Equipment changes BOS-ATL

[WorldTraveler]

Of course these are rumors but there are way too many people who are saying the same thing to believe there is not some validity to it.
As for the comment about WN being asked BY DL to do mods prior to accepting them, obviously this is a 3-way transaction so who will actually be responsible for the payment remains to be seen.... but in the WHOLE deal, WN has more to lose financially than any other party and thus has the most to gain by figuring out a deal.

 

[737823]

The DL 737-700s are awesome I hope they don't go! Fairly new aircraft all with AVOD and PTVs

Josh

 

[Kev3188]

The best IFE is still a good book (or magazines), some earplugs, and a window seat. Just my .02...

 

[phllax]

*Rumor* 86 717's for 12 DL-700's. That's speculation and I have not seen it on official documentation.

DL only has 10 73G's, where is it getting the other 2 from?

 

[737823]

More changes in January, almost all -88s and -90s, some days have a 757 or two. I assume DL is doing seasonal capacity adjustments but they sure have drastic equipment a changes for a given flight in different days. Some days a flight is 757, one day 753, another 738, then the next day -88.

Josh

 

[Kev3188]

They do that everywhere. On top of that, the flight may be at the same time to the same place (ie 0930 BOS-ATL), but have a different flight number day to day. I get why they do the former. Not so much the latter. Both drive me loco when it comes to planning the work at my station...

 

[BABABOOY]

question: How many Millions did SW agree to, to refurbish the 717 fleet to fit Delta's standards?

 

[Kev3188]

For some reason, I want to say ~80M, but I'd have to look further to confirm/correct that. That number may also include the some of the continued lease liability WN has on them...

 

[WorldTraveler]

http://www.aviationw...1-01-478629.xml

$100M from WN, 40 from Boeing.

Southwest also says the sublease income it will get from Delta is “essentially a wash” with its ongoing rental expense for the aircraft.

No word on what DL will be saving in DCI costs as a net of about 150 RJs are pulled from the fleet.

DL will be avoiding anywhere from $500M to $2B in overhaul expenses on the RJ fleet based on what DL's pilots believe DL would have had to spend if a number of the older RJs are retained.

and specific to the BOS-ATL example, DL's scheduling is now done essentially day to day - or it can be.... so that the supply of seats can match demand. DL has to set the schedule just 45 days before departure giving them a very good opportunity to know if demand will materialize.

Sometimes capacity is dramatically increased as it was the weekend after THX when a couple 744s were used between DTW/ATL and LAX and a number of other int'l aircraft were place on heavy east-west routes.

Not surprisingly, they expect to be able to change staffing levels on that little notice as well and pilot and FA bidlines are constructed and bid in that same 45 day period.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

I remember NWA doing that with LAS flights occasionally (using 747/744) to clear out overbooking spillover.

 

[WorldTraveler]

this was scheduled equipment.. not sure how far out it was loaded but there were a number of int'l aircraft that saw domestic aircraft on the weekend after THX.

The LAX rotations began and ended in DTW but operated between LAX and ATL on Sunday.

Hundreds of additional seats added on a day when many people don't expect to get deep discount seats.

Not sure what is going to happen around Christmas/New Years but DL is doing a bunch of Saturday only during Spring Break Florida flying in addition to the usual mini-hub in CUN.

 

[737823]

Wow, shocked to see DCI CRJ-900 in the schedule for ATL-BOS. Granted its one flight in the middle of the day on a Saturday but still strikes me as odd. Again a few years ago the route was nearly exclusively 757s (even some 763s), now 757 is the exception as its mainly MD-88/90 and occasional 738. What is this about aircraft utilization or something? Bizarre, I wonder when DL will add more RJs to sub 1000 mile flights in key markets like this.

Josh

 

[WorldTraveler]

it appears to be a Sat only schedule caused by using the mainline aircraft on more leisure oriented routes and cancelling some of the RJ flights to business destinations.

ATL-BOS is a business market more than anything and doesn't need alot of service on Saturday.. many of DL's top business markets work the same way. DL doesn't need the capacity on Sat and it doesn't make any sense to carry leisure passengers to ATL only to connect them on to Florida. If the market exists, then fly it nonstop.

There are a number of NE and midwest markets that DL is flying on a spring break seasonal basis, sometimes only once a week.

If there is a strong leisure market at one time of the year and even on certain days, it makes sense to serve that market nonstop. But the equipment has to come from someplace.

I still expect you will see a significant DL expansion by DL from BOS in the next couple years.

B6's new pilot labor rates are going to increase their costs as well as the prices they must charge to cover their costs.

 

[737823]

Makes sense. I know many are hoping the FLL, PBI (daily), TPA, and RSW flights come back. I think DL also had SRQ at one point not sure.

Josh

 

[yoyodyne]

Makes sense. I know many are hoping the FLL, PBI (daily), TPA, and RSW flights come back. I think DL also had SRQ at one point not sure.

Josh

The days of DL Express...
 
I loved working on the PowerPuff Girls plane, the many looks of N310DA:
 
 
Before DLX

 
Then
 

 
And shortly before being retired