Ual Cuts Domestic Flights

[magsau]

787,

You can blame PW for the 170's. It is not the express pilots fault. They only fly what their company has to bid. IF we had used the "we buy 'em, we fly 'em" in 1997 we might be having this problem. MG told us we could either buy RJ's or 777's but not both. With 777's parked in the desert that does not look like such a great decision on our behalf.

Also, if we had bought the RJ's back then. We would not have the divisive issue of who is flying what. We would all be UAL pilots flying UAL colors.

 

[novaqt]

Its not hard to see that we have a very competent John Tague who believes as I have been harping about for a long time "follow the flow of money". Since Tilton brought him onboard, he has performed spectacularly under the current market condition. We are now able to rapidly deploy aircraft to markets where our passengers are traveling and have no problem spending money. We are reducing capacity where necessary. Domestically, where we will be reducing capacity, we intend to increase TED markets and utilize more United Express. Witness the build-up at the Hubs. Like the military, we now have a rapid response airline.

 

[The Ronin]

May I ask a question from our flight deck or ops people??? Is a take-off or landing slot the same for most aircraft??? How is increasing RJ utilization go to help hubs like ORD with the ever growing congestion problems??? I know you guys spin things every which way but loose, but how many RJ's is it going to take to come into a hub to "fill" this "expanding" international flying you are talking about. And the block hours would most certaintly change when you consider one flight long haul 2 crews as compared to several flights multiple destinations with multiple crews for each flight. Something doesn't sound right here? Just asking 🙄

 

[jimntx]

It's my understanding that in an airport which mixes big jets and RJs, the separation between a/c has to be greater (i.e., fewer take-offs and landings) due to RJs can not withstand turbulence caused by a big a/c like a 777.

 

[boeing787]

RJ's clog the airspace and they are slow. They take up the just as much airspace as a 747. This trend must stop.

 

[The Ronin]

This is what I'm thinking also. So now the answer is a butt-load of these little mosquitoes buzzing around the sky with 50-70 people competing for take-off and landing slots, darting in and out of RVSM's with the big boys, not to mention some nasty little windshear, turbolence and micro-bursts. Now shouldn't it be little airplanes feed little cities into medium cities which collect people onto larger airplanes into large cities??? Ah, the carousel keeps turning but nobody wants to get off, right. Those "hard" decisions are still there to be made....but no one wants to do it. Oh well....economics will decide for you then.

 

[FWAAA]

I hate RJs as much as the next person, since I'm tall, a little wide, and have become accustomed to First Class (found on very few RJs), but with proper planning, they should be able to share airports like ORD with the big airplanes.

The key is PROPER PLANNING. Like different runways and approaches for them. RJs don't need to use the 10,000 or 13,000 ft runways for takeoff or landing, and shouldn't routinely mix it up with the 777s.

Large hub airports need one or two 5,000 ft strips configured away from the other runways to allow the mosquitos to land and takeoff without slowing down the mainline planes or getting in their way.

Problem is, it's been 25+ years now and we can't even get ORD reconfigured properly for the late 20th century mainline traffic, let alone the expected increases this decade, so dedicated runways for RJs and turboprops is a fantasy. Boyd has claimed for several years now that the RJs' popularity has peaked, and it looks like he is finally right. Today's RJs will probably be beer cans or flying in Africa before the major hub airports devise a sensible solution that permits them to coexist with large aircraft.

Here in LA, it's even worse. Our dumbass mayor wants to spend over $9 billion demolishing T-1, 2 and 3, tearing down all the parking garages, building a new terminal where the garages are now, and building a consolidated checkin facility over a mile away, connected by a people mover. And no new runways. And no new passenger capacity 😱

And the airlines (and some federal government money) are expected to pay the tab.

BTW, today's LA Times reports that the estimated fees per passenger borne by the airlines is expected to rise from today's affordable $5.85 average to about $22 during the remainder of this decade. What kind of dumbass thinks that is a good idea??

It's not just airline management that has their heads up their butt - too many ordinary people do as well.

 

[herkav8r]

FWAAA, I have never flown an RJ. However, I have flown plenty of aircraft and not many of them like 5000" strips. I am sure the RJ's are no different. Throwning a special rwy in for the RJ's is not going to solve the problem. The hubs are going to have to make a decision and limit the amount of small jets they let in like SFO did before 911.

 

[iflyjetz]

May I ask a question from our flight deck or ops people??? Is a take-off or landing slot the same for most aircraft??? How is increasing RJ utilization go to help hubs like ORD with the ever growing congestion problems??? I know you guys spin things every which way but loose, but how many RJ's is it going to take to come into a hub to "fill" this "expanding" international flying you are talking about. And the block hours would most certaintly change when you consider one flight long haul 2 crews as compared to several flights multiple destinations with multiple crews for each flight. Something doesn't sound right here? Just asking 🙄

[post="189274"][/post]​

Ronin,
First, I fired off an e-mail to your yahoo account; edit as you wish prior to me posting.
Now, to your question. The takeoff or landing slot counts as one, whether it be a B-1900 or a 747. While I'm disappointed to see UAL outsource more domestic flights, I can see some of that outsourcing being used as a 'placeholder' for larger aircraft. As an illustration, when UAL had to reduce flights out of ORD during prime hours, it replaced two ORD-STL RJs with one 737.
Eventually, UAL is going to need to upguage some of the expanding RJ flights to mainline aircraft. Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Frats,
iflyjetzzz