Originally Posted by
enviroian
When CO/UA begin cross implementation in 2011, does anyone know what, if any, changes will happen at PHX? I guess the question is when I fly through IAH (like I do for every flight) will I always continue to be a 738/9? I honestly can't remember the last time I was on anything else but, period (with the exception of course to lhr). It would be nice to get a different bird once in a while. That is probably the one thing (if not only lol) thing I miss about DL...I was on 75s, 76's, MD88's, all the time...
It can happen at any time, but you're more likely to encounter equipment of the carriers' legacy through that carriers' hub.
Looking at the DL/NW merger, to this day we are still seeing a tendency for legacy NW Airbus equipment via DTW/MSP/MEM and legacy DL planes through the DL hubs. Not to say they don't mix it up, they do, but the likelihood of seeing the planes still somewhat mimics the legacy hub structure.
The reason for that is crews and maintenance. There aren't that many Airbus pilots in ATL, for example, and there are more in MSP or DTW. Same with maintenance, while they can fix any plane anywhere, they're more able to maintain the legacy NW plane types through the NW hubs, and the legacy DL plane types through the DL hubs.
CO and UA have similar issues. UA SFO maintenance has less experience with NG737s. Just like CO IAH maintenance has less experience with the Airbus equipment. That's not to say they aren't trainable/certifiable/etc. They certainly are. But scheduling a bunch of Airbii through IAH could pose more challenges, just like scheduling a bunch of 739s through SFO could as well.
Imagine a SFO weather delay day (winter is coming) with massively delayed crews. UA has Airbus and 757/767 crews hanging around on reserve and can shift those folks around to accommodate tomorrow's schedules vs. taking crew delays. It wouldn't be wise to send in too many NG737s, otherwise they could face delays with the next day's schedule. The reverse goes for IAH in the summer. We wouldn't want a bunch of delayed Airbus in there, because they don't have as good contingency for that.