OAG Travel News

The conference championship games that were held this past Sunday (January 18, 2009) provided the level of competition that is expected of the top teams in the National Football League.  The games were close, and the all the teams showed the desire and determination to reach the next level.  My original prediction that the team with the most service by Southwest Airlines would win this year’s Super Bowl still remains a possibility.  Although the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the American Conference did not follow my plan, the victory by the Arizona Cardinals over the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Conference means that my original prediction – that Arizona would claim ultimate victory in the Super Bowl – remains viable.  Super Bowl XLIII will take place on Sunday, February 1, in Tampa, Florida.

To close out my analysis of air service and American football for this season, I decided to take a quick look at coaching changes to see if there were any air service commonalities.  During and following the 2008 season, there were an incredible 10 coaching changes, encompassing nearly one-third of the entire league.  The teams that experienced coaching changes (to date) and their airports follow here: Cleveland Browns (Cleveland Hopkins International Airport), Denver Broncos (Denver International Airport), Detroit Lions (Detroit Metropolitan Airport), Indianapolis Colts (Indianapolis International Airport), New York Jets (Newark Liberty International Airport – the team plays in New Jersey), Oakland Raiders (Oakland International Airport), St. Louis Rams (Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), San Francisco 49ers (San Francisco International Airport), Seattle Seahawks (Seattle/Tacoma International Airport) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tampa International Airport).  Following are 10 air service commonalities between these teams:

- All airports have international air service (but not to the same destination)
- All airports have service by Delta Air Lines
- All airports have service by United Airlines
- All airports have service by US Airways
- All airports have nonstop service to Boston (BOS)
- All airports have nonstop service to Washington/Dulles (IAD)
- All airports have nonstop service to Las Vegas (LAS)
- All airports have nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX)
- All airports have nonstop service to Kansas City (MCI)
- All airports have nonstop service to Phoenix (PHX)

So, if you live in one of the remaining 22 cities with National Football League teams that has not yet experienced a coaching change for the 2008 season, keep these trends in mind… your city may be next!

Next week I’ll move on to a new topic.  Of course, following the Super Bowl on February 1, I will provide a brief update as to whether my Service by Southwest Airlines prediction was a winner.

Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) Schedule Tapes; data reflects air service levels for January 2009 only.

Note: Game winners and losers predicted based on schedule set forth by National Football League rules; coaching changes based on changes during and after 2008 regular season of the National Football League.

OAG contributor Laura Jackson was just two weeks old when she took her first flight on Piedmont Airlines.  In junior high school, she developed a business plan for her own airline.  Today she manages strategy and policy issues at one of the world's busiest airports and provides original content and aviation industry analysis for OAG.