Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

In a move I never saw coming Northwest Airlines is adding nonstop service from Indianapolis to Austin, TX (AUS) as well as San Antonio, TX (SAT). The service will be operated once daily by Pinnacle. This continues NW dominance in IND as well as ensuring they offer all jet service. The new routes will begin May 2nd and for now appear to be regular routes and not seasonal.

IND-AUS Flight #4073 Departs 11:40am
AUS-IND Flight #4072 Departs 2:00pm

IND-SAT Flight #4071 Departs 6:30pm
SAT-IND Flight #4070 Departs 7:15am

These routes have not been officially press released yet.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

That is surprising to me as well. Is the demand there for service between the cities? And using CRJs on the routes? The only thing i really hate about those planes is that everytime i have flown them, i end up with a very sore neck because i have to keep twisting my neck to look out the windows since they are low.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I'm not a fan of them either and I will avoid them like the plague. Sadly I would consider a connection in MEM to SAT or AUS instead of taking the nonstop in the CRJ-200.

Member

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 142
Location: IND

I have a feeling it is going to be a busy summer in concourse A

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Well look who crawled out from under a log lol. How have things been for you? Yeah the A concourse is going to be nuts. Is there more coming besides these routes? I suspect their is.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

This is great news. Believe it or not, I was actually reminiscing about the old IND-AUS service NW used to have, and what do you know, its back.

In response to the CRJ-200's, it would be awesome if the used ERJ-175's...

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Well here it is Tuesday at 3pm and NW still hasn't press released AUS and SAT. I'm really starting to think these two routes will be part of a bigger story. Has anyone found anything on this anywhere? Had they not been already loaded into nwa.com I'd say the route rumors weren't true. NW isn't usually this bad about loading routes before press releasing them.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

You know NW still has 2 unassigned TATL 757's. Summer schedule is due to be settled pretty much at any time. Could that be the big story in all this? Maybe they press release a big IND expansion featuring TATL service on the 757 and in addition new domestic routes which at this time would include AUS and SAT?

In either case I do suspect more domestic routes and frequencies are coming.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

They finally press released the service.

http://www.nwa.com/corpinfo/newsc/2008/pr020620081932.html


Northwest Airlines Announces New Nonstop Service From Indianapolis to Two Destinations in the Lone Star State

EAGAN, Minn. â?? (February 6, 200 â?? Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) today announced that it will begin daily nonstop service from Indianapolis to San Antonio and Austin, Texas on May 2, 2008. The new service will be operated by Northwest Airlink partner Pinnacle Airlines using 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200 aircraft.

Indianapolis â?? Austin Service

Beginning May 2, Northwest flight 4703 will depart Indianapolis at 11:40 a.m. and arrive in Austin at 1:20 p.m. local time. Flight 4702 will depart Austin at 2:00 p.m. and arrive in Indianapolis at 5:45 p.m. local time.

Indianapolis-Austin Service
Flight Number: Departs: Arrives:
NW 4703 11:40 a.m. 1:20 p.m.

Austin-Indianapolis Service
Flight Number: Departs: Arrives:
NW 4702 2:00 p.m. 5:45 p.m.

Indianapolis â?? San Antonio Service

Also beginning May 2, Northwest flight 4701 will depart Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. and arrive in San Antonio at 8:10 p.m. local time. Starting May 3, flight 4700 will depart San Antonio at 7:15 a.m. and arrive in Indianapolis at 11:00 a.m. local time.

San Antonio-Indianapolis Service
Flight Number: Departs: Arrives:
NW 4700 7:15 a.m. 11:00 a.m.

Indianapolis-San Antonio Service
Flight Number: Departs: Arrives:
NW 4701 6:30 p.m. 8:10 p.m.

â??Indianapolis is an important market in the Northwest route network and we are pleased to expand nonstop service from the â??Crossroads of Americaâ?? to the popular business and leisure cities of Austin and San Antonio,â? said Steven Sear, vice president of sales and customer care. â??These new nonstop flights will make travel between Indianapolis and both Austin and San Antonio more convenient, reducing travel time by almost 90 minutes.â?

The addition of Austin and San Antonio nonstop flights expands Northwestâ??s service from Indianapolis to 19 cities and 43 daily departures. Northwest offers more flight options for Indianapolis customers than any other carrier.

Northwest currently serves both Austin and San Antonio with daily nonstop service from its Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis/St. Paul hubs.

The new daily nonstop Indianapolis-Austin and Indianapolis-San Antonio flights are available for sale at www.nwa.com, through travel agencies or by calling Northwest Airlines Reservations at 1-800-225-2525.

Beginning February 12, NWA is offering customers 1,000 WorldPerks Bonus Miles for roundtrip Indianapolis-Austin or Indianapolis-San Antonio travel from May 2 through June 30, 2008. Registration is required prior to travel. Additional terms and conditions apply. For complete details regarding travel between Indianapolis and Austin, visit www.nwa.com/offers/indaus. For complete details regarding travel between Indianapolis and San Antonio, visit www.nwa.com/offers/indsat.

Northwest Airlines is one of the worldâ??s largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,400 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the worldâ??s most extensive global networks. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 1,000 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.


They have changed the departure times a bit to make them more favorable for business travelers.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Ahh, good to see the press release. Something FL failed at with IND-MSY...

Member

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 142
Location: IND

I am not sure if we will see any other announcements for NW this summer. It could be a possibility though. New hub service for NW has been announced just about every day this week (MSP-DBQ today).

Of course, I understand that the seasonals will be back (2nd LAX, DEN, SFO, SEA).

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

There will be service to 21 destinations this summer. 22 if you count CUN. Do you know how many daily departures there will be?

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

With the seasonal service back in, it should put the number around 47 flights.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

That pretty much puts us right back where we were before the strike. The A concourse was mad back then. I flew out of it when NW had the focus city fired up and WN was still there as well. That concourse was not designed to handle just under 70 flights a day. NW had nearly 50 back then and I think WN had 16 to 18..

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Ideally, NW should be in D concourse for this summer, but all the work required in that move just isn't worth it for only half a year of use.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I'm going to get the info verified but so far it looks as if IND-AUS is selling and IND-SAT isn't.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I was in A concourse Sunday the 16th. The whole freakin' airport was mad crazy. Lots of spring breakers, I figured. Surprisingly, despite the people jam around the checkin counters, A security was a breeze. Maybe I just hit it at the right moment. But anyway, that was definitely a harbinger of summertime coming...

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I seem to get lucky with it too. I'll get through and then moments later I'll see a big line.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Forgot to say that I connected via MEM this last time out. I forgot how much I hate that airport. Narrow, crowded hallways will put me in a bad mood everytime. I did get a good bbq sandwich, though.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I'm waiting for IND-SAN. Is SAN a seasonal market? If so is it summer or winter seasonal?