How US Airways Vaulted to First Place by the WSJ

[UPNAWAY]

D0 numbers are very good too and those tell a truer story!

 

[aredeeyou22]

Exactly. Anecdotal schedule searches comparing block times aren't the issue here. US has admitted to padding the schedules early this year to help the employees win the race. US also admitted that increasing the block times is an expensive way to run an on-time airline and that US is beginning to remove the padding. A few weeks ago, BoeingBoy posted the text of a message from US to the employees about it and now it's been confirmed in none other than The Wall Street Journal.

If the employees can keep up the good work and keep the airline running on time once the padding is removed, then Great!

Ok, so if the "padding" is not an increase in block times on flights, can you explain what it is?

 

[UPNAWAY]

They announce last fall that they had started pulling the padding back out.
D0 is the real deal no matter what PB says.
US numbers are betetr all across the board and if you fly at all you have to admit the improvement is real!
By the way how much money did you make on this obvious stock run up PB? Couldn't get past the hate and see the truth now could ya?

 

[SS255]

Most of the people live in the northeast. They don't want to hub through LAS to get from Portland, Maine, to Tampa, Florida.

I realize that. They don't want to hub through PHL, either, because it usually means lengthy delays on the tarmac.....and that is once they are on the plane. That's why I mentioned PIT. It was the ideal connecting hub for people who had no reason or desire to pass through PHL on their way down to FL. If US could re-direct some of their flights out of the crowded NY/NJ airspace, it would alleviate some of the unnecessary fuel burning.

 

[Hello Newman]

One way that they could do this is to stop forcing connections through PHL. IMHO they made a tremendous mistake by giving up on PIT instead of using it as a connection hub to feed traffic through the Midwest and to/from the West.


We had a good thing going in PIT, too bad Allegheny County was never really in our corner. They resented our presence when we were there and then have the nerve to ask Doug Parker
to reinstate Europen service.

 

[jcw]

let's face it - US Airways gets some good press and talks up how they have improved their product and people still complain. If something is going right - it must drive most posters on this board crazy.

Let's face it, if padding is so expensive, let's think about all the customers that have not misconnected and therefore not needed to be reaccomidated, put up in a hotel, meal vouchers, etc.

If the schedule is what it really takes to get a plane from point A to B, due to operational procedures, air traffic control, ground times, etc. then it's a real schedule. I would much rather know it really takes 2 hours to get from CLT to EWR than schedule the flight for 1:15 and know that almost 50% of the time it will be late due to ATC, etc.

I know people like to say the company admitted padding and I agree it did. However the padding was making a schedule the airline could run on in light of the operational performance of the company. As the company gets more efficient it will reduce the "padding". It's like doing a financial budget at work. Most people pad their numbers to give themselves wiggle room so they don't come in over budget. As you increase your financial capabilities you get better at the forecasting you do less padding.

It might be helpful to stop smell the roses, enjoy the good press and lastly keep up the good work. The employees are great as US and it still shows that most still care about working and providing a good product no matter how many complains are posted on this board.

 

[ussnark]

Let's face it, if padding is so expensive, let's think about all the customers that have not misconnected and therefore not needed to be reaccomidated, put up in a hotel, meal vouchers, etc.

It was your boy Isom who said it was so expensive.

 

[aredeeyou22]

Anecdotal schedule searches comparing block times aren't the issue here. US has admitted to padding the schedules early this year to help the employees win the race.

No one will answer my query: If "padding" has nothing to do with increasing block times, as Piney and others have stated (insinuating something "sinister"), what exactly does padding entail? I compared just a few competing airlines block times, and was told that, essentially, that is not "padding". What is it then?

And, why is no one screaming about CO's BCN/TXL 757 diversions that have been happening as of late, and still talking about 321 diversions that have not happened recently?

 

[HPearlyretiree]

Deleted by moderator. See moderator comments, post 24.

Because they are only happy when there is bad news?

 

[giantfan]

I realize that. They don't want to hub through PHL, either, because it usually means lengthy delays on the tarmac.....and that is once they are on the plane. That's why I mentioned PIT. It was the ideal connecting hub for people who had no reason or desire to pass through PHL on their way down to FL. If US could re-direct some of their flights out of the crowded NY/NJ airspace, it would alleviate some of the unnecessary fuel burning.

US does direct east coast FL flyers through cities other than PHL...they have great conx through CLT as well as decent conx through DCA....

 

[PA18]

The problem is, US makes everybody connect through a hub enroute to Florida; even from major cities such as Boston and New York, where a huge percentage of the population lives, and from where they travel to Florida in the winter.

As far as "decent" connections in DCA, it is almost standard on any day in the winter, especially if there's any weather, to see the line at Special Services extend almost back to the escalator at the commuter gates (with at least one or two pages from frantic agents for the airport police).

And by using DCA as a connecting hub for the Griswolds to get to Walley World, the once-proud Shuttle product has been cheapened, forcing the high-end Washington business passenger who paid the full walk-up fare to sit next to the family with the hyperactive fat kids who paid next to nothing for their tickets.

So how much is the "high cost of cheap" to use two airplanes, three ground stations, and a billion dollars worth of fuel and de-icing fluid to get those people to Mickeyland, while the competition's flights are sipping fuel while overflying PHL and DCA, non-stop from NYC and BOS to Florida?

All in the name of the cheapest displayed fare on the Internet...

 

[WCT]

I think this is great news for US! Good press for once. Let's keep it up! Mgmt has a LONG way to go, and setteling contracts for Flight Attendants! Give US a raise, and SEE what more we can do for US!!!!!

 

[SS255]

I personally like the padding. It satisfies a psychological need.

But there are 2 fundamental flaws in US padding its schedules:

1) It's like a Band-Aid in that it makes it easy to cover the wound of lengthy delays due to airport/ATC congestion/staff cutbacks, etc.

2) It gives US an unfair advantage in "On Time Performance" if all airlines do not pad equally.

Given the reality of flying to/from/through PHL, I would rather have the schedules padded than not........but only as an interim solution, and not at the expense of curing the real ailment. "Cheating" is not OK, but honestly trying to fix a problem is. Given all of the cutbacks in flights after the summer, perhaps there will be less of a need for schedule padding, and will give US the breathing room to really turn the operation around.

 

[mrman]

I personally like the padding. It satisfies a psychological need.

But there are 2 fundamental flaws in US padding its schedules:

1) It's like a Band-Aid in that it makes it easy to cover the wound of lengthy delays due to airport/ATC congestion/staff cutbacks, etc.

2) It gives US an unfair advantage in "On Time Performance" if all airlines do not pad equally.

Given the reality of flying to/from/through PHL, I would rather have the schedules padded than not........but only as an interim solution, and not at the expense of curing the real ailment. "Cheating" is not OK, but honestly trying to fix a problem is. Given all of the cutbacks in flights after the summer, perhaps there will be less of a need for schedule padding, and will give US the breathing room to really turn the operation around.

And taking a quote from WN playbook, planes on the ground don't make money

 

[ITRADE]

And taking a quote from WN playbook, planes on the ground don't make money

That, of course, explains why US is cutting many of their red-eye flights this fall, right?