DL expands SEA further with SEA-SFO flights

[WorldTraveler]

Attempts at projection is not one of your strong suits.

Six years?

I guess math isn't either...

Carry on.

please, attempts ARE. I expect more from you and you USUALLY don't disappoint.



the merger was announced in 2008. this is 20..?

instead of the pyschobabble, focus on what you supposedly do best and leave network decisions to those who have a proven track record.

If you'd like to show us yours on the subject, it might help youre (sic) case.

 

[Kev3188]

2014...

And the last elections were finalized in?

Hint: Not '08.

Don't forget the moratoriums that followed.

Spelling flames are for the weak.

 

[WorldTraveler]

The topic is about DL's SEA expansion.

I will reply to your non-SEA related posts in the representation thread.

I've called you one of the labor movement's best communicators. I didn't bestow that honor on you lightly.

 

[Kev3188]

I know the topic. Maybe you shouldn't have asked here if you didn't want an answer.

 

[WorldTraveler]

my question was to Meto about the differences between the navigation systems on DL's 737s and 757s.... Instead I got a whole lot of responses from others that didn't add one iota to what Meto wrote.

With all due respect, it is precisely issues like this where I will defer in a moment to a professional aviator who has been all over the world on numerous aircraft for longer than some of the participants on this thread have even been alive regarding questions such as what impact the selection of a 757 has vs. a 737.

He also didn't try to get into the demand question because I think he recognizes that there are people at the GO who are smart enough to decide what plane is best suited for the route from that perspective.

but I will give you this... if the choice to use a 757 was because it would increase DL's reliability (whether it is because of available and closer crews, better navigation, or because of any number of OPERATIONAL reasons, DL's operational reliability is precisely part of why DL is winning over so much corporate business.

When DL can go to corporate clients and show that DL runs a consistently better operation than other carriers and still offer the same price on the same, if not smaller network (remember DL is smaller than AA/US and UA at the moment), business travelers esp. want a reliable airline that provides solid levels of service.

AS is no pansy in the operational or customer service dept. Perhaps the reason why DL is in a position to grow in SEA now is precisely because it has the operational reliability that not only gives DL the network size that far overshadows AS but also puts them far closer to if not on par with AS if you consider that AS has few operations on the delay-prone east coast.

others are noticing how well DL's operations are running and how that is essential to being chosen by businesses for their travel needs.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/13/1-key-area-where-delta-air-lines-inc-trounces-the.aspx

"Solid operational performance is worth a lot"

"Delta's higher reliability should have a big long-term reward, as profitable high-fare business travelers expect good service. If Delta can maintain its sizable advantage, it should gradually gain market share among business travelers. (Of course, business travelers also consider things like flight schedules in choosing between airlines.)
"However, solid operational performance can also lead to big short-term rewards. Delta Air Lines handled last quarter's winter storms very well, which will allow it to post a 6.5%-7.5% operating margin -- in line with its original guidance.
"United Airlines' weaker operational performance hurt its Q1 earnings. Source: The Motley Fool
Its less-reliable competitors weren't so lucky. American Airlines had to revise its Q1 operating margin guidance down by 1 percentage point, to a new range of 5%-7%. United Continental is in even worse shape for Q1 -- after initially projecting a 0%-2% increase in unit revenue, the company now expects a 1.5%-2.5% decline. That will lead to an even bigger Q1 loss than last year."

 

[eolesen]

I'm not feeling your Wal-Mart metric, E... after all, the largest and most important city in the country has zero Wal-Marts, 24 hour or otherwise... I agree with your broader point, though.

Au contrare... The Walmart Theory isn't as myopic as WT might want to define it. Airports don't serve a single zip code or area code, and neither does Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/ca_storefinder_results.do?serviceName=&rx_title=com.wm.www.apps.storelocator.page.serviceLink.title.default&rx_dest=%2Findex.gsp&sfrecords=50&sfsearch_single_line_address=Manhattan%2C+NY

20 stores, and I'm fairly certain all of them are 24 hour locations.

It's hardly a secret that the Peoples Republic of New York City did everything they could to prevented stores from being opened up within the city limits, but the company has built up plenty of stores outside the Curtain.

Again, where there's demand, you'll find two things: Walmart and Southwest.

 

You do realize that DL as a result of both the Western and Northwest mergers has a deep history in Alaska and is the largest airline to the lower 48 if you exclude SEA, including the new flights that DL is adding?

Here we go again. DL having served such and so a market decades ago, abandoned it, yet they know the market better than anyone else?..

I do hope the War of Southern Aggression is based on better data than that.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, it's the contest of running a smarter and more profitable business.

Do you still think that AA's HDQ is still in NYC - or that AA didn't move its HDQ to the south for the same reasons that DL has benefitted from its position in the region for decades?

The Wal-Mart theory is fine but it is hardly a universal or accurate predictor of the presence of a decent market or the size of it.

Further, WN has pulled out of a number of cities that do meet your 24 hour Wal-Mart test so there is a lot more to reality in market planning than whether a Wal-mart is present or not.

Let's not forget that a couple pages ago you were telling us that DL's choice of a 757 had nothing to do with demand - until I noted that DL will provide less than 20% of the seats in JNU when its seat share of the rest of the Alaska to lower 48 market is more than 20%.

and more importantly, DL is running a solid AND profitable operation because it puts the right aircraft in the right markets and makes sure it has the input of all depts.

Once again, the business and investment community realizes what DL is doing and how DL stands out from the rest of the industry to the benefit of everyone except for AS' investors who are coming to realize that AS' strategic miscalculation has resulted in a competitive hub at AS' headquarters - one that provides far more globally than AS could ever dream of offering, even if AS calls upon a dozen of its closest airline partners.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

 except that B6 is hardly known as the airline that caters to corporate traffic.

 
I was talking about airline corporate headquarters, sharp guy. The citizens of New York are accustomed to many corporate HQs here, airline and otherwise. They come and go, with little effect on the local economy. There's very little incentive for a New Yorker to be loyal to a "local" company. In a place like Seattle or Denver, however, it is easy to see how the loss of a major HQ airline could be a major blow to the city's economic health and civic pride.
 

It's hardly a secret that the Peoples Republic of New York City did everything they could to prevented stores from being opened up within the city limits, but the company has built up plenty of stores outside the Curtain.

 
Oh, eolesen, how can you be so right about the airline industry, but get your politics so wrong?
 
Can't a guy prefer not to have a bigass Wal-Mart in their backyard without it being a leftist political statement?
 
I lost 20 pounds when I moved away from the big box and cul-de-sac sprawl and to a urban environment where I actually had to *gasp* walk to stores... small businesses, actually... the ones that Republicans are always paying lipservice to but in actuality supporting the Wal-Marts and other multinational conglomerates instead.

 

[metopower]

An airline can add additional navigation capabilities to their aircraft. (With FAA approval) .AS has done this in the past and I do not know if they currently have this system active. It allows for approaches to be flown to lower minimums and more acute angles to the runway. Other then that no navigation advantages for the 737 verses 757. 737 does have a HUD (heads up display) but no auto land capability.757 can stop on a dime and climb out of any windshear with no problem .Can't say that for the 737. Flown both and there is no comparison .If they ask me what my favorite airliner to fly I would answer the B757 hands down. Already stated why I thought that the 757 was picked over 737. But it also could be marketing or cargo who cares.

 

[WorldTraveler]

thank you, kindly, Meto.

I've eaten twice scrambled eggs on early morning 757 flights - back when DL used to serve hot breakfast in FC on short flights; the first scramble came in the kitchen and the second when the catering carrier slid out of the galley compartment on takeoff.

Other than a 777LR on a domestic flight, I would guess the 757 is the closest thing to the military planes that some DL pilots once flew.

Operationally the 757 will do for DL what DL needs in Alaska and I am very happy that DL is taking the go-slow approach to retiring the type or at least should have dozens of copies flying for another decade or more.

I know you aren't going down the path of marketing but the reason why DL is keeping the 757 around is precisely because DL can put another dozen or so seats on it and improve the economics (already aided because they are paid off) while not effecting the performance of the aircraft.

Ad,
I've lived in parts of the world, including the heart of cities of the US, where the big box phenomenon doesn't exist and it is great for a lot of reasons, including the extra exercise and walkability. A person can cover more stores and the variety that comes with it in a block of NYC than they can in twice the space of a big box store.... which doesn't include just WM.

 

[eolesen]

Can't a guy prefer not to have a bigass Wal-Mart in their backyard without it being a leftist political statement?

I have no problem if people don't want to shop there. But, the makeup of local governments who block specific companies from setting up shop within their city limits tend to share the same traits.

Right now, the last two major areas to block WM are Boston and New York City. They're seeing the same result: people with the means to drive to a nearby town where there is one do so (eroding the local tax base of the cities), and those who don't have the means are either stuck in food deserts or wind up paying much higher prices due to the lack of meaningful competition.

Gettting back onto the topic... the business model for AS serving cities within Alaska is going to be different than it is for DL.

Maybe DL will be able to sway some business their way, but when you're talking about the commercial fishing industry, they're more likely to stick with AS because will serve all the production sites that DL will never be able to serve.

 

[737823]

thank you, kindly, Meto.

I've eaten twice scrambled eggs on early morning 757 flights - back when DL used to serve hot breakfast in FC on short flights; the first scramble came in the kitchen and the second when the catering carrier slid out of the galley compartment on takeoff.

DL is now serving hot breakfast items on some flights sub-800 miles. I've been offered it on BOS-ATL and FLL-DTW before, but always stick to the cereal and fruit option.

Josh

 

[700UW]

1. Virgin America -- 5 years
2. Spirit Airlines -- 5.2 years
3. Republic Airways -- 5.5 years
4. JetBlue -- 7.4 years
5. Frontier Airlines -- 8.2 years
6. Alaska Air -- 9.6 years
7. Hawaiian Airlines -- 10 years
8. AirTran -- 10.9 years
9. SkyWest -- 11 years
10. Southwest Airlines -- 11.7 years
11. US Airways -- 12.1 years
12. American Airlines -- 13.6 years
13. United Airlines -- 13.6 years
14. Delta Air Lines -- 16.9 years
15. Allegiant Travel -- 22 years

Aircraft Fleet age, clearly shows DL has the oldest fleet out of the major airlines.