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