The wide screen TV and upgrading of the lounge is purely an old rumor that has been circulating for much too long. I work the ATC Coordinator position in the OCC and I can assure you that PHL is an excellent facility and among the best to work with. Our schedule is purposely built with peaks in arrival demand just because it is a hub but that compressed demand can only be accommodated when on the best runway configuration e.g. landing 27 and 35. Very few RJ’s use runway 17/35 and fewer when it is wet. Whenever the ceiling and/or visibility goes below visual conditions or wind dictates a less than favorable runway configuration delays are inevitable. Even on the best configuration delays will occur due to compressed demand. Long haul flights from the west will file a BUNTS arrival one day and will file a southerly routing into PHL the next. All these flows have to be blended and afforded the proper mile in trail separation until 4 or 5 flows eventually become one final for the landing runway. Excess demand at one fix can cause another fix to have to hold. Better to hold two or three than 15 or 20. Many times we will have 55 or more arrivals in an hour but they are not spread out evenly in the hour and the equivalent arrival in a 15 or 30 minute period becomes a 90 or so arrival rate. That is why the wheels up times even on a VFR day without a ground delay program going to PHL. We get some preferential treatment from PHL and adjacent facilities for International arrivals just like UAL gets in IAD. All of the airlines understand that and go along with that philosophy. This does not preclude our Internationals from holding but greatly minimizes it.
There is also a way all airlines request and are granted certain exemptions on a limited basis expedited departures or exemption from a ground delay program due to a crew timing out, large number of connecting passengers, and various other operational needs. These exemptions go through the Command Center and are fully documented and overseen. All airline management and the FAA closely monitor how equitably these requests are handled. Under normal circumstances when there is a ground delay program the airline is normally responsible for handling most of these problems through the slot swapping process and the special requests are usually a last resort. If SWA needs a favor at PHL they do not have the number of flights that we do and are granted some of these requests just like we are at an airport where we have limited options.
It is really easy to point the finger when you witness a whole bunch of USA flights waiting for departure out of PHL and another carrier gets airborne right away. We send out 10 or 15 East Gate departures, 10 or 15 West Gate departures and a bunch of Modena or STOEN departures all at the same time and along comes another carrier on a South Gate departures..Well duuh why should he have to wait. There is nothing in his way. All this is compounded by our own ramp Control. The clock starts when we contact ATC, not when we leave the gate.
When PHL is on an East runway configuration the problem is further compounded by the lack of space to separate aircraft by departure fixes thus if we have 5 West Gate departures standing in the way of other departure fix flights there is no way to get anyone moving. This brings up departure route being shut down. These airways are shared with other airports in the Northeast thus mile in trail restrictions but in addition is a flight takes off and then deviates due to thunderstorms etc hi is also likely causing a conflict with an arrival or departure stream of another airport in the northeast. That conflict is handled safely but in effect that airway/Departure Fix is shutdown until a flight can fly that route without deviation. In effect the flight shut down the route, not ATC.
There are tradeoffs in balancing arrival delays and departure delays. For example you may be able to land 52 per hour using intersecting runways but departures suffer. Every cowboy rides his horse differently. You are dealing with a known when you sequence arrivals to intersecting runways. Known speeds and distances. Try to get a departure exactly right. How long till the departure spools up his engines and slowly lumbers down the runway with traffic on short final for an intersecting runway. We lose departure slots as a result. The alternative is to decrease arrivals with more upline delays, Mile in trail restrictions, groundstops etc. Who suffers? Well the PHL connecting passenger does if he is sitting on the ground waiting for a takeoff time to get to PHL and so does US Airways.
Every time we get a complaint of a flight getting preferential treatment and we look into it we find there is no basis to it or there was a valid reason for it.
It is very easy to point fingers at any ATC facility but I have 40 years in this business and know that ATC doesn’t want that airplane on the ground waiting for departure. They do not want airplanes holding in their airspace they want to keep them moving. Less headaches, phone calls, workload etc.
ATC is a 3 dimensional picture than can not be understood when looking at a radar screen or airport surface in only one or two dimensions. I am in contact with PHL ATC many times each day and it is a collaborative effort to maximize arrival and departure flows. Even when either runway 17 or 35 is in use and there is one refusal due to a tailwind, wet runway etc that aircraft has to be sequenced into the arrival flow for the long runway. This loss of one arrival slot can trigger arrival holding. And here is the kicker. Years ago the passengers told the airlines they didn’t like props. So guess what the airlines did. They allowed the aircraft manufactures to design and build hardwing needle nose jets many of which land at Category D landing speeds. Guess who really needs the long runways.
US Airways personnel and management personnel individually and sometimes jointly go to the Command Center and various facilities for meetings and work on solutions to problems. No the system isn’t perfect and could use a lot of technology upgrades but the problems are more complex than what most people see on the surface.
PHL ATC does an outstanding job given the way the airlines schedule, the airport real estate and the surrounding airspace limitations and constraints. They are professionals and lucky for us they just shrug off all these false and unsubstantiated complaints and accusations.
One final note..The FAA both on the ATC side and on the Safety, Compliance and Enforcement side (FSDO) do not take incentives or as some have called them bribes. The infrequent pizza parties are a thing of the past. The FSDO people will come in and if there is bottled water for them most times t hey lay down 50 cents or whatever to cover the cost. In working meetings everyone chips in for the pizza and soft drinks.
There is also a way all airlines request and are granted certain exemptions on a limited basis expedited departures or exemption from a ground delay program due to a crew timing out, large number of connecting passengers, and various other operational needs. These exemptions go through the Command Center and are fully documented and overseen. All airline management and the FAA closely monitor how equitably these requests are handled. Under normal circumstances when there is a ground delay program the airline is normally responsible for handling most of these problems through the slot swapping process and the special requests are usually a last resort. If SWA needs a favor at PHL they do not have the number of flights that we do and are granted some of these requests just like we are at an airport where we have limited options.
It is really easy to point the finger when you witness a whole bunch of USA flights waiting for departure out of PHL and another carrier gets airborne right away. We send out 10 or 15 East Gate departures, 10 or 15 West Gate departures and a bunch of Modena or STOEN departures all at the same time and along comes another carrier on a South Gate departures..Well duuh why should he have to wait. There is nothing in his way. All this is compounded by our own ramp Control. The clock starts when we contact ATC, not when we leave the gate.
When PHL is on an East runway configuration the problem is further compounded by the lack of space to separate aircraft by departure fixes thus if we have 5 West Gate departures standing in the way of other departure fix flights there is no way to get anyone moving. This brings up departure route being shut down. These airways are shared with other airports in the Northeast thus mile in trail restrictions but in addition is a flight takes off and then deviates due to thunderstorms etc hi is also likely causing a conflict with an arrival or departure stream of another airport in the northeast. That conflict is handled safely but in effect that airway/Departure Fix is shutdown until a flight can fly that route without deviation. In effect the flight shut down the route, not ATC.
There are tradeoffs in balancing arrival delays and departure delays. For example you may be able to land 52 per hour using intersecting runways but departures suffer. Every cowboy rides his horse differently. You are dealing with a known when you sequence arrivals to intersecting runways. Known speeds and distances. Try to get a departure exactly right. How long till the departure spools up his engines and slowly lumbers down the runway with traffic on short final for an intersecting runway. We lose departure slots as a result. The alternative is to decrease arrivals with more upline delays, Mile in trail restrictions, groundstops etc. Who suffers? Well the PHL connecting passenger does if he is sitting on the ground waiting for a takeoff time to get to PHL and so does US Airways.
Every time we get a complaint of a flight getting preferential treatment and we look into it we find there is no basis to it or there was a valid reason for it.
It is very easy to point fingers at any ATC facility but I have 40 years in this business and know that ATC doesn’t want that airplane on the ground waiting for departure. They do not want airplanes holding in their airspace they want to keep them moving. Less headaches, phone calls, workload etc.
ATC is a 3 dimensional picture than can not be understood when looking at a radar screen or airport surface in only one or two dimensions. I am in contact with PHL ATC many times each day and it is a collaborative effort to maximize arrival and departure flows. Even when either runway 17 or 35 is in use and there is one refusal due to a tailwind, wet runway etc that aircraft has to be sequenced into the arrival flow for the long runway. This loss of one arrival slot can trigger arrival holding. And here is the kicker. Years ago the passengers told the airlines they didn’t like props. So guess what the airlines did. They allowed the aircraft manufactures to design and build hardwing needle nose jets many of which land at Category D landing speeds. Guess who really needs the long runways.
US Airways personnel and management personnel individually and sometimes jointly go to the Command Center and various facilities for meetings and work on solutions to problems. No the system isn’t perfect and could use a lot of technology upgrades but the problems are more complex than what most people see on the surface.
PHL ATC does an outstanding job given the way the airlines schedule, the airport real estate and the surrounding airspace limitations and constraints. They are professionals and lucky for us they just shrug off all these false and unsubstantiated complaints and accusations.
One final note..The FAA both on the ATC side and on the Safety, Compliance and Enforcement side (FSDO) do not take incentives or as some have called them bribes. The infrequent pizza parties are a thing of the past. The FSDO people will come in and if there is bottled water for them most times t hey lay down 50 cents or whatever to cover the cost. In working meetings everyone chips in for the pizza and soft drinks.
