Nonstop flights from LAX to Kansas City but not Oklahoma City????

[mhdavenport]

How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year.

[DancingDavidE]

---

@mhdavenport wrote:

How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year.

---

Use the “Contact Us” to submit a suggestion.

Southwest has had a big presence at MCI for a long time, it’s a little further east to serve as a sort of hub, which TWA had originally planned and then moved to St. Louis. 

OKC airport isn’t common for connections, MCI has about 4x the passenger traffic. 

[dfwskier]

---

@DancingDavidE wrote:

---

@mhdavenport wrote:

How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year.

---

Use the “Contact Us” to submit a suggestion.

 The problem that Southwest has is that it is short of planes: courtesy Boeing's inability to actually ship the new planes it has committed to ship. Until that changes, any new routes are highly unlikely. Instead SW has been cutting cities to cope with the shortage.

[DancingDavidE]

---

@dfwskier wrote:

---

@DancingDavidE wrote:

---

@mhdavenport wrote:

How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year.

---

Use the “Contact Us” to submit a suggestion.

 The problem that Southwest has is that it is short of planes: courtesy Boeing's inability to actually ship the new planes it has committed to ship. Until that changes, any new routes are highly unlikely. Instead SW has been cutting cities to cope with the shortage.

---

Actually I'm looking at some additional data and LAX and MCI are actually pretty similar in number of passenger and flights, but a huge difference in number of destinations, the capacity at LAX is used up on some "regular" routes compared to Kansas City going to a few more other cities. LAX is tied for least number of city connections among the top 20 busiest Southwest airports.

Kansas City however is the lowest total number of flights available of the top 20. 

List of Southwest Airlines destinations - Wikipedia

Sorted for connecting cities:

[Carter_james]

You're right, it can be frustrating when there aren't direct flights on a route you travel frequently. Here is what you can do 

A)Track flight data: Services like Google Flights allow you to set up alerts for specific routes.

B)Contact airlines directly: Where you can show your interest in a direct LAX-OKC route.

c)Fly into a nearby airport: While not ideal, depending on the distance, flying into a major airport near Oklahoma City and taking a connecting flight or ground transportation could be an option.

 D)Consider Indirect Flights: While not ideal, some indirect flights might offer good connections and travel time

you can't directly influence airline decisions, by expressing your interest you can JUST  increase the chances of a direct LAX-OKC route being added in the future.

[bec102896]

Southwest has 3 gates at OKC they can’t serve every city with the 3 gates so they go to places where they can connect more people LAX isn’t an ideal connection for a lot of cities other might go.