Originally Posted by
coolfish1103
It's not just about avoiding traffic, the timing is also important. People work these earn enough in a day and if they can avoid taking a day off, they would. An evening departure allows them to head home, get the luggage and snack a bit or even have dinner before heading to airport. There is a reason why CAL use to operate CI 9 along with CI 5 cause CI 5 just don't fill enough passengers. Plus EVA is operate 2 late night flight.
A drive to LAX probably hits 1 hr max off peak time for inland empire residents, a bit more if we go further into Fontana or Riverside. It's still quite far for them to drive all the way, so ONT does have it's options. However, if you are pairing up with afternoon flight (taking a day off not just for the passengers but also the driver, not possible to get connecting passengers to SEA), priced about the same as the LAX flight (and it departs evening)... you aren't going to fill the plane daily (even CI 6/5 was not daily during off peak) plus operating with 77W.
If they want the flight to survive, they need transit passengers << and that means this needs to be a late departure flight cause you don't get any feeds from beyond ONT.
Nothing about LGW and I think that flight will survive. It's not daily (slowly adding frequency) and using 359 with some feeds from Australia.
I don't think the B777 are being fully utilised recently. So they could afford to hold the plane on the ground for another 4-6hrs to allow people to fly out late at night. Not sure what the cost of holding a plane on the ground would cost. But maybe ONT could also waive or give a low rate. I am sure negotiations are ongoing.
Well for any route being served long term service in itself creates business so loadings for any route would gradually increase year on year.
I think they should not move the flights from Gatwick as it does have some advantages. Heathrow would surely be also more expensive to fly into.
Also Heathrow has no Skyteam partner so connecting flights can be done from Gatwick if people really need to fly onwards. Plus I think AMS makes a much better airport (Due to KLM skyteam partner) to fly into and onward if someone wants to go to say Scotland or etc.