New Isp Schedule

Art at ISP

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
2,458
418
Dix Hills NY
www.ffocus.org
I am wondering if anyone has any information as to the time shifting of the ISP schedule effective today--

The first 2 departures are shifted 45 minutes or so later, meaning the first arrival in PHL is 9:00 AM, rather than 8:13. This removes the possibility of connecting with some of the 9AM bank of flights (as I recall there still are some). It also makes the connection with the 10AM Florida flights a bit tighter as I like to allow 70 minutes or more in PHL.

The last departure of the day is now 4:55PM rather than 5:30, meaning there are no later choices.

Having the 6AM and 7:20PM departures gave us extra flexibility in scheduling and the ability to make more connections. This seems counter productive, and either forces me to LGA or to heaven forbid, the competition.

Any ideas as to why this was done? Or are they adding frequencies for the summer?

My best to you all,
 
Rolling the PHL hub will only make connections even stranger in some markets. They changed other flights too -- I noticed some changes in the DCA-PHL market, making my usual connections either less desirable or impossible. Yet, on the flip side, other connecting opportunities opened up.
 
It only makes sense in this instance if there is going to be the 6AM and 7:30PM departure later on--I didn't think this was depeaking PHL already---I know to expect longer connection times, but did not expect to have many choices removed.
 
Art: I must say that US has got to get some RJs or E170s at the ISP station soon, or most travelers are just going to see there operations there as third rate. I can’t believe there was a day when US was king at ISP. Even now, DL has more flights and better equipment (4 US PHL Dash-8) (6 DL ATL, CVG RJs). I wish they get there act together at ISP soon. As soon has the new SWA terminal is fully open next year (All 8 gates in operation) I can see SWA going to 80 flights with no problem and US, with only 4 flights, will look very pale.
 
LI 2004:

I totally agree with you--US has already become an afterthought at ISP. We can only hope that ISP is part of the plan and that at some point there will be an increase in point to point from ISP--it would be a strike at Southwest and would increase traffic here--many ISP regulars I speak to would fly US more if they had more choices--and with "GO fares", I am sure they would make economic sense.

LGA is restricted by slots--ISP is not.

My best to you all....
 
Art: I also see the ISP-PHL route ready for low fares. The Current walk up R/T fare on US is $718.00. Now, I don’t know too many people that will pay that, but if SWA starts flights after the new ISP terminal is finished, US will have to do one of two things. Match the fares and put larger planes on the route or bail out totally. Since US is already flying the PHL-ALB (55Miles) route with an E170, I don’t see why they don’t put the E170 on the ISP-PHL route.
 
Could it be that US doesn't have an infinite supply of EMB-170's?

Let's face facts -- buying more RJ's costs money, and GoFares reduce revenue.

Do you want a RJ to ISP and a cheap fare with your choice of a 10 AM and a 3 PM departure, or do you want a Dash-8 to ISP and a higher fare with your choice of 7 departure times?

You can't have your cake and eat it too.
 
Light Years,

Southwest offers non stop service from ISP to MCO, TPA, FLL, and PBI, as well as BNA, BWI and MDW. I believe they serve LAX and LAS as one stops, and for a while there was service to MCI.

There have been plans to have ISP-LAS or ISP-LAX for a while, but I believe the runway at ISP at 7002 feet would limit performance or loads under certain conditions. Although I am a pilot as well, I am no expert, but I would imagine that the addition of winglets and the uprating of the engines on the 73G's would make transcons or near transcons more realistic, at least for SW.

I am relatively certain as well that a 319 could do a transcon from ISP with ease, but the odds of that happening are virtually nil.

JS, I am a realist, but the choice is obvious--4 Dashes a day won't cut it. 6 or 7 Dashes or 4 RJ's would be a viable choice, with the hope of larger aircraft to different cities to come. I would think that ISP would be a good place to mount a counter assault on Southwest. You get metro NY customer traffic, easy access, and no slot or perimeter restrictions. The key is making a commitment to try.

At one time we had ISP-CLT, ISP-PIT, ISP-MIA, ISP-FLL, ISP-DCA, etc. etc. etc., and all but MIA and FLL were US Air!!!

My best to you all....
 
FYI - Southwest just announced a nonstop between LAS and ISP, starting August 8, 2004. (They also announced a nonstop LAS-CLE and PHX-CLE).
 
The New SWA ISP-LAS Flight will be almost double the current longest flight:
(ISP-FLL) Distance along great circle: 1093.8 statute miles, 950.5 nautical miles, 1760.3 kilometers
(ISP-LAS) Distance along great circle: 2275.6 statute miles, 1977.5 nautical miles, 3662.2 kilometers.
Since the ISP-LAS flight will depart at 7:00AM, it will permit better take-off performance than if during the heat of the day. I would think that ISP-PHX will not be far behind since PHX is closer than LAS.
 
Hey ART,

You should see how they've changed the schedules in PIT for me! I can't even get to PHL at reasonable times anymore. I am being forced to the competition more and more for flights to the midwest and southern cities. I feel your pain. At least you have LGA to fly out of. I'm sorta stuck.

BTW.........I changed companies..........maybe this year we'll meet at RSNA.