Curious about Schedule Change PHL-PHX-OGG
Jul 22, 2014, 6:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA, US, WN, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 1,528
Curious about Schedule Change PHL-PHX-OGG
My flight was changed 90 days out - first leg now leaves PHL 10 minutes later and arrives at PHL 10 minutes sooner (so the flight was shortened by 20 minutes). Same equipment (A321). PHX-OGG leg is also shortened but the return legs were both lengthened. I recall the same thing happening last year, was wondering if they use some type of moving average of arrival times or factor in the jet stream since the length of flight is shorter flying west and longer flying east.
Jul 22, 2014, 7:10 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
Programs: None
Posts: 9,171
It's seasonal winds aloft. While generally out of the west, they're stronger in the winter than summer. You mention the jet stream, which is basically correct - it moves further south in the winter and further north in the summer.
Jim
Jim
Jul 22, 2014, 7:23 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: AA ExPlt, UA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 356
Yes, they track the actual taxi-out time, taxi-in time and time aloft for every departure throughout the day everyday. This is done by departure time (i.e. due to ground congestion, departures at 8:00am may have much longer taxi-out times than those at 9:00pm).
This data is then used to build seasonal schedules in every market based on the averages for the previous years.
This data is then used to build seasonal schedules in every market based on the averages for the previous years.
Jul 22, 2014, 8:15 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
Programs: None
Posts: 9,171
Except taxi out and in tend to remain relatively steady year around, with the one exception being deicing in the winter for northern hubs, but even then there aren't so many snow days to make that much difference. Plus taxi out/in isn't affected by direction of flight.
The big factor is winds aloft which changes the schedule due to longer/shorter flight times twice a year - spring and fall.
Jim
The big factor is winds aloft which changes the schedule due to longer/shorter flight times twice a year - spring and fall.
Jim
Jul 22, 2014, 10:43 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA, US, WN, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 1,528
Thanks for the responses - I found it interesting.
