.

DL served Naples and Marathon from ATL pre-recession. While every market is different, DL hasn't attempted anything to smaller Florida markets since then.

AVLAirlineFreq wrote:

DL served Naples and Marathon from ATL pre-recession. While every market is different, DL hasn't attempted anything to smaller Florida markets since then.

Both of those flights took weight penalties, especially Marathon. That was a long and very thin CRJ route that never made sense to me at all. The cachement area of MTH is super tiny. The argument was that the well-heeled residents would pay a premium to fly local. The market is just way too small and the route didn’t last long. I believe that APF took penalties as well. The route needed a larger aircraft to stand a chance but the nimbys wouldn’t go for it.

I have always believed that there are four markets left unserved that could have potential. LAL is one of those, especially with the business traffic that the area is going to see. DL isn’t likely to bite but I would place LAL, OCF, UST and VRB in the category of markets with some potential. Looks like AA is going to find one of those markets to their liking.

It seems like those small Florida cities would be perfect 1x daily A220 service once they open an ATL base. Or maybe a 717. A late evening departure out of ATL for cheap RON parking and then return the next morning.

n92r03 wrote:

sonicruiser wrote:

Driving on I-4 is horrible at best and only getting worse. The freeways in Tampa and Orlando proper are never at normal speed even Sunday mornings.

Interstate 4 has always had traffic issues. The high frequency of flights which operated between TPA and MCO provided customer convenience to facilitate connections at both ends. While the comprehensive expansion starting in the late 90's lasting through the mid-2000s brought much-needed relief, and also saw the creation of SR-570 (Polk Parkway) and SR-417 (Central Florida Greeneway), it looks like the development boom is causing congestion issues yet again. This time, instead of trying to reconnect TPA and MCO, perhaps a breadth of markets (serving LAL for instance) would work better for the market?

Rookinla wrote:

AVLAirlineFreq wrote:

I have always believed that there are four markets left unserved that could have potential. LAL is one of those, especially with the business traffic that the area is going to see. DL isn’t likely to bite but I would place LAL, OCF, UST and VRB in the category of markets with some potential. Looks like AA is going to find one of those markets to their liking.

OCF is interesting given the population growth around The Villages just to the south. Of course, i realize that MCO and its many nonstop flights is only about twice the driving distance to the south of The Vilalges.

AVLAirlineFreq wrote:

Rookinla wrote:

AVLAirlineFreq wrote:

OCF is interesting given the population growth around The Villages just to the south. Of course, i realize that MCO and its many nonstop flights is only about twice the driving distance to the south of The Vilalges.

Not just The Villages but the Ocala metro area is growing exponentially. I understand that GNV has UF, which does allow service to work there. OCF has a much larger metro area population and at least as much business traffic as GNV and that sector is growing rapidly.

Looks like Lakeland Florida is trying to get an agreement with American Eagle for direct Charlotte service. This comes on the heels of a newly announced Amazon operation of 5-6 flights a day..

https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/ne ... yptr=yahoo

One note on Publix, they operate corporate jets out of LAL to send management teams to their stores across the southeast. I’m sure they have reams of flight data on whether ATL or CLT makes more sense for them and at what cost. Based on the little bit I know ATL makes more sense to me, but the answer might be “either one”.

Whatever happened to Legacy Airways that was flying SF340 out of there?

Door4Right wrote:

Whatever happened to Legacy Airways that was flying SF340 out of there?

Their public charter flights to EYW appear to have only operated a couple times last year. It does not appear they have been offered recently.

N220MJ (formerly a Lakeshore Express and then GLO Airlines frame originally delivered to Express Airlines I in 1991), which was the workhorse of their fleet last fall flying sports charters, has not flown since January.