Great Article

[BoeingBoy]

Michael (or anyone else interested),

Here's an article from Aviation Daily that talks about DAL's depeaking of ATL....

Aviation Daily Article

Jim

 

[Rico]

Kinda funny that the very same things were said about Newark, before it was upgraded. and now stands as the best of the three NYC airports in terms of usage and location.

 

[SpinDoc]

In res, more and more people are requesting NOT to connect thru PHL. Can't say I blame them. It doesn't cost anything to be nice to people, and I have had some very bad, and a (little bit of nice) experiences with U personnel in Phl. About 3 yrs ago, I checked my bag on a connection in PHL, (domestic flights) and my bag NEVER made it to my destination. Funny thing is, I saw it on the ground when it came off a commuter flt, so I know it was there.

kimberlite:

A large number of misconnected bags result
from delayed arriving flights. The customer
arrives in PHL 25mins late due to ATC or taxi
in delay, and the customer makes it to the
connecting gate within minutes of their sched
departure. The bags don't make it because
of the short connect time. A lot of this could
be avoided by better management.

Many years ago when I worked in PIT, we
had a system whereby we checked the
inbound loads coming on delayed arrivals.
We made sure there was an extra tug with
bag carts designated to receive hot bags, or
bags for flights that were leaving within
15 minutes. This tug would take the hot bags
to each connecting flight in order of departure
and often, the bags made it on their sched
flight.

It took an extra tug and driver (usually an RSS
or lead) to accomplish this, but it worked.
Does this system exist anymore in PIT, PHL,
or CLT, or has the company determined that
$15 per bag delivered late to the customer
by taxi is acceptable?

There are many ways that can fix the
connecting bag problem in PHL, but someone
in management has to step up and tackle
the problem with resources and accountability.
Until this happens, I doubt we'll see the costs
of PAWOBS from PHL go down.

Mr. Kremlin, are you listening?

 

[Seatacus]

: PHL is U's demise!! The airport sucks, the operation is in shambles,

[post="243994"][/post]​

We all know this......Management knows this, then why is it still a mess. This has been going on for a long time. Some higher-ups get premium pay to make this station work. So why hasn't anything been done so far? One thought, maybe someone does not care if we suceed.

 

[ClueByFour]

Kinda funny that the very same things were said about Newark, before it was upgraded. and now stands as the best of the three NYC airports in terms of usage and location.

[post="244311"][/post]​

Huh?

EWR has not seen a new runway, which is what PHL ultimately needs, since 1973.

Location, I guess, is in the eye of the beholder--I doubt those living on LI would agree with that assesment. Ditto on location. I don't have the usage numbers.

PHL will not be even remotely workable as a functional hub save for a new runway, and rebuilt terminals (the alleys just don't allow it).

I think that even US knows this--there are still "banks" in PIT and one can still connect there (and apparently, people would rather do so).

 

[sfb]

Kinda funny that the very same things were said about Newark, before it was upgraded. and now stands as the best of the three NYC airports in terms of usage and location.

The only things that have been upgraded at EWR are the terminals -- from the '90s revamp of the FIS in Terminal B to CO's new C-3 Concourse. The airfield hasn't changed all that much. What's different about EWR, though, is that (1) CO doesn't schedule it as much like a banked hub and (2) CAL/XJT together only operate about 400 daily departures. EWR's crosswind runway is also more useful to more aicraft types at 6800 feet.

CO isn't trying to stuff connecting flights from every small city in upstate NY, PA, or New England into EWR, either. They're pretty happy to cede that to others or try to route some of it through CLE.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

We all know this......Management knows this, then why is it still a mess. This has been going on for a long time. Some higher-ups get premium pay to make this station work. So why hasn't anything been done so far? One thought, maybe someone does not care if we suceed.

[post="244323"][/post]​

Seatacus, oh you're being too kind. Basically, the drooling retards in CCY don't know WTF they're doing. Let's face it, this place continues to defy Vegas odds; but the dumb luck is going to run out at some point unless real airline management fixes up the joint.

 

[RedOne]

Strictly speaking as a "sky god",....

[post="244218"][/post]​

Never thought I would get one of yall to admit that you looked at yourself as ...the "FOURTH FIGURE OF THE GOD-HEAD", but you finally did it! Now the world can know what yall really think your position is.

 

[Hope777]

Clue, the design of EWR is just plain better. An aircraft can taxi in while one taxis out, unlike PHL. The design of even the Satilites in Terminal A & B are much better then the tiny taxiways in PHL. All of this should explain why U management gave up on EWR after the merger for LGA. At merge between PI & U, EWR only had over 100 Jet Departures and 125 Commuter Departures. Only makes sense.
And with the new FSA OJI policy, you WOULD NEVER see me in a bin alone. SAFETY FIRST......

 

[mweiss]

Here's an article from Aviation Daily that talks about DAL's depeaking of ATL....

[post="244279"][/post]​

I'd love to see one of your traffic histograms on ATL in a month or so, showing DL's new schedule. Should be interesting to see how well it works, too.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Just remind me and I'll put something together. I'm waiting to see the PHL picture for Feb, but it'll be late March before the BTS on-time data is available.

Jim

 

[SVQLBA]

I'd love to see one of your traffic histograms on ATL in a month or so, showing DL's new schedule. Should be interesting to see how well it works, too.

[post="244443"][/post]​

Full article in the AJC (registration required)
AJC Article -- This has exactle the bar chart you are looking for.

Also a good USA Today article -- finally, an AL moves those blankets and pillows out of the OH bins ...

USAToday article

 

[mweiss]

SVQLBA, thanks for the link. They seem to be topping out at about 1.2 flights per minute (not clear, but I'm pretty sure they mean departures).

One surprise to me is that they are only increasing systemwide departures by 3%. Now, perhaps this is because of increased stage length (DL has always had a particularly low average for a legacy), but I would have otherwise expected these shorter turns to result in a larger increase in departures.

 

[SpinDoc]

SVQLBA, thanks for the link. They seem to be topping out at about 1.2 flights per minute (not clear, but I'm pretty sure they mean departures).

One surprise to me is that they are only increasing systemwide departures by 3%. Now, perhaps this is because of increased stage length (DL has always had a particularly low average for a legacy), but I would have otherwise expected these shorter turns to result in a larger increase in departures.

[post="244463"][/post]​

Michael:

Your posts are very informative and insightful. Having
said that, it would be very interesting to have some solid
figures to back up CCY's decision to drop PIT as a hub.
Before you pick me apart, let's look at some serious
issues that may change the dynamics of PHL as
the savior O&D market the company relies on.

1. Delays and baggage problems at PHL are a liability
that negates the O&D premium over PIT.

2. Any domestic revenue premium US believed
they had by using PHL as a hub has been erased by
Southwest entering the market.

3. The design of the PHL terminal is not conducive
to efficiently connecting passengers, and the added cost
of reaccommodating customers on other flights is
a drain on resources (employees) and goodwill.

4. The labor pool cannot be supported by the
wage reductions that were recently negotiated
without a premium, and the overall quality of
the work force is poor.

The facts in favor of PIT as a hub are:

1. Rare operational or connecting baggage
problems.

2. Local market that has adopted US as their
hometown airline (goodwill benefits)

3. PIT employees are loyal and the labor
pool provides much better service than PHL

I can't believe that the higher O&D traffic and
marginally lower airport costs in PHL can justify
keeping the hub in PHL versus PIT. There has
to be some kind of political graft going on in
PHL and until someone can show the facts
and figures to show that PHL is a better hub,
it will always be an albatross that contributes
to a loss in company profits.

 

[mweiss]

SpinDoc, PHL has had better O&D numbers. I doubt that much more thought entered into the equation than that.

PIT would make a fine hub for someone with HP's cost structure...but not with US's.