infobong.com

Through the Austin Chronicle I just learned Tulsa-based Great Plains Airlines now flies to Austin. When I first learned of Great Plains, the concept seemed kind of strange, a airline that specializes in direct flights to mid-sized cities on the Western plains. Like is there that much demand for non-stop flights from Tulsa to Colorado Springs? (Check out their route map.) My dad says no airline now serves Tulsa directly; I remember taking direct flights to Austin and Houston many times as a youth, but apparently now you have to fly through a major hub for even those cities.
To fly to Tulsa on Great Plains with a 21 day reservation costs $69 each way or $138 round trip. I made a hypothetical trip on Southwest, leaving Saturday, February 8 and returning Wednesday, February 12, which cost $79 for non-redeye flights, hubbing through Dallas. I would be paying a $59 premium for flying non-stop. I suppose this is a good deal for business people who value their time more than relatively small amounts of money, but when I'm choosing between spending about $80 in gas for a round trip home, flying Great Plains doesn't make a lot of sense.

In similar news, Texas is so damn big it has its own next-day delivery service. This Austin American-Statesman story profiles Lone Star Overnight which serves only Texas and Oklahoma.