International Meltdown...Is US ready for China?

[EMBFA]

Huh? I think it's opposite. When F was designed the idea was to have hundred of Rjs crawling around the east coast like ants. NOW the idea is to have less and larger aircraft at lower frequencies- especially now that we've allowed 86 seats to be considered 'commuter'.

50 seaters and below are on thier way out, 70 and above jets and props are what the industry is moving towards, led by no-scope, outsourced US Airways.

The gate areas in F are too small for what are now express aircraft. When US flew its own MDA 170s they briefly had thier own gates in D (sold to WN) and then were out of F and it was standing room only at those gates. Now they put the Republic 170/175 at the mainline gates, we constantly sit waiting because they are occupying the gates. Same in CLT, the CRJ900s are at mainline gates because the gate areas in E are too small. They do put the 170s and CRJ700s at E though.

 

[sfb]

I always thought that terminal F was a waste of space. The area of land that they ate up to build that POS terminal! ! ! Look at it from above. There is so much room for express planes to buzz around. That terminal should have been built that we could pop some mainline over there if needed. We already have Republic popping up on B and C. A terminal exclusively set aside for express is nice in the land of big sprawling airports but in constrained areas such as philly they need to maximize EVERY bit of space. I say tear down F and build a better terminal with a large portion STILL designated as express. Though the emb-170/175 are not rj's in my mind they should send Republic to the express terminal.

In December of 2000, US Airways had 257 daily mainline departures from PHL, using only A-East, B, C, and two gates in D for those flights (and that doesn't include America West). Today, US Airways has 152 daily mainline departures, from more gates (A-West came online, while they did lose the two gates in D). I don't quite understand how US can be short on mainline gate space at PHL when they have right around 50 gates for roughly 150 mainline departures (i.e. 3 daily turns).

Terminal F is the one which ought to seem crowded; US is running just about twice as many Express flights in and out of PHL as they were in 2000.

When US flew its own MDA 170s they briefly had thier own gates in D (sold to WN)

Actually US lost the gates in D because they weren't meeting the gate utilization requirements and because those particular gates weren't part of the exclusive-use lease US Airways had for the B/C Terminal.

Obviously I don't know the particulars of the "F" redesign, since it hasn't started yet, but the general idea is to create a new, much larger Baggage Claim area and to redesign most of the gate areas so that many more "small" aircraft can use the facility simultaneously. When it was originally done, US's strategy was to use larger short haul aircraft for commuter services and that has dramatically changed to the other direction. I'm not certain what if any general plans there are for improving the interior. Since "F" is essentially a dedicated US terminal, it might be prudent for the city to wait spending $ on it until there is more certaintly regarding US's future.

With RJ's and props making up such a large part of the company's capacity and future growth (since the E190's and narrowbody Airbuses on order will largely replace 737's and 757's, as well as potentially the oldest HP A320's, originally intended for Braniff II), I would think it would be sensible (where possible) to shift many of the larger regional jet departures over to B/C -- just to make things easier and more convenient for the passengers.

 

[Travelpro72]

Republic 170/175's are all over the place on terminal B/C. I think they are partly responsible for the crowded gates. The operation being ran like $h!t could have something to do with it too.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Anyone know what's up with GLA and ARN today?
From USAirways.com:
Flight # 729
Depart Glasgow, United Kingdom
Date 8/17/2007
Gate
Scheduled 10:45 AM
Actual
Status Cancelled
Flight Status
Diverted To
Date
Actual

Arrive Philadelphia, PA
Date 8/17/2007
Gate
Scheduled 1:30 PM
Actual
Status Cancelled

Flight # 753
Depart Stockholm, Sweden
Date 8/17/2007
Gate
Scheduled 10:20 AM
Actual
Status Cancelled
Flight Status
Diverted To
Date
Actual

Arrive Philadelphia, PA
Date 8/17/2007
Gate
Scheduled 1:15 PM
Actual
Status Cancelled

Remember back when the 800 IVR line and the website gave the reason for delays and cancellations? That stopped sometime in early March, I think. :down:

 

[FWAAA]

In December of 2000, US Airways had 257 daily mainline departures from PHL, using only A-East, B, C, and two gates in D for those flights (and that doesn't include America West). Today, US Airways has 152 daily mainline departures, from more gates (A-West came online, while they did lose the two gates in D). I don't quite understand how US can be short on mainline gate space at PHL when they have right around 50 gates for roughly 150 mainline departures (i.e. 3 daily turns).

I agree. A mere 152 mainline departures from about 50 gates? That's a terribly inefficient use of space.

In Chicago, both UA and AA manage far more mainline departures per gate; that's an airport that truly has a gate shortage.

Numerous other examples of airlines that manage more than three mainline departures per gate per day from a big hub - I won't list them all.

 

[Travelpro72]

Ok what is the deal with flight 1071 to SJU. Besides a few lucky shots a few days ago this is just horrible. It's been recrewed and STILL at the gate. We all talked about this flight before. Is there any hope for this trip? I mean really, it's a mess. It's downgraded again to a 767. How often does the A330 actually fly that route?

 

[tadjr]

Anyone know what's up with GLA and ARN today?

I saw it in the maint log, but cant remember what they said. I believe GLA had a rattling/vibration in the cabin and ARN dont remember the reason. Both were waiting parts from someone in Europe and were showing extra sections the next morning to PHL. Not sure if they got fixed and left or not.

 

[ussnark]

I saw it in the maint log, but cant remember what they said. I believe GLA had a rattling/vibration in the cabin and ARN dont remember the reason. Both were waiting parts from someone in Europe and were showing extra sections the next morning to PHL. Not sure if they got fixed and left or not.

ARN,

Could not get more than 35K in left main (wing) - max about 42k. 42k in right wing. Well over max imbalance.

Written on fueling door, "left main extremely slow, right main overflows". No logbook writeup.

SAS Mx decided to used manual fueling/defueling valve. Started to open valve and was douched by fire-hydrant like spray of fuel (broken valve). He gamely stayed to stem flow.

Could not get BA to sell us another valve. Past credit issues. Valve via next day flight.

Took ? hours to fix once they got part - four hours late for a 25 minute change. (Hopefully they fixed the other bad valves also.)

In addition to GLA, there was another mx delay.

Parkers airline runs really bad maintenance. I mean, really bad. I mean, FAA should investigate, bad. I have never seen it so bad.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

ARN,


SAS Mx decided to used manual fueling/defueling valve. Started to open valve and was douched by fire-hydrant like spray of fuel (broken valve). He gamely stayed to stem flow.

I remember seeing a fuel spray like that once on 757. Similar issue, fueler was having some problems then a valve got stuck. It was very impressive.


Thanks for the info.

 

[Travelpro72]

Surely none of this will have any impact on being awarded a slot to China? We haven't a snowballs chance in hell. :down: We can't even keep flights running from PHL to AVP for crying out loud! Ohhhh here I go on another "rant" again.