737's coming to ORD

IORFA

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Feb 7, 2003
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According to the head of Flight Service, ALL of the new 737's will be allocated to ORD flying. That is what we at AA have been hearing, now it is in writing. Some on here think the majority are going to MIA. I am sure that things change and she could be completely wrong, but the story we employees are getting has stayed pretty much the same. The blurb is approx. 3/4 of the way down the hotline. Come on Boeing get the production line back up to full speed ASAP.


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Posted: 11/11/2008 6:44:16 PM
Title: Tri-Pairing of Flight Attendants, Pilots, and Aircraft and 2009 Operating Plan

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This is Lauri Curtis, and today is Wednesday, November 12, 2008.


I’d like to begin this week’s message with a remembrance of our JFK colleagues that were lost on flight 587, November 12, 2001. As you go through your day today, please pause for a moment to remember them, their family and loved ones and our colleagues and community at JFK. Lets us remember them with pride and with honor as we continue our flight attendant tradition in their memory today.


Last week Doug Brown talked about his recent Fly Along trip and mentioned how co-pairing of flight attendants and pilots would streamline the operation. New tri-paired sequences are on the November bid sheets, so I will talk about that this week, as well as share with you some of our 2009 Operating Plan.


Tri-pairing of Flight Attendants, Pilots, and Aircraft
Tri-pairing was re-introduced to domestic bid sheets for November’s MD80 and 737 flying. These sequences were built to minimize the number of times flight attendants need to transfer (connect) to a different aircraft during a duty period. The most visible sign of this tri-pairing is that for most sequences, flight attendants will stay with the same aircraft during a duty period. Pilots are typically paired with the same aircraft, so most flight attendants will keep the same cockpit crew, although there will be some occasions when flight attendants will leave an aircraft and go to a layover and the pilots will continue with the aircraft, or pilots may leave the aircraft to a layover and the flight attendants stay with the aircraft.



By keeping the crew together with the same aircraft, tri-pairing will improve our dependability particularly during OSO/weather events as it will be quicker to restore the schedule with crew in one place rather than having crew and equipment separated across the system.



For the most part there will be a reduced need for flight attendants to connect to another aircraft during the day, a reduced number of sequences with sit time over 2.5 hours, fewer four leg turnarounds and fewer sequences with a duty day exceeding 12.5 hours. There will be more three day trips and fewer two day trips and turnarounds.


I am hopeful that not only will tri-pairing help us improve dependability but that flight attendants will find the tri-paired sequences beneficial.


2009 Operating Plan
In 2008 we announced schedule reductions, the most recent of which took effect in November, as part of our goal to reduce overall fourth quarter domestic capacity by 11 to 12 percent. The 4Q08 schedule reductions are directly responsive to our excess capacity and our effort to re-size the airline to customer demand for air travel.
As we enter 2009, we will be taking the necessary steps to help us build a successful, competitive airline for the long-term. These include:



Both AA and industry flying capacity will be down in 2009 because of uncertain fuel costs and economic conditions. Fuel costs have recently dropped but they remain a wild card; while we are benefitting from these reduced costs in the short term, the greater problem of a stagnant economy is just as great a threat to our success. The outlook for our economy is not optimistic, so we will continue our revenue and cost cutting initiatives, including monitoring our capacity, to ensure we are in a good position to weather out this storm.


- For the full year, 2009, AA plans a 5.5% decrease in Available Seat Miles (ASM)
- AA's share of domestic ASMs for the first half of 2009 is 15.3%, which still leads all carriers (prior to the Delta/Northwest consolidation)



Although our flying will be down year-over-year in 2009, some new flying will be introduced.


- Expanded South America services to Miami-Belo Horizonte/Recife/Salvador
- Chicago to Montego Bay
- Miami to Grenada/Antigua



Our International flying continues to grow as a percentage of our overall flying. In 2009, 40% of our ASMs will be in International markets (compared to 35% in 2004).



Our Domestic flying will be at 60% ASMs (compared to 65% in 2004). Flying at all hubs will be down year-over-year, except at Miami.


- DFW at 486 peak day departures is down 19 vs. Summer 2008
- Chicago is down 30 to 195
- Miami is up to 213, an increase of 5



Fleet renewal is a good story for us and an important component of our overall capacity planning efforts.


- We are awaiting a revised delivery schedule of 36 new 737-800s aircraft from Boeing now that the Boeing strike has been settled.
- All new aircraft to be dedicated to flights that fly in and out of Chicago (not to ORD base)
- Newly configured 757 (75L) transatlantic will be introduced into the schedule. The aircraft will be routed into Europe
- The Airbus fleet will be phased out and retired in September, 2009



Whether or not a flight arrives on time plays a big part in how a customer feels about their overall experience on AA. The 2009 schedule also reflects a renewed focus with several initiatives to help improve operational dependability:


- Longer ground times on S80, 757 and 737 fleets
- Additional ground times provided in heavily congested ATC airports such as LGA/EWR/PHL/SFO
- Additional block time


The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported that AA's flights were on time just 68 percent of the time during the previous 12 months, the second-worst record in the industry. The good news is, our dependability improved dramatically in September and October:


- September- 81.5% of flights arrived within 14 minutes of scheduled arrival time, up from 78.5% from last year.
- October- 83.6% of flights arrived within 14 minutes of scheduled arrival time, up from 76.1% from last year.

That being said, the way that delays are handled is also extremely important. In fact, a delayed flight handled well scores higher than an on-time flight in customer surveys. The 3Q08 Customer Satisfaction Survey shows that Handling of Delay has Huge Impact on Customer Loyalty. I often hear from customers, not so much about the delay itself, but about how well flight attendants managed a delay by providing frequent updates, a ground beverage service, and being available in the cabin. Thank you for providing our customers with outstanding service they will remember the next time they choose an airline.


That’s it for this week, please fly safely
 
According to the head of Flight Service, ALL of the new 737's will be allocated to ORD flying. That is what we at AA have been hearing, now it is in writing. Some on here think the majority are going to MIA. I am sure that things change and she could be completely wrong, but the story we employees are getting has stayed pretty much the same. The blurb is approx. 3/4 of the way down the hotline. Come on Boeing get the production line back up to full speed ASAP.



- DFW at 486 peak day departures is down 19 vs. Summer 2008
- Chicago is down 30 to 195
- Miami is up to 213, an increase of 5
Is this Mainline only or does this include Eagle?
 
Crow & humble pie combo meal, anyone?...

No, thanks. Not hungry.

As a result of the decission to convert 18 75Ls to international, this created a chain reaction that allows 763s to move into more MIA short-haul flying, freeing up the 738s that were needed to fly expanded frequency (although PTY and GUA will see expanded frequency), saving the cost of equipping the new 738s with overwater equipment (a stupid move, though, since it eliminates flexibility). I've also heard the new 738s might also come in at a 148 configuration instead of the planned 160, since they won't be needed for duty on higher density flights.

All it shows is how fast things change, because when the A300 retirement was announced, 738s were not going to ORD; though right before that, the plan was to have 738s flying ORD-California for the 31JAN09 schedule change. And some time in early fall AA was considering putting them on DCA/LGA-ORD by December rotating via MIA/DFW.

There are so many things going now in the industry that seeing the 738s at ORD is still not a guaranteed thing, especially as fuel continues to tumble. When fuel was $147/bbl, the cost savings of not flying the 738 to ORD no longer made sense over the fuel savings. At $59/bbl, that is not the case anymore.
 
Wonder how the deliveries will be affected by the two month Boeing strike that just ended? I'm sure the OT is being handed out like it's going out of style up in the Pacific Northwest.
 
saving the cost of equipping the new 738s with overwater equipment (a stupid move, though, since it eliminates flexibility). I've also heard the new 738s might also come in at a 148 configuration instead of the planned 160, since they won't be needed for duty on higher density flights.

Agree totally on the stupidity of not equipping them for OW ops, if that is the case. We all know that if they do that it will be only a matter of time before there is a push to retrofit them for OW ops.

Quite frankly, I was surprised that they were going to be fitted with only 160 seats. It's hard to believe that only 10 more seats could pay for an additional f/a on every flight. (For those who say nay, remember it's not just the f/a on the a/c, you also have to plan for additional reserves, etc for increased staffing.)
 
There are so many things going now in the industry that seeing the 738s at ORD is still not a guaranteed thing, especially as fuel continues to tumble. When fuel was $147/bbl, the cost savings of not flying the 738 to ORD no longer made sense over the fuel savings. At $59/bbl, that is not the case anymore.

Who's to say oil won't go back up? Not to have the 737 at ORD just because oil is down at the present moment is a bit short sighted.
 
Quite frankly, I was surprised that they were going to be fitted with only 160 seats. It's hard to believe that only 10 more seats could pay for an additional f/a on every flight. (For those who say nay, remember it's not just the f/a on the a/c, you also have to plan for additional reserves, etc for increased staffing.)

Actually its twelve more seats in coach. Two more rows with the removal of the aft galley equipment. Eventually the same will be done to the current 737 fleet. What I'm curious about is AA ever going to order the 737-900 to start replacing, someday, the older 757's in the fleet. Or are they just going to wait for the 737 replacement to show up.
 
I wasn't talking about the current vs. new configuration. I was talking about the fact that anything from 151 up to 200 seats requires an additional f/a. If going over 150, it seems to me they would have gone more than 10 over to justify the additional FAA-required f/a. JetBlue originally configured their a/c with 154 seats. They later saved a good deal of money by taking 4 seats out; so, they could cut minimum crew to 3 f/as.
 
JetBlue originally configured their a/c with 154 seats. They later saved a good deal of money by taking 4 seats out; so, they could cut minimum crew to 3 f/as.

B6 originally began with 162 in their A320s (same as TED - now dead TED). They first removed one row, leaving 156. Couple years later, they removed the other row, dropping to 150. Ever since, B6 has offered MRTC, although I think they try to charge for the forward seats.
 
The exact number of seats is not as important as the fact that they found out that loss of revenue from taking out the seats was more than offset by reducing the cabin crew by 25%. I can only imagine that the reason for only 160 seats on the new 73s was that the original intent was to use them strictly in the International service where fares are higher. If they are now going to domestic service, cutting the number of seats below 151 would be a smart move.

Addendum: Just asked someone in management if they had heard the rumor about cutting the number of seats below 150 on the 73s. The management person told me that they have already started building lines with 4 bid positions for the a/c. That the decision was made that they needed to get as much revenue as possible from the new a/c. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
No, thanks. Not hungry.

As a result of the decission to convert 18 75Ls to international, this created a chain reaction that allows 763s to move into more MIA short-haul flying, freeing up the 738s that were needed to fly expanded frequency (although PTY and GUA will see expanded frequency), saving the cost of equipping the new 738s with overwater equipment (a stupid move, though, since it eliminates flexibility). I've also heard the new 738s might also come in at a 148 configuration instead of the planned 160, since they won't be needed for duty on higher density flights.

All it shows is how fast things change, because when the A300 retirement was announced, 738s were not going to ORD; though right before that, the plan was to have 738s flying ORD-California for the 31JAN09 schedule change. And some time in early fall AA was considering putting them on DCA/LGA-ORD by December rotating via MIA/DFW.

There are so many things going now in the industry that seeing the 738s at ORD is still not a guaranteed thing, especially as fuel continues to tumble. When fuel was $147/bbl, the cost savings of not flying the 738 to ORD no longer made sense over the fuel savings. At $59/bbl, that is not the case anymore.

the new 737's will arrive in the denser cabin config and will be over water equipped
 
The exact number of seats is not as important as the fact that they found out that loss of revenue from taking out the seats was more than offset by reducing the cabin crew by 25%. I can only imagine that the reason for only 160 seats on the new 73s was that the original intent was to use them strictly in the International service where fares are higher. If they are now going to domestic service, cutting the number of seats below 151 would be a smart move.

Addendum: Just asked someone in management if they had heard the rumor about cutting the number of seats below 150 on the 73s. The management person told me that they have already started building lines with 4 bid positions for the a/c. That the decision was made that they needed to get as much revenue as possible from the new a/c. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I'm wondering if the 737 will start co-pairing with the 757 on domestic since it will have 4 bid positions?... it already does on international.