Originally Posted by
BearX220
I am under the impression that the SYD arrival/departure times are pretty much etched in stone -- if they operated much later, they would run a risk of having even a slightly off-schedule departure nixed by curfew. If they ran much earlier, even fewer pax starting their days on the west coast could connect.
I have heard that HA tries to assign their highest reliability a/c to the SYD run, as if it departs HNL three or more hours off timetable the 451 runs a good chance of having to divert owing to the SYD 1100p curfew.
There's actually a little "wiggle room" in the SYD arrival and departure times; however, having a consistent "on-time" departure out of HNL for HA 451 is another story. At its current 11:50AM departure time, HA 451 is "on time" only 57% of the time. Similarly, HA 455 with its 12:30PM departure time is "on time" only 58% percent of the time. For comparison, HA 452 (SYD-HNL) has an "on time" departure 84% of the time, while HA 456 (MNL-HNL) has an "on time" departure only 40% of the time. However, HA 459 (HNL-ICN) with a 2:10PM departure time is "on time" 91% of the time and HA's newest international flight HA 449 with a departure time of 1:50PM is "on time" only 47% of the time. A cursory analysis indicates that there are some "inefficiencies" at HNL during the noontime "shoulder period" that should be addressed.
Originally Posted by
BearX220
The only solution is to move the west coast connecting flights to earlier departure times but as has been pointed out upthread that means more costly crew rest/rotation tactics on the mainland and HA has probably figured the cost would outweigh revenue from added thru bookings.
Another solution is for HA to establish a second route to Australia. I suspect that some folks are going to be closely monitoring Strategic Airlines' new HNL-MEL and HNL-BNE routes, since the airports at MEL and BNE aren't hindered by curfew restrictions.
http://www.flystrategic.com.au/LinkC...DY%3d&tabid=90