In at looking this posting from the UA board on FT, it occured to me that the poster could have been talking about US (and, probably, any network carrier):
The whole point of a hub-and-spoke system is to funnel people from the spokes into the hub and get them on to their eventual destination (and the reverse). So why offer two 50-person planes an hour apart when one 100-person plane can fill the role?
UA really needs to review their route system for frequency. I imagine that most routes can handle one 737/Airbii in the "morning", one in the "afternoon", and one in the "evening". Then, in-between the three mainline flights, they can run one CRJ-50 for a total of five flights, versus the 8-10 RJs they have now running every 90 minutes or so.
Or if you really can't get three mainline planes to capacity, yet need five frequencies, then run five CRJ-700s/EMB-170s that have First Class, Economy Plus, and a "mainline feel" cabin. Your elites are happy (First and E+) and everyone else appreciates the "real" seats and more roomy cabin.
As we know, the RJs often fly not only packed, but oversold. And they seem to suffer far higher maintenance issues then mainline aircraft, which snowballs things even worse - both at the UAX and the UA end (when you have late-arriving UAX pax trying to get on the last UA flight of the day and earlier planes going out with empty seats cause the UAX pax are still at their origin). UA is tossing out VDB vouchers left and right. I myself once earned two VDBs on one flight because they so badly wanted my seat. [Text emphasis by DCMS]
Restoring mainline service not only makes your pax more comfortable, it makes them happier because they get to their destination on time. And it makes you more efficient because your hub airports aren't "snowed under" with a wave of RJs running around taking up slots. I mean you can't just launch an RJ right after a 777 (much less land one) due to wake turbulence issues, so that increases spacing delays, which increases wait time.
Regarding RJ/Express reliability, it seems that they have have more cancelations and delays even without taking taking this month's PSA debacle into account.
It would be very revealing if reliability stats were published for the express partner of the major carrier (just as they are for mainline flights). The same goes for denied boardings. I wonder how many of US RTFC are issued for express flights, either due to true oversales or weight balance issues.
And don't get me (or tadjr) started on PAWOBs due to express!
The whole point of a hub-and-spoke system is to funnel people from the spokes into the hub and get them on to their eventual destination (and the reverse). So why offer two 50-person planes an hour apart when one 100-person plane can fill the role?
UA really needs to review their route system for frequency. I imagine that most routes can handle one 737/Airbii in the "morning", one in the "afternoon", and one in the "evening". Then, in-between the three mainline flights, they can run one CRJ-50 for a total of five flights, versus the 8-10 RJs they have now running every 90 minutes or so.
Or if you really can't get three mainline planes to capacity, yet need five frequencies, then run five CRJ-700s/EMB-170s that have First Class, Economy Plus, and a "mainline feel" cabin. Your elites are happy (First and E+) and everyone else appreciates the "real" seats and more roomy cabin.
As we know, the RJs often fly not only packed, but oversold. And they seem to suffer far higher maintenance issues then mainline aircraft, which snowballs things even worse - both at the UAX and the UA end (when you have late-arriving UAX pax trying to get on the last UA flight of the day and earlier planes going out with empty seats cause the UAX pax are still at their origin). UA is tossing out VDB vouchers left and right. I myself once earned two VDBs on one flight because they so badly wanted my seat. [Text emphasis by DCMS]
Restoring mainline service not only makes your pax more comfortable, it makes them happier because they get to their destination on time. And it makes you more efficient because your hub airports aren't "snowed under" with a wave of RJs running around taking up slots. I mean you can't just launch an RJ right after a 777 (much less land one) due to wake turbulence issues, so that increases spacing delays, which increases wait time.
Regarding RJ/Express reliability, it seems that they have have more cancelations and delays even without taking taking this month's PSA debacle into account.
It would be very revealing if reliability stats were published for the express partner of the major carrier (just as they are for mainline flights). The same goes for denied boardings. I wonder how many of US RTFC are issued for express flights, either due to true oversales or weight balance issues.
And don't get me (or tadjr) started on PAWOBs due to express!
