One Way From Amarillo? Not Today

I love life here in Amarillo, I've become accustomed to the Golden Spread and all that it has to offer but sometimes, just sometimes a little vacation is in order or getting family in to town for a visit becomes nessicarily. That's when I made a very interesting discovery, while we have an outstanding airport here in Amarillo, the one thing it lacks is non stop flights.

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(Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)

Sure, I understand, DFW we are not, nor are we Houston, San Antonio or Austin. With all the agribusiness, Pantex and Tourism potential with Palo Duro you would think we could do better.

So where can you go Non Stop from Amarillo?

First things first, lets look at the difference between non stop and direct. Non stop is going from one airport to another with you guessed it, no stops. Direct means that while you will get to your destination you may still make intermediate stops but the flight number does not change. For example, Bull Airlines flight 101 Starts in Amarillo, with stops in Las Vegas and ultimately Austin. the whole time maintaining the flight 101 designation. Non direct means that if you stopped in Vegas hopped on another plane with a different number. Annoying right?

You only have 5 options for Non Stops here in Amarillo. Dallas, Las Vegas, Denver and Houston. Wait Mike that's only 4 cities, Dallas actually counts for two airports, Love Field and DFW. From there you can go where you like.

It's Annoying

I know there's cost reduction with how these airlines run things but seriously, with layovers it's almost easier to drive from Amarillo to Austin vs flying simply because the idea of going further west to Vegas just to fly over Texas again is foolish. What do you gain here? In the same time it takes to go to the airport, get through security and finally fly, I could be rolling into the capitol or be close to it. Someone needs to explain why this makes sense? Or maybe it's not supposed to. Maybe it's like Football, we're supposed to have a vague idea and just "go with it"

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.

Say You're From Amarillo Without Saying You're From Amarillo

Amarillo is a pretty quirky place. We've got the Big Texan, the weird signs, and (obviously) the famed Cadillac Ranch. But more than that, there's a distinct culture of close-knit community, eccentrics, a thriving arts scene, and much more.

The point is, living in Amarillo is a unique experience. Because of that, it's really pretty easy to tell who's a native or a long-time resident. And I can prove it.

Here's a couple of ways you can say you're from Amarillo.....without saying you're from Amarillo.