Oklahoma travelers soon will have one less option for service to Las Vegas and beach destinations.
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Charter carrier Champion Air will cease operations May 31.
Champion spokesman Jon Austin said the cost of fuel coupled with the overall weak economy were the leading factors in the airline’s decision. Champion has also seen a shift in demand from charter customers, Austin said.
“Scheduled airlines are more aggressively marketing their routes,” Austin said.
Unlike other airlines, Champion Air does not sell flights directly to the public, but instead provides services through travel agents.
Champion has nonstop flights from Will Rogers World Airport to Las Vegas, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. The airline flies nonstop from Tulsa to Las Vegas.
Austin said the airline will honor all flight commitments through May 31. He said travelers who have flights booked after that date will be contacted by their travel agent, who will rebook them on another airline.
“There aren’t that many folks in that category,” Austin said.
Angela Hedges Hendricks, president and chief executive officer of Carlson Wagonlit Travel/Bentley Hedges Travel, said she doesn’t expect Champion’s shut down to have a negative impact on travelers.
“There won’t be any delayed service or change,” she said. “We’re still booking Vegas, we’re still booking Cancun.”
Hedges Hendricks said Worry-Free Vacations, a vacation package provider that partners with several airlines, including Champion, to provide service to and from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, will likely replace Champion with another carrier — resulting in a smooth transaction.
“People won’t notice and I bet they will get better service,” Hedges Hendricks said. She said she expected Worry-Free to announce its new carrier by the end of the week.
“I bet it will be a name we recognize,” she said.
That is not the only speculation as to who will fill the gap Champion will leave come May.
“I would imagine most of that service going to Southwest,” said Alexis Higgins, spokeswoman for Tulsa International Airport.
Southwest Airlines is the only other carrier besides Champion that flies nonstop from Tulsa to Las Vegas. Champion’s main routes are to Las Vegas and beach destinations in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean, Austin said.
Jennifer James McCollum, spokeswoman for Will Rogers World Airport, said destinations Champion Air currently serves are popular, a sign that they will not go underserved when Champion leaves.
“Our hope is that some other carrier will look at picking up these flights,” she said.
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why would JB bother to actually read a story before providing his unenlightening comments to it? Because then he can't twist it to something he's obviously bitter about, OKC moving forward and becoming a big league city.
You would think a city that is supposedly "big league" enough to support an NBA franchise would not be subject to flight service cuts to such popular entertainment destinations. I guess everyone is saving their money for season tickets.
I wonder if Virgin would be interested in offering the service. The airline was started because of one cancelled flight to the Virgin islands. Richard Branson got together with the rest of the bumped flyers and chartered a jet. Seems like everytime we get a direct flight to Vegas, they take it away from us. Maybe its the Baptists because you can blame the for global warming and the war or just put the two terms together and call it the immaculate correction. But I google'd that term and unfortunately it is already being used for the name of a skin care product. And what is it about Tulsa offering direct flights when OKC doesn't. I had to fly from Vegas to Tulsa when American cancelled my OKC return flight. I knew I was doomed when the gangway tilted down like a slide. Then I get into my seat and say hello to the pilot and copilot. Half way into the flight I ask the pilot and copilot if they make this trip often. The copilot says, "No, this is my first commercial flight as a copilot hauling people." By the way, these conversations occured as I sat in seat #3. For the snack the pilot had a cheese bagel.
Most of if not all of their fleet consists of Boeing 727's. They are beautiful aircraft, and my personal favorite, but they are sadly out of date in terms of fuel economy. Champion is one of the very few passenger carriers in the country that still uses 727's.
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