Two More (Apparently Successful) Milestones This Past Weekend

[commavia]

Two more important merger milestones accomplished this weekend - both seemingly successfully.
 
On Saturday, USAirways Dividend Miles FF accounts were converted or rolled into AAdvantage accounts.  This appears to have gone smoothly.
 
Then yesterday, DFW and ORD switched back to banked schedules.  This, too, appears to have gone smoothly - at least for day one.  It certainly didn't hurt that, at least in DFW's case, the weather was clear all day, but at DFW and even at ORD, it seems like the operations were posting pretty good D0/A0 numbers.

 

[jcw]

Seems like things continue to run smoothly

 

[robbedagain]

good to hear  hopefully itll continue!

 

[eolesen]

Gotta love it when a project goes off without anyone really noticing...

 

[Phoenix]

Employee proffit sharing evidently has less impact than management on-time bonuses... At least when the Wx is clear.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Schedule data shows that AA added 8 minutes on average to every domestic flight from DFW as part of their rebanking efforts.

that added time not only helps keep the operation running smoother despite the more peaked operation but also adds costs.

 

[commavia]

“...the revenue benefit of just getting a few extra connecting customers on those planes far outweighs the incremental cost."
 
- Scott Kirby, American Airlines president

 

[WorldTraveler]

I am sure that AA has made that calculation and am not trying to argue otherwise.

I am just quantifying that there is an increased cost.

further, the banked hub does increase total flight time for connecting flights. While there are tighter connections for many connecting pairs of markets, there are connections that will be longer via DFW vs. other hubs.

Let's also remember that AA execs said that part of the motivation for the banked hubs was to offset some of the local market demand that has been lost to WN at DAL. AA is doing what they can to use the strength of the DFW hub to help it compete for what it can best do - and that is a good thing.

at least in good weather, AA did a great job in designing the DFW schedules. Let's see how well it works after a few major weather events. Once DOT data comes thru by city, it will also be worth comparing OT performance for each of the new banked hubs.

With the res system cutover one of the last major operational challenges facing AA, the merger is clearly progressing well.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Leave it to World(deleted by moderator) to crap all over any positive story that does not involve his favorite airline.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I've crapped over nothing.

I simply noted that AA added block time in order to increase schedule reliability which is all the more important with a banked hub. that is factual information.

You truly need to get rid of your complex. I specifically noted that AA is handling the merger well and they clearly designed the schedules right.

at least in good weather, AA did a great job in designing the DFW schedules. Let's see how well it works after a few major weather events. Once DOT data comes thru by city, it will also be worth comparing OT performance for each of the new banked hubs.

With the res system cutover one of the last major operational challenges facing AA, the merger is clearly progressing well.

AA did the cutover well. I acknowledged that. They also are investing resources in order to accomplish the banked hubs. Commavia acknowledged that cost has been calculated and deemed worth it.

those are the types of facts that should be highlighted and brought to a discussion here.

 

[jcw]

So let's get some facts set on the schedule padding

So I compared flight times on various routes and surprise AA runs shorter schedules that the crown jewel airline and averaged the day

MSP to DFW AA scheduled for 2 mins less
ATL to DFW AA scheduled for 2 mins less
MIA to ATL AA scheduled for 2 mins less
DTW to DFW scheduled for exact same time
LGA to ORD scheduled for exact same time

Let's look at some others

LGA to DCA AA scheduled for 2 mins less
CLT to ATL AA scheduled for 7 mins less
JFK to LAX AA scheduled for 8 mins less

So one airline is padding there schedule more than someone else who just re banked two hubs

Therefore does not hold water that AA is padding the schedule - the crown jewel airline is running a less efficient using the logic of a poster saying AA is less efficient

 

[Kev3188]

Leave it to World Fraudster to crap all over any positive story that does not involve his favorite airline.

You're not surprised, are you?

And E brings up a great point; the real story here is that the rebanking occured w/o a whole lot of fanfare. Good on all of you who helped make that happen!

 

[nycbusdriver]

So let's get some facts set on the schedule padding

So I compared flight times on various routes and surprise AA runs shorter schedules that the crown jewel airline and averaged the day

MSP to DFW AA scheduled for 2 mins less
ATL to DFW AA scheduled for 2 mins less
MIA to ATL AA scheduled for 2 mins less
DTW to DFW scheduled for exact same time
LGA to ORD scheduled for exact same time

Let's look at some others

LGA to DCA AA scheduled for 2 mins less
CLT to ATL AA scheduled for 7 mins less
JFK to LAX AA scheduled for 8 mins less

So one airline is padding there schedule more than someone else who just re banked two hubs

Therefore does not hold water that AA is padding the schedule - the crown jewel airline is running a less efficient using the logic of a poster saying AA is less efficient

 
You're wrong.  Delta, and only Delta, is permitted to define "time."  Their schedules are shorter and perfectly efficient because Delta has a proprietary definition of "time," and the competition is not permitted to know the secret formula.  It's locked in the same vault in Atlanta (the inarguable center of all creation) with the recipe for Coca-Cola.

 

[WorldTraveler]

well first of all, AA did make a big deal about it to the investor community, its employees, and in trade media.

It isn't a subject that most of the general public understands so how much of a difference does it make.

as for the comparison to block times in specific markets, your observations are not supported by published schedules for the entire month.

In some markets such as ATL-DFW, DL has lower block times than AA on average for all flights. In MSP, it is nearly identical. on LGA-DFW, DL does indeed have several minutes extra block time per flight.

but the point is that AA added 8 minutes of block time per flight across its entire DFW network, and that statistic only includes AA mainline flights... I did not include AA Eagle flights. There are hundreds of flights per day from DFW that AA has no nonstop competition so increased block times are something that the consumer gets whether they want to or not.

the increased block time is not likely to affect the top local markets but rather the connections that flow over DFW... that is what AA is intending to capture. The increased block time even on the local segments will affect the connections.

and I am not saying that increased block times are bad... just that AA has added that time and it does cost money.

Comm noted that AA did the calculations and said it is worth it and I am not disputing it.



I don't have the time to do an entire evaluation across every O&D that flows

 

[commavia]

On a somewhat related note - on the subject of merger integration milestones - AA has also now fully consolidated operations at the CLT hub, with AA flights moving off the A concourse and now operating out of gates B5, B7 and B8.