UA #1 in 2002 On-Time Performance

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On 2/4/2003 433 PM 767jetz wrote:

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On 2/4/2003 2:00:48 AM wts54 wrote:

We are number one at releasing the brakes before
departure time while sitting on the gate,or loading
bags in the alley.A company like UAL does not all
of a sudden show up in first place because management
came out and gave a couple of pep talks.From last place
to first place maybe it was magic pixie dust.The supervisor told 'well they all do it'.
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You are unbelievable!

There is rarely a flight these days where the door is not shut and the airplane not ready to depart 10 minutes before scheduled departure. Even if the jetway is pulled, the mechanics won't allow the brakes to be released while bags are being boarded. Usually we are so early that I find we are now scrambling in the cockpit to get our checklists done, because everyone is ready and waiting for us.

To every employee responsible for this amazing performance, THANK YOU! We deserve a moment of praise. Now let's just keep up the good work.

By the way, wts54, WN doesn't even use ACARS. They can write down whatever out and in times they want, yet we still beat their pants off.
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For the benefit of those who are not "in the know" - why is it so good now, but so bad for so many years in the past?

 

[Boeingguy]

Heck of a way to improve on-time performance! A 20 to 25% decrease in flights will always improve on-time performance. MUCH less congestion at the hubs, less waiting on "connectors", and all the other associated constraints with packing the hubs with flights. The presure's been relieved now .......thanks to the cut-backs.

As far as reliability of ACARS equipped aircraft -- from another forum:

"""ACARS hurts. Gate agent asks to relaese brakes for on-time departure. Many times we later learn ramp has another 20 minutes of loading or the fueler is still hooked up. ACARS serves a purpose but it also tells a false operational story to the number crunchers. To them the flight looks out on-time and staffing resourses on the ground gets thinner. Release brakes when you are "really" ready for pushback.
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Agreed - pilots do no favors to anyone by releasing brakes early -- I've seen it in my own station...we have everyone boarded, close the boarding door and wait another 10-20 minutes for the ramp to finish loading...in the mean time, captain releases brakes, flight shows departing on schedule and we continue to work understaffed (sometimes 6 people to work 3 flights in/out within an hour). The on-time departure only makes local management look good...otherwise they have to account for the delay on a daily basis with HDQ.

PILOTS : RELEASE BRAKES/Activate ACARS ONLY WHEN READY TO PUSH BACK!

 

[wts54]

ozusa99,thats only you and where you fly.i see many flights in one day.

 

[Boeingguy]

>>WN ....... we still beat their pants off.

 

[ozusa99]

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On 2/4/2003 10:18:14 AM wts54 wrote:

you are one pilot and i have a gaps machine and cameras
and can tell when the brakes have been reset and the flight shows it has departed but they are still loading
on the gate.it is routine for the ramp to call the zone controller and ask if the brakes are off so they can bring out a cart or two of bags to load.the ramp supervisor are constantly asking mechanics to call the cockpit to release brakes.maybe you dont do it but it is
fairly common practice.
also im not saying there is a lot of legitimate hard work
going on there is,but our ontime miracle is not all it seems.also the pilots get paid block to block isnt that correct? so there is incentive to go along with the program.
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I have not had one flight in the last 8 weeks where we did not push back less than 4 minutes early. Out of SFO last night we push 10 minutes early because everyone had checked in. Sorry to disappoint you but the pilots I fly with are not releasing the brake early with a clearance to push.

 

[UnitedChicago]

I've flown nearly 50,000 miles in 2002 and the majority of flights - like 98.5% have left early or on-time. Period.

Nice try to dampen the mood wts.

Great job everyone at UA!

 

[Tango-Bravo]

Not to take away in any way from the efforts of UA employees in landing at the top for on-time performance... I have noticed that, of the four airlines I have flown with most often, UA seems to have more "slop" in their schedules than the others. A good thing IMO since it results in expectations (for on-time arrival in this case) being met--or exceeded--more consistently.

A key part in the equation for UA's on-time ranking IMO, based on my experiences with UA, is your gate agents and FAs who are appropriately assertive during the boarding process. None of the "full-service" airlines with whom I fly can match UA in the speed and efficiency of the boarding process, due to the friendly yet take-charge manner in which UA's gate agents and FAs keep the process "on track" without seeming pushy.

Though it probably doesn't figure in on-time rankings, another UA difference I appreciate may seem small, but it hasn't escaped my notice. It seems whenever I fly with UA, as soon as the aircraft has come to a stop at the gate on arrival and the "fasten seat belts" lights are turned off, the aircraft door opens and pax begin deplaning. With the other "full-service" airlines, it seems like the better part of five minutes (sometimes more) elapses before the first pax is off.

 

[gatemech]

Most flights I push are ready 5 and sometimes 10 minutes early. The pilots tell me they haven't finished their checklist. Maybe that’s because I usually see one of them greeting passengers. From what I see it looks like good work and little fudging. But who am I?

WTS,

Ramp won't have to call to see if the brakes are released for much longer. They will all be on the same page. 1 in the tug 2 at wingtips 1 at the tail to get run over 10 loading bags and here’s the kicker. 1 bag loading supervisor and 1 push back supervisor. I see this coming.

 

[Eagle]

Not to take anything away from our performance as it seems we ARE pulling together in the same direction, but the schedule drivers have changed. It is my understanding that in the past the departure time plus elapsed time to arrival was calculated as best as reasonable(?) to get on the first screen of the agents CRS display. Today customers using the internet are much more interested in price vs arrival/departure time as the display driver. Therefor a more realistic time is not that large of a factor. Add to that the reductions leading to less congestion all helps to make the on-time record.

With that said the above is probably true for the other airlines and we still came in first. Lets hope it is just the first of good things to come for the year.

 

[GGpillow]

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On 2/4/2003 9:31:25 PM gatemech wrote:

Most flights I push are ready 5 and sometimes 10 minutes early. The pilots tell me they haven't finished their checklist. Maybe that’s because I usually see one of them greeting passengers. From what I see it looks like good work and little fudging. But who am I?

WTS,

Ramp won't have to call to see if the brakes are released for much longer. They will all be on the same page. 1 in the tug 2 at wingtips 1 at the tail to get run over 10 loading bags and here’s the kicker. 1 bag loading supervisor and 1 push back supervisor. I see this coming.

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On your last sentance, I would have laughed, but, I just found out the other day that ORD has "Boarding Supervisors"?!?! I work at a hub, and we have no such thing. It really suprised me.

 

[jj]

Its funny when you talk about padding skeds.I found a flight pairing in the OAG that had two diff. airlines flying to the same dest.Airline A left at 5:30 airline B left at 5:39.Airline B arrives 5 min. before airline A.B pass A in the air?

 

[coolflyingfool]

I can see now how UA is #1 in on-time. I flew UA for the first time in a long time and was absolutely appalled. I was flying from LAX to LAS on Feb 10. The boarding agent announces the flight is very open so they will NOT board by rows, but just take everyone at one time. Okay. He starts boarding at 30 mins prior to scheduled departure and it takes approximately 4 minutes to get the 50 people on the plane. Then he does another announcement saying final boarding. I hear agent 1 tell agent 2 that we will leave at least 15 minutes early. So I walk up and say how do we leave 15 minutes early? He says that since all bags are screened we can leave because there is a 20 minute cut-off for boarding and that I better get on now if I want to be on the flight. I get on the plane and watch the ramp load the flight. We left 3 minutes late but arrived in LAS about 10 minutes early.
If you cut off boarding at 20 minutes prior to posted departure, aren't you in a sense lying to the travelling public? And shouldn't you tell the ramp so they can load earlier?
After talking with a friend of mine this afternoon about this, he informed me that he was denied boarding for a LAS to SFO flight because he got to the gate 15 minutes before dearture, but the plane had already left. He was delayed at the ticketcounter by the TSA because his bag had tested a false-positive.

 

[UnitedChicago]

On the positive side - again ...

I did a day trip to Denver today. Flights pushed 3-4 minutes early both ways (yes...we were moving with no bags being loaded!).

Arrived early both ways.

Professional and very friendly crews. Friendly folks in Red Carpet at DEN as well. Facility was very clean and tidy.

You all continue to impress and amaze despite everything!

Thanks - as always.

Next trip is to LA next week. Looking forward to it!

 

[DCT JVL]

I think a lot of you are missing the point. The DOT measures ARRIVALS that occur within :14 minutes of plan, hence the OT :14 push. It really doesn't matter whether you release the brakes and sit at the gate or not. What matters is when you get to where you are going. Thankfully, there are some people in management who are setting goals. One of the goals was to be #1 on time and as result, there wasn't a work day that went by where I didn't hear something about it. All that happened at UAL was some enlightened leadership decided to set a goal, and A LOT of enlightened employees decided to make it happen. People just started thinking about being on time, that's all.

 

[will fix for food]

UnitedChicago......

OK, I have to say it. Your unrelenting cheerleading for UAL is just plain odd. I have never seen anybody get such a big hard on over anything, let alone a corporation. What gives?