Originally Posted by
FCfree
Why not keep the aircraft and the pilots together throughout the day, like Southwest does?
I ask myself the same questions all the time. It creates so many problems when aircraft and crews are broken up, and I'm sure that countless delays/cancellations could be prevented if UA created schedules that didn't break up crews and aircraft.
I'm wondering if the reason that UA breaks up crews and aircraft has something to do with the fact that US flies so many different kinds of aircraft and some crews are rated to fly multiple types of equipment. It might also be the result of the pilot contract. I'd imagine being able to break up crew and aircraft allows pilots to fly more "interesting" routes than would be possible if crew and aircraft had to stay together all day.