ISP- tarmac issues and WN schedule

[nyctotpo]

does anybody know what is going on at ISP? When are they going to fix the tarmac and when is southwest going to start adding more flights to/ from ISP?

[T-Bird76]

Tarmac work should begin shortly as for WN adding more flights they haved added within the past two months with more frequency to MCO and in the last six months they've added frequency to MDW, LAS, and FLL. Who knows if they'll add cities to ISP, maybe Houston but other then that most of WN's cities are within one stop from ISP so there's no need right now.

[Art at ISP]

When is someone going to step up and challenge Greyhound Air at ISP?

We need a major airline there badly-just DL and US commuters vs. Grehound 737's.....

ISP is an underused gem.

PS Where would US go if/when they tear down the west concourse?

[tsnamm]

its too bad they can't some legacy mainline flights...pretty soon its liable to become a WN station only...not good for LI fliers...I personally would like to see CO back with ERJ's to CLE of even 735's to IAH...we can only hope...does anybody know if the rumor that the PA NY&NJ might be interested in operating the airport has any truth? That would go a long way to adding some other airlines and additional service...

[emshighway]

WN expects to run 80 flights by the end of the year. The tarmac will start soon along with the fire sprinklers on the west so Fridays can re-open.

PANYNJ isn't interested in ISP.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

AirTran at ISP would be great for me! ISP is a great airport. I do agree that ISP needs more big airplanes in there. RJ's just aren't enough especially with the growing population of Long Island, there's bound to be more demand for travel and with high gas prices, no ones going to want to drive to LGA or JFK!

[cancidas]

anyone have pix of the ramp conditions out there? it's been years since i flew in there and have no reason to drive out. just wanna see what all the hubub is about.

[T-Bird76]

anyone have pix of the ramp conditions out there? it's been years since i flew in there and have no reason to drive out. just wanna see what all the hubub is about.

Matt take a look at Microsoft Live Search Maps, they have a really good overview of ISP with the new terminal just before they attached the four added jet ramps

[emshighway]

Was at ISP today and heard the tarmac will be started mid July.

[lijk604]

WN expects to run 80 flights by the end of the year. The tarmac will start soon along with the fire sprinklers on the west so Fridays can re-open.

PANYNJ isn't interested in ISP.

80 flights/day???!!! Holy Crap! To where? Not that I'm complaining, I just don't see that many flights with the city offerings as they are now.

[Alex T]

WN expects to run 80 flights by the end of the year. The tarmac will start soon along with the fire sprinklers on the west so Fridays can re-open.

PANYNJ isn't interested in ISP.

80 flights/day???!!! Holy Crap! To where? Not that I'm complaining, I just don't see that many flights with the city offerings as they are now.

Some guesses are STL, PHX, LAX, HOU, and such but nothing confirmed it is the cities I have been hearing.

However in other news WN is planning to slow their growth a bit so it may not hit 80 daily if so..and the cities may have changed since then.

Alex

[nyctotpo]

does anybody know if any mainline aircraft beside WN will flying to ISP soon? is there any rumors of this?

[T-Bird76]

does anybody know if any mainline aircraft beside WN will flying to ISP soon? is there any rumors of this?

ISP is a WN airport and only a WN airport, there are no mainline carriers looking to start service. WN said they could add up to 80 flights a day, doesn't mean they will. Although a non stop LAX flight would be awesome! Def make weekend trips to the coast much easier.

[NIKV69]

When is someone going to step up and challenge Greyhound Air at ISP?

Well said Art. I hope someone does soon.

[T-Bird76]

When is someone going to step up and challenge Greyhound Air at ISP?

Well said Art. I hope someone does soon.

Nick get off your grand stand "well said?" Give me a break, you flew WN twice on a 30 min flight and you base your entire opinion of them off of that flight? How many times do you fly to even have sense of the service and performance of any major airline? Big deal they lost your bag, lots of airlines lose people's bags including mine. Its amazing with the amount of times I travel never once have I had a horror story with WN.

Art you’re calling them Greyhound air but the very airline you frequent so much or did ranks well below WN in ever category of service, performance, and reliability. To compare WN with US is a joke, US is becoming a flying ****box, my own travel dept as of this week has taken them off our preferred airline list because of the **** they put us through. Flying shouldn’t be complicated, WN makes it easy US does not.

[Art at ISP]

Tommy,

I will just go to DL, CO or AA--business friendly airlines--I don't wait in lines and do the cattle call--and never will.

Oh and I have done Jet Blue--ok nothing special--but they MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.

[mirrodie]

I don't wait in lines and do the cattle call--and never will.



So what you're saying is Tom wears a cow bell while waiting in the WN line? :shock:

Can I get a little bit more cowbell?

[hiss srq]

Still waiting for Matt (Gotham) to chime in with cowbell. Tommy and cow bell? hmm that would be funny. I am not a big fan of WN because of the group boarding method as well as the lack of first class but I will stay away from bashing Wn and simply say we need airplanes with a first class cabin on it flying into ISP. And I do not mean G-v's either lol. Take it easy on Tommy though, WN took it's place wearing the halo that once adorned TWA untill that dip**** Carl Icahn killed it with the Karabu treaty.

[nwafan20]

I couldn't stand to see you guys suffer... so:

MORE COWBELL!!!
http://buffoonery.org/images/random/cowbell.gif

[T-Bird76]

Tommy,

I will just go to DL, CO or AA--business friendly airlines--I don't wait in lines and do the cattle call--and never will.

Oh and I have done Jet Blue--ok nothing special--but they MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.

Business friendly airlines? Come on Art lets get serious, WN has won more awards then any other airline when it comes to business travel. Business friendly isn't charging $700 for a walk up ticket. I'm not trying to change your mind about WN its your opinion but it says something when the largest domestic carrier for passengers boarded is WN, all those folks aren't just going to Disney.

[Alex T]

Tommy,

I will just go to DL, CO or AA--business friendly airlines--I don't wait in lines and do the cattle call--and never will.

Oh and I have done Jet Blue--ok nothing special--but they MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.

You don't wait in line to go to the bathroom, you don't wait in line to board for your first class seat? You don't wait to retrieve your bag or to get off the aircraft? Wow ok what airline is this I'd love to fly an airline where I wait for nothing.....

Business friendly airline are they? Why haven't they won business airline of the year, for the 2nd year again, like Southwest has? It is clear the business folks favor WN for a reason...you must be the odd man out.

As for expectations, sure, but what happens if it breaks down, or if something goes wrong..then you have peeved passengers, B6 promises TV on board and such but what happens when the TV breaks?

WN doesn't promise anything, but good service, on time schedule and excellent customer service, anything else is above and beyond and we always under promise and over deliver, something that has seemed to work for us.

Tom's only horror story involving WN is he might run into me on a flight of his...

Nick I do apologize WN lost your bag, but really every airline has done it once in awhile and CO is no different either. We all have lost bags and I am not ashamed to admit WN has messed up my bags a bit, but so has AA as well.

The more we travel the more it is more likely to happen did you get your bag back?

Don't even TRY to compare WN to other legacies in terms of coach, its laughable.

I am not being biased, I am speaking facts.

Alex

[Art at ISP]

Alex,

I appreciate your passion, but it's still the Greyhound of the Airways, and I will NEVER set foot on a WN airplane if I can help it.

We just have to agree to disagree....

[Alex T]

Alex,

I appreciate your passion, but it's still the Greyhound of the Airways, and I will NEVER set foot on a WN airplane if I can help it.

We just have to agree to disagree....

Art--

Then with WHAT WE DO HAVE, what can we do to make you fly on us?

It is obvious cheap fares don't work since you fly First Class a lot.

We have comfortable seats, all leather, one of the biggest seat pitches in coach, along with F9 and B6, we offer excellent customer service, and we offer snacks and drinks for FREE on board, no buying 3 or 4 dollar boxes, of course I am reffering to Coach.

We offer tremendous non stop opportunities, not out of ISP unfortunatly but in many other cities.

It is obvious WN is not the airline for you since you require First Class, but how is WN really a greyhound against AA in Coach, or DL in Coach?

As for Assigned seating...it isn't hard to not get the seat you want. Check in 24hrs in advanced, as if you were just checking in online to print your boarding pass for AA or DL, or UA...

Go to the airport when you want, just be sure you give time for security, be at the gate 20 minutes before departure, get in the A line, and you WILL have your window or Aisle seat if that is your nature.

Now don't bring up First Class because it is apple and oranges, I am only comparing Coach Classes.

AA MD80 does not offer IFE, so neither does WN, so IFE cannot be the difference for you.

I really am trying to think what makes us so different and so "greyhound".

I am not trying to persaude you I am simply trying to figure out why WN is a greyhound in your eyes.

Alex

[Art at ISP]

Alex,

Just a couple of episodes of "Airline" should explain it all.

I prefer to travel with an airline where "most" of their customers are business travelers, and not wearing wife beaters or who haven't bathed in a week or so--and WN has more than their share of those.

I am not saying US or others don't have them, but the odds of flying with the near homeless are much greater on WN.

You are right I prefer First Class (although it ain't on US any more), but I have found CO coach to be more than acceptable, especially in the exit rows.

I have tried B6, and the issue there is again, primarily leisure travelers--they hold up the security lines because they don't know what they can and cannot take through security, basically they are not seasoned travelers....

Yes when it comes to air travel I am an elitist, but when I fly over 100K miles a year I can be.

I wish you and everyone at WN the best, but the odds of my flying with WN any time soon are next to zero (watch something will happen and I will need to)......

[nwafan20]

Alex,

Just a couple of episodes of "Airline" should explain it all.




Well, AIRLINE is the worst of what goes on, not quite daily operations... But, from watching AIRLINE (which was the first aviation board I joined by the way) I have a LOT MORE respect for WN. I have watched every single episode from Season 1, 2, and 3. Never miss them. If you look at the whole picture, WN is one heck of an airline, and the show AIRLINE will be testimony to that. I watch as employees of WN go out of their way to help a customer who is in need.

[LGA777]

I would like to describe my last WN experience which was from TPA-FLL on a 73G in Feb. 2005. My wife and I had been trying to get from CLT-FLL or MIA/PBI as non-revs. After getting bumped off multiple flights with the rest of the day looking worse we found a 757 to TPA with about 25 open seats. I called WN res from my cell phone and booked confirmed seats TPA-FLL for about 3 hours after our TPA arrival and was told there are two earlier flights we could standby for, cool, I think our fares where $98 each. We arrived in TPA approx 3 hours before our flight and headed straight to the WN counter to purchase our tickets and get on the standby list (or so we thought) for the two earlier flights to Lauderdale. It was there we found WN does not use a computerized standby list that any agent in any airport location can access and update like most airlines worldwide do. Instead the gate agent uses a hand written carbon copy pad at the gate that has to be physically carried to another gate when a gate change occurs as with our flight. Anyway I asked our ticket counter agent as a courtesy since we where full fare customers but I was another airline employee could she as a courtesy call the gate and add us to the list. She told us we don't do things like that at WN, we would need to stand in line at the gate to get on the standby list. Well the first flight went out full but they managed to clear 12 of the 20 standbys on the list. We where number 13 and 14. But the good news is we would be number 1 and 2 on the next one which was no longer full. BTW because of the 45 mins we spent in line at security and the gate itself we would have been on the flight if our check in time was when we where at the counter. I then asked the gate agent since the next flight is not full and we are on the most unrestricted fare you have could you please rebook us to the earlier flight. Again I got the we don't do that but you should get on. Well the second flight got later and later so now it was only leaving about 30 mins before our confirmed flight, but as we had dinner plans in FLL and where overnight guest of a good friend 30 mins would have been a big help. This is where it gets good. The TPA stations decides since flight ABC is so late and they need to do a quick turn and the next flight is only 30 mins later to save time no standbys would be boarded. I approached the gate agent, showed my other airline ID and briefly explained our situation but to no avail. So flight ABC did a quick turn and went out with around 30 open seats. I wonder how much just adding my wife and I would have added to it's turn time ? Well now it was time to get in line (where in the B group) so that my wife and could hopefully sit together and I could get a window. We waited and waited and the inbound finally blocked in almost an hour late. We ended up standing in line for 50 mins just to get our desired seats, the whole time staring at about 250 empty gate chairs that us and the surprisingly mostly business people in suits with briefcases waiting with us would have all been comfortably sitting in if not for WN's archaic procedures. Once onboard my wife's first flight on WN most memorable impression was the unprofessional appearance of the flight attendant's due to the super casual uniforms WN's FA's wear. While some may like it my wife is used to flying mainly AA, DL, and US so she was really surprised and not impressed. The only positive impression we both had was getting a full beverage service on a short 35 min full flight. We finally arrived in FLL after 2100 and still went out to dinner but arriving an hour or two earlier would have sure been nice. Sorry this was so long but wanted to really show my disappointment and dissatisfaction with our WN experience which really was an " experience" !

Regards

LGA777

[Alex T]

Alex,

Just a couple of episodes of "Airline" should explain it all.

I prefer to travel with an airline where "most" of their customers are business travelers, and not wearing wife beaters or who haven't bathed in a week or so--and WN has more than their share of those.

I am not saying US or others don't have them, but the odds of flying with the near homeless are much greater on WN.

You are right I prefer First Class (although it ain't on US any more), but I have found CO coach to be more than acceptable, especially in the exit rows.

I have tried B6, and the issue there is again, primarily leisure travelers--they hold up the security lines because they don't know what they can and cannot take through security, basically they are not seasoned travelers....

Yes when it comes to air travel I am an elitist, but when I fly over 100K miles a year I can be.

I wish you and everyone at WN the best, but the odds of my flying with WN any time soon are next to zero (watch something will happen and I will need to)......

So again...your basing your "experience" of flying on an airline with wife beaters and no business folks...on a show, where you have NOT flown WN? Working at WN I see MORE Business people then anyone else on our airline, and they dress up, briefcase in hand, and all the business folks you can expect.

Airline points out the worst, if you did a taping on any airline, I bet you all you would see is the worst of that airline.

Otherwise, everything else is how you see WN, fact or not.

Alex

[Alex T]

LGA777--

Yes that is correct, we use a pad, It isn't carbon copy , well now it isn't, but thats not the point. We don't use online stand by because we do not have reserved/assigned seating. Because of this, when we clear a stand by, we scratch the name, give them the boarding pass and say go ahead and get on board, and we don't have to hassle with assigned seating and telling them where to sit.

Without being rude or mean, why WOULD we do it as a courtesy for another airline employee? Revenue passengers come first, you were a revenue passenger to us before an airline employee. Unfortunatly because we don't have this high tech stand by list, you do have to go to the gate to stand by at THAT gate, what she said was right, you may not agree with it but this is how we do it.

About the rebooking you to an earlier flight, she should HAVE confirmed you on the earlier flight IF there were seats open, I wasn't there but if your saying seats were open, all she needed to do was cancel your boarding pass, and reissue one for the new flight free of charge and you would have been confirmed. I do not know why that was not done unless I am missing something, again I wasn't there.

As for the rest, everything else was done right, it just didn't make you happy and I am sorry it didn't make you happy.

Our uniforms are casual so that we can be comfortable in them and be able to express ourself, and I am sorry it didn't appeal to you and your wifes taste but thats how we are, and I really enjoy being able to dress comfortably and not have to be stuffy, and in dress shoes and all.


Folks, I understand and may seem biased, but if you state a wrong fact about WN I will correct it but if its opinion then ill read it and respond to it with another opinion as I did with Art.

If you have other questions, concerns ask them here or PM me, I am willing to answer anything.

Alex

[nyctotpo]

WN is reducing ISP-BWI and ISP-MDW flights. I thought southwest was supposed to add flights from ISP not take them away.

[T-Bird76]

WN is reducing ISP-BWI and ISP-MDW flights. I thought southwest was supposed to add flights from ISP not take them away.

WN stated they are looking at ways to reduce cost, the flights they are reducing are pretty much reposition flights. WN now has 9 daily non-stops to BWI, they run almost as a shuttle, dropping the 8:20 PM isn't a big deal. Same with MDW, 7 daily non-stops. The 7:50 won't be missed too much.

[Art at ISP]

I saw elsewhere they are cutting back on long hauls--SAN-BWI and MDW-SNA are going, as well as LAX-PHL.

I wonder what will go next--perhaps ISP-LAS?

[Alex T]

The Following are being cut..

LAX-BWI/PHL
OAK-BWI/PHL
MDW-SNA
PHX-CLE

And some other routes will have a reduced schedule such as those who pointed it out, ISP, BWI, HOU, STL, ABQ, PHX, LAX, etc etc...

WN has to do a lot of tweaking with the schedule due to the jetstream, you will be seeing more "long haul" with the 737-300, and the -700 will be used out of the other airports such as SNA, MDW, PHX, LAS for the hot temps.

I don't know if they are finished with the cuts now, I heard we will reduce a lot of flights or cut some routes in the fall, just not this early. If I find any more routes I will let ya know, A.net has also been keeping up with it too.

Alex

[T-Bird76]

I saw elsewhere they are cutting back on long hauls--SAN-BWI and MDW-SNA are going, as well as LAX-PHL.

I wonder what will go next--perhaps ISP-LAS?

I'd imagine they wouldn't, that flight is always sold out or oversold and it would eliminate a one stop to most Western cities putting WN at a competitive disadvantage.

[nyctotpo]

i assume the work for fixing the tarmac is going on now that it is the summertime. can anybody confirm if this is true?