Originally Posted by
Duke787
Wonder why some got the technical stop at NRT while others are going LAX/SEA? Looks like it's the shorter flights that got NRT (destination of MSP and LAX) so perhaps no time-out issue but for ATL/DTW due to time-out concerns they opted to do the tech stop at LAX/SEA due to local crew availability?
A multitude of operational considerations, including but not limited to:
- Conventional airline wisdom eschews fuel-stops at offline airports. A lot can go wrong, and you don't have Delta staff or replacement crews there when things go south. But,
- Even a hub like SEA can't really handle 5 widebody fuel stops either, especially all within a short time-frame.
- The 339 is a dog on short runways, even though they fly shorter routes out of Haneda than the 350s.
- HND-ATL being the longest stage length has the least amount of crew duty to play with, so that really needs to stop in a hub in the US, and replace the crew there.
- SEA is not a crew base for the 350, so any stops in SEA on that fleet need to have a crew positioned the night before (too late in this case) OR need to have the duty day available to deadhead LAX-SEA and then operate SEA-wherever. This is also fraught with landmines.
So basically Narita was asked "how many can you handle?" and they said "2." The 339s went to NRT to minimize the denied boardings. the rest were parsed out to US gateways where they could be re-crewed, or operated nonstop.
HND RWY 34R NOTAMED closed until 0600z on the 5th. And that is just an estimate. I can't imagine they don't have to do some serious pavement stress-testing after seeing the JAL aircraft nearly burn to the ground. We shall see what tonight's operation brings.