Surprise!WN Ontime Rating Takes a Hit

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[TD class=rail-copy-small colSpan=2]Posted 7:45 a.m. ET - Wednesday[/TD][/TR]
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[TD class=va-label colSpan=2]Surprise! Southwest''s on-time rating takes a hit[/TD][/TR]
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[TD class=inside-copy colSpan=2]After nearly a decade of topping the charts, industry darling Southwest saw its ranking of on-time arrivals plummet to the eighth out of the nine major U.S. airlines, according to [A href=http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103289713522832313,00.html target=_blank]The Wall Street Journal[/A][A href=http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103289713522832313,00.html] (reg. req.)[/A]. The Department of Transportation list shows that 22% of the airline''s flights arrived late for July, 11 of the 13 flights that landed on the agency''s most recent list of shame of chronically late flights were on Southwest. The airline laid some of the blame on new security procedures, which it says makes its hurry-up boarding process and goal of turning around its planes in as little as 20 minutes difficult. Getting planes in and out of the gates quickly is a key component of the airline''s business model, and adding even 10 minutes to each flight would force the airline to add 40 planes to its fleet of 367 Boeing Co. 737s, according to the Journal.[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]

 

[wannabe CRJ driver]

Did'nt we already have this discussion?....I'm quite certain we covered this already. Here is an idea...if we need 40 more 737s to get everything back on time why don't we get them from US Scare...as they are not doing anything productive with them!

 

[Busdrvr]

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On 9/25/2002 927 AM wannabe CRJ driver wrote:

Did'nt we already have this discussion?....I'm quite certain we covered this already. Here is an idea...if we need 40 more 737s to get everything back on time why don't we get them from US Scare...as they are not doing anything productive with them!
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Although that was pro a swipe at U, yes there are literally hundreds of avail 737s. The prob is buying and crewing 40 additional 737s would not be very good for the bottom line. Extremely efficient crew and airplane utilization is the basis for SWAs success, now they must decide if having the worst on-time rate inthe industry is worth that efficiency, because it will get worse with ACARS.

 

[KCFlyer]

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[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 9/25/2002 10:07:30 AM Busdrvr wrote:
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[BLOCKQUOTE][BR] Extremely efficient crew and airplane utilization is the basis for SWAs success, now they must decide if having the worst on-time rate inthe industry is worth that efficiency, because it will get worse with ACARS. [/BLOCKQUOTE]
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[P]I will enjoy a good laugh if (when) LUV gets ACARS and their on time ratings actually improve. I love the insinuations that every LUV pilot is named Joe Isuzu.[/P]

 

[KCFlyer]

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[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 9/25/2002 1155 AM Rhino wrote:
[P]I guess SWA could reduce their schedule by 20% and pad their block times more so that we could be a 'real' airline.[/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]Very true. I took a couple of trips on Delta over the summer, and was very aware every time I flew mainline (Comair and ACA didn't seem to do this), they announced that if you were not checked in 30 minutes prior to the flight, you would not be allowed to board, then the aircraft doors were closed a full 10 minutes prior to departure and we sat at the gate before being pushed back a couple of minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. [/P]

 

[Rhino]

I think one must remember that during this period, SWA mechs were in negotiations.

Just goes to show what happens when even a few wrenches decide to do things 100% by the book. None of the pilots (AFAIK) did anything but support them.

As far as chronically late flights, SWA designates them as 'focus' flights, compiling and analyzing data in order to find and fix the problem. If the problem requires a schedule adjustment (e.g., ATC delay at DTW during a NWA bank, then it takes a while to change it since SWA will wait til the next schedule change). If it's a manning shortfall, then temps can be sent from other cities.

I guess SWA could reduce their schedule by 20% and pad their block times more so that we could be a 'real' airline.

 

[wannabe CRJ driver]

How come no one every posts our completion factor.....I think we complete 99% of our flights....like I tell our passengers....we may get you there a little late,butwe will get you there. All I have to say is this....weather wise it was a crappy summer....and with the flights being as packed as they were I think we did a hell of a job out there! Relief may be in sight....I heard that the new head of TSA wants to get rid of the security screening during boarding (which is killing us on every turn!)...so we may get our number 1 spot back......Keep turning those planes!

 

[ITRADE]

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On 9/25/2002 2:41:07 PM wannabe CRJ driver wrote:

How come no one every posts our completion factor.....I think we complete 99% of our flights....like I tell our passengers....we may get you there a little late,butwe will get you there. All I have to say is this....weather wise it was a crappy summer....and with the flights being as packed as they were I think we did a hell of a job out there!
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Amazing you said that. Most folks in the east thought the summer was pretty calm owing to the lack of rain and thunderstorms that we usually see. As such, airlines like AA, DL, and US got windfalls from the lack of awful delays seen at airports like DCA, BOS, JFK, PHL, and LGA.

 

[WNjetdoc]

IMO, WN has mostly 20 minute turns built into their flights. Most other airlines have almost an hour. So if a a/c is delayed for security, a 20 minute turn has a lot less time to absorb the time than a hour turn. Once our lovely TSA gets their stuff together then things will turn around...so to speak.

 

[KCFlyer]

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[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 9/25/2002 7:08:45 PM kkcwd wrote:
[P]Ive have read these boards for some time and have noticed anytime someone posts something that is the least bit negative concernign WN its always someone elses fault.  I have been in the airline business many yrs and have seen all airlines have growing pains or shrinking pains. Its ok to no be perfect[/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]Naw, it's nothing like that...See, anytime there is anything remotely negative about SWA, a few posters can't help but post. While at it, they insinuate that LUV pilots are a bunch of lyin' b*astards who routinely pencil in an on time arrival because they don't utilize the beloved ACARS. But I wonder, what does ACARS do when the door is closed and the parking brakes released? It'd be kind of interesting to see what the early departure numbers looked like for the ACARS boys while they are sitting there attached to the ground tug and waiting for pushback.[/P]

 

[WNjetdoc]

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On 9/25/2002 7:08:45 PM kkcwd wrote:

Ive have read these boards for some time and have noticed anytime someone posts something that is the least bit negative concernign WN its always someone elses fault. I have been in the airline business many yrs and have seen all airlines have growing pains or shrinking pains. Its ok to no be perfect
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Perhaps it something called pride? Just because someone replies to a comment don't take it as putting the blame on someone else. There are counter points to every argument and other points of view. Besides, I don't know where you work but everytime I see someone putting a negative post about ANY airline usually that airlines employees put in their two cents. Again I personally call it having pride in where you work.

 

[kkcwd]

Ive have read these boards for some time and have noticed anytime someone posts something that is the least bit negative concernign WN its always someone elses fault. I have been in the airline business many yrs and have seen all airlines have growing pains or shrinking pains. Its ok to no be perfect

 

[ITRADE]

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On 9/25/2002 7:08:45 PM kkcwd wrote:

Ive have read these boards for some time and have noticed anytime someone posts something that is the least bit negative concernign WN its always someone elses fault. I have been in the airline business many yrs and have seen all airlines have growing pains or shrinking pains. Its ok to no be perfect
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Maybe because WN is one of the few carriers to make money in good times or bad and has operational systems that are not available other carriers owing to ideological, contractual, or fixed constraints.

 

[mga707]

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On 9/25/2002 6:12:12 PM WNjetdoc wrote:

IMO, WN has mostly 20 minute turns built into their flights. Most other airlines have almost an hour. So if a a/c is delayed for security, a 20 minute turn has a lot less time to absorb the time than a hour turn. Once our lovely TSA gets their stuff together then things will turn around...so to speak.
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Actually, if you check recent WN timetables, you'll see that the 20-minute scheduled turn has generally increased to a 25-minute turn.

 

[Busdrvr]

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On 9/25/2002 1155 AM Rhino wrote:

I think one must remember that during this period, SWA mechs were in negotiations.

Just goes to show what happens when even a few wrenches decide to do things "100% by the book." None of the pilots (AFAIK) did anything but support them.

I guess SWA could reduce their schedule by 20% and pad their block times more so that we could be a 'real' airline.
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So what your saying is that SWAs maechanics, with the full support of the pilots, intentionally inconvienced all you customers in order to extract more from the company at contract time?

As for padding flight schedules, you must be refering to AMR or CAL because if you're refering to the #1 on-time airline UAL, well there are lies and **** lies...

SWA flt 1516 MDW-LAX 0730-0955
UAL flt 131 ORD-LAX 0700-0914
UAL flt 129 ORD-LAX 0800-1008

SWA flt 2508 MDW-PHX 1100-1245
UAL flt 1419 ORD-PHX 1005-1146
UAL flt 1103 ORD-PHX 1155-1339

SWA flt 267 BWI-LAX 0910-1150
UAL flt 187 IAD-LAX 0830-1156
UAL flt 201 IAD LAX 0930-1156

Since the time weren't the same, I put flights before and after SWAs flights. I thought you went to these other airports to avoid delays? On-time stats are for sched+14, so a 5 or ten minute security delay will not, by itself, make you late. SWAs rep explained that the WX probs in the midwest were a large part of the prob. Interestingly enough, #1 Uniteds largest Hub is in Chicago (must've just rained at MDW). When is ACARS scheduled to go on line? I'm willing to bet it will be mysteriously delayed. After all, didn't you test it this summer?