Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, D.C. — all are markets the Tulsa Regional Chamber is pushing major airlines to offer direct routes for this year.
Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal said there have been several meetings with airlines this year about new routes.
"The three prime ones are LAX, New York and Washington Reagan National. I think probably one that would maybe most likely to come first would be Philadelphia," Neal said.
Neal said American Airlines has been looking to tap into more international markets from the east coast since a 2015 merger with US Airways.
"You’ve seen American do a lot with Charlotte in recent years after the merger with US Airways, and we’ve gotten more and more direct flights to and from Charlotte. I think Philadelphia’s probably an east coast city that they’re going to be trying to move a lot of people through," Neal said.
Senior Vice President of Economic Development Brien Thorstenberg saids direct flights are critical to attracting new business.
"Direct flights really play a very critical role, especially in the higher, knowledge-based types of industries — IT, professional services — because they want to be flying directly to and from major metropolitan areas," Thorstenberg said.