From the “If at first you don’t succeed” files
Regular commercial service from New Castle to somewhere else should work at some point.
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Colorado-based Frontier Airlines is resurrecting commercial airline service in Delaware.
Frontier plans to begin Airbus 320 service from New Castle Airport on July 1, offering three flights a week to Chicago-Midway and Houston. Service to Orlando and Denver begins the following day with two weekly flights to Orlando and four flights a week to Denver, Frontier’s main hub.
Service to Tampa, with two flights a week, will start July 4.
I hope it works out this time. I go to Tampa fairly often, and would pay a little extra for not having to deal with PHL!
I’ve heard Salisbury has a nice little airport set up.
Fine w/ me if it’s a direct–I’m really not interested in NCC to PHL or Newark then to Chicago or Orlando. That’s just it–I don’t want to be a bus stop. Add 3 hrs to my flight to avoid PHL? No thanks.
Midway is great–easier to get to downtown Chicago.
I mean, is PHl that bad? It’s basically as far away from parts of Wilmington as NCC is…
When it comes to choosing airports… 1) Direct flights 2) Smaller is better.
I’ve used Atlantic City to FLA and it was a dream compared to PHI, but I wouldn’t have used it if it wasn’t direct.
No PHL isn’t bad, which is why I am saying I’ll still go there if it’s a direct. Now, Newark is bad. Real bad. Have my rental car booked bad to go to a different airport.
But hey–if NCC is going to Orlando, or Denver or wherever and I am too–I’d jump on–but NOT if it’s stopping at Philly to load etc.. They can’t turn it around the gate fast enough to justify my wasted time of just driving to Philly and more selection of flights.
The halfway point between PHL and ILG appears to be Claymont. So while technically there ARE place in Delaware that are closer to PHL, that area is about 10 square miles.
Small airports are fun just because there are fewer moving parts. You have less hassle because you are the only flight leaving in the next hour and maybe the only one all day.
Frontier doesn’t do that much of the hub and spoke thing, unless you are flying west of Denver. Here is their map. PHL’s biggest problem is traffic to the airport. Sometimes it can get pretty messy on 95 during rush hour and jumping off to go through Chester can be difficult. And heaven help you if you have checked luggage, because there is an amazing wait for luggage to come up.
For all my snooty talk about direct flights, as i look at that map – I wouldn’t mind departing New Castle and stopping in Denver on a trip to Santa Babara.
Sure jason–as long as it’s a Tuesday or Thursday. That’s what has me and the hubs cracking up about.
Although, really, if you are going to the West Coast (LA or SFO), Virgin America is *all that*. Going to Philly or no.
I used to take Delta to Atlanta from ILG. Just needed to show up 30 minutes before departure. And this was after 9/11 too. It was great. Free parking too.
I prefer direct flights too, but I figure a schlep up to PHL and sitting around for 2+ hours for a flight counts as a segment to me, so a connection from ILG isn’t so bad in my mind.
PHL is horrible compared to most major airports on the east coast. EWR (Newark) is on par w/PHL, but EWR is easier to enter/exit & get where you want to go if you’re unfamiliar w/ the area.
I have to agree w/ Jason about ACY. It was worth the drive to Atlantic City. Small airport, cheap airfare, free parking, sail right through security. And I miss those $69 ACY to FLL Spirit Airlines fares!
EWR! The TSA might be certifiable there, the parking is expensive, and you are in NY airspace which is the worst in the country. PHL is a reasonable airport, but subject to crazy numbers of ATC holds and done at the drop of a hat too. US Air needs to step up their security game at Terminals B and C. It is often easier to walk to A or D, go through security and then walk back to your gate than to cool your heels waiting for the unbelievable line.
cassandra-
EWR is a shithole. Newark, NJ is a shithole, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that their airport is a mess. Sadly, it’s still easier for an out-of-towner to navigate than PHL.
I worked at or on the outskirts of PHL from 1990-2007. It was a mess when I started there & it was a different, but not better, mess when I left. It’s still a mess. Mayor Nutter has cleaned it up to some degree, but it’s still a disaster compared to most airports of comparable size…and most of it is still NOT in Philadelphia.
All I know is Frontier can’t get me to Taos from ILG. So now I’m back to PHL to Santa Fe to donkey. By way of Atlanta. All for the love of baseball, and the newly formed semi-pro Pecos League. Will you guys hurry up and get your ice hockey team here!!
It was a mess when I started there
RDB, what’s a mess about it? It isn’t ideal, but I get in and out of that airport pretty smartly — it is entirely possible that I’m way too used to navigating the mess to see it any more. I’ll drive (and have done it, too) to BWI or Dulles before I’ll go to Newark.
Vindicated by cass! thank you–and w/ you on the alternates. I’ll even do Reagan if REALLY necessary, before EVER going thru Newark again. Those days are over.