This was touched on in another thread and I wanted to bring it up as a separate discussion. It seems to me that one of the inefficiencies of this company is that crew base size and the number of departures at that base's airport aren't necessarily related and I don't understand why. For instance, for many years PIT was by far the largest crew base in the system, even while CLT (and more recently PHL) was a larger hub with more mainline departures. Now, PHL is the largest base but has 48 fewer mainline departures per day than does CLT. And PIT still has WAY more time than PHL or CLT in proportion to the number of mainline departures in that city. Here are some numbers:
Number of Active F/As per base (transatlantic and domestic combined):
PHL: 2080
CLT: 1534
PIT: 1129
Number of Daily Mainline Jet Departures:
PHL: 205
CLT: 253
PIT: 107
Obviously, I didn't take the time to go through each base's blocks and count the number. I simply went by the number of active F/As in these bases as a gauge for overall crew base size. But does it not make sense that you'd want more time in the crew bases that had the most flights?
I guess I just don't see the "big picture." So if anyone out there can explain how it works and how this is the most efficient and cost-effective way to distribute crews, feel free to educate me.
Sources: Crew base info received from a staffer at "Ask Inflight" and flight information from "About US Airways," each on The Hub. Figures are for July 2004.
Number of Active F/As per base (transatlantic and domestic combined):
PHL: 2080
CLT: 1534
PIT: 1129
Number of Daily Mainline Jet Departures:
PHL: 205
CLT: 253
PIT: 107
Obviously, I didn't take the time to go through each base's blocks and count the number. I simply went by the number of active F/As in these bases as a gauge for overall crew base size. But does it not make sense that you'd want more time in the crew bases that had the most flights?
I guess I just don't see the "big picture." So if anyone out there can explain how it works and how this is the most efficient and cost-effective way to distribute crews, feel free to educate me.
Sources: Crew base info received from a staffer at "Ask Inflight" and flight information from "About US Airways," each on The Hub. Figures are for July 2004.