Airtran To Four Gates In Dfw

rumorboy

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Aug 22, 2002
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AirTran will take four gates at D/FW
12:09 PM CDT on Thursday, September 4, 2003

By ERIC TORBENSON and DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News


AirTran Airways is the "mystery" airline that will soon take four gates at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

D/FW officials revealed Thursday that the Orlando-based low-fare carrier would move from its current one gate at Terminal E to four gates on Terminal B. AirTran flies to Atlanta and has announced new service from D/FW to Orlando and Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

The gates could mean even more service for D/FW, and it would be bad news for Fort Worth-based American Airlines Inc. and for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc, which both operate a hub here. AirTran already competes fiercely with Delta in Atlanta, and any additional routes it adds here will mean lower overall prices for fliers. AirTran has much lower last-minute fares than larger carriers like American and Delta.

Airport officials said Thursday that AirTran intends to fly to additional cities, but would start with 24 flights a day to the three cities it serves or has announced it will serve this fall. The move will increase traffic at D/FW by more than 1 percent and add more than $20 million in additional revenue from fees and concessions, officials said.





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Last week I had the opportunity to fly AirTran thru TPA.

On all four legs of my roundtrip that day the load factor was easily 95%.

All arrived on time too, even with delayed departures. Gotta love those 717s!

Why is this such a difficult recipe for other carriers?
 
whatkindoffreshhell said:
Last week I had the opportunity to fly AirTran thru TPA.

On all four legs of my roundtrip that day the load factor was easily 95%.

All arrived on time too, even with delayed departures. Gotta love those 717s!

Why is this such a difficult recipe for other carriers?
Don't get carried away with yourself. I recently read where FL was one of the worst in the "On-Time" area. Just for fun I checked the stats for June(Most recent available). FL had 18.1% of it's flights late. AA had 14.5% late. Many good things to be said about FL (like profitablity!) but promptness is not one of them. ;)
 
Even if FL's on-time percent is "just" 82 percent, and AA's is 85 percent, remember that until 9/11 even cracking 80 percent was pretty good, especially in the summertime. While 85 percent is better than 82 percent, the latter is plenty respectable. And trying to judge any airline based on one month's worth of statistics doesn't seem smart. (I don't know what more comprehensive numbers would show.)
 
you can not compare air tran and AA....AA with 85% withthe number of flight we have and FL with 82% and the number they have please. If FL had the crews we have Mechanics....rampers...flight attendants...and operaations with that small of a fleet we would be at 90%
 
The point I'm trying to make is while there's nothing wrong with FL, Whatkindof is trying to hold them up as an example of promptness that he feels doesn't exsist in other airlines. And guess what? It does!
 
One important point, over 80% of all of FL's flights originate or terminate in ATL, one of the most congested hubs in the country. AA has the luxury of having their on-time performance spread across a much larger portion of the country.

It is kind of like diversifying when investing.
 
I wonder if they'll be bold enough to try DFW-NYC, which completely lacks low-fare nonstop service. Could be a cash cow for AirTran.
 
RDUSWF said:
One important point, over 80% of all of FL's flights originate or terminate in ATL, one of the most congested hubs in the country. AA has the luxury of having their on-time performance spread across a much larger portion of the country.

It is kind of like diversifying when investing.
On time performance is measured by arrivals within 14 minutes (DOT), that is all arrivals not just hub arrivals. As far as ONLY having ATL as a hub is a major advantage considering that, aside from the summer months, the airport does well with out a lot of initiatives. AAL has ORD as a hub witch gets ground delay programs in both the summer and winter and don't forget about SFO and the morning fog that causes ATC initiatives as well. The other thing I would like to know about TRS is do they use ACARS to capture times. AAL does, as do most legacy carriers, but if TRS is calling it by the captains watch on time performance can easily get fudged.
 
GrahamAF said:
When will AirTran make the upgrade to new gates at TPA?

I do see DFW-TPA in the future, I can't wait!
There currently arent any "upgrade" gates available in TPA.
Airside A is maxed out with WN/CO/NW/F9/HP and COEX.
B is gone with a new baggage area in its place.
C is being worked on (WN new terminal in a year or so)
D is a dump and the last of the original 4 airsides (B6/NK/FL)
E is full with DL/UA/AC
F is full with AA/US/BA/KX and AA just lost 2 gates for new bagroom construction.
So, until they finish airside C for WN, I dont see anything new for any of the D tenants. The plan, afaik, is to move them into A (WNs old gates) when WN moves and to remodel/demolish and rebuild D at that time, but thats a while off it appears.
As far as having gates to expand in TPA, FL currently uses 3 or 4 gates and there are some vacant gates on the airside that could be used if needed.