mickwrites

Sure, other airlines have done that, though not so blatantly. Would YOu get on a DFW-ORD flight scheduled to last four hours?

raydog9379

Yeah, and what happens when you miss your tango time, and another flight is close to theirs? Do they re-prioritize gate assignment to make sure that only the 1 flight is late, and not both? I could see them saying "well flt. 783 is already late, so let them sit there while we try to sneak flt 655 in there before getting a second late arrival."

This could either go really well, or majorly suck at ORD, as planes tend to get lost out in the penalty box fairly often...unless your pilot keeps bugging the ground control.

tismfu

My thoughts exactly.

But, hey, if they're in the top 3 as the World's largest airline that ain't bad.

Yeti88

So, basically the best that can happen to you to arrive (almost) on time is to be slightly late so that you "qualify" for TANGO. If you're early you might get passed by a TANGO plane on the way to your gate. If you're late already, well, too bad, TANGO won't save you.

Still optimistic though, it could work!

chgoeditor

I don't fly DFW-ORD much these days, but haven't you noticed that all of the routes you regularly fly are getting longer and longer these days? I remember when ORD-EWR/LGA used to be a 2 hour flight. Now it's often 2.5 hours. (Reminds me of a story a friend told me about a flight from ORD to one of the DC-area airports. They were in danger of missing the flight curfew, so the pilot hauled and got them there in something far less than 2 hours. Just goes to show that where there's a will, there's a way...)

mwhitted

Well, since they USED to be #1 as the World's 1st or 2nd largest airline, I think it SUCKS. If you can't be the world's largest airline and be on time, then maybe you shouldn't be the world's largest airline. @:-)

Blumie

So Tango is supposed to "lure flyers . . . by the zillions"? If that's what AA's hoping for, they're in for a big shock.

NNH

Reminds me of when I used to fly London-Rome fairly often. BA had a depature time 10 minutes before AZ, but an arrival time 10 minutes after! I always had a mental image of a stereotypical Italian pilot/driver blazing over the Alps at maximum speed!

PapiTheWriter

Our local news ran a teaser stating:

"7 on your side will show you what luxury you will have to do without the next time you fly."

It turned out to be the pillow story.

The last time I flew MIA - SFo there were only pillows on every other seat, so maybe they started early.

Peace!

audio-nut

I'm sure that the hurricanes had nothing to do with the jump.

venk

They could combine this with a marketing gimmick.

"Your flights will be on time or you get a free can of soda or a $20 voucher".

Doesn't mean all flights in time and you may have to jump through hoops to get the can of soda or the time-limited, restricted voucher (for which you will have to pay $10 to ticket). Most will lose the vouchers. But it spreads the impression that they are on time.

Last week when I flew, I was surprised at the emphasis on on time departure from more than one pilot in their announcements. Clearly some training notes have gone out ahead to prepare the staff for this.

BigTex

right, training notes and a financial incentive for employees

WingNaPrayer

American Airlines 'Tangos' To Better On-Time Record

FORT WORTH, Texas -- An airline's on-time record is on of the biggest factors passengers consider when buying a ticket. American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, moved to third place among the top 12 carriers in the Department of Transportation rankings of on-time arrivals. The airline hit the mark 86 percent of the time.

Now, the nation's largest carrier has taken measures to improve its ranking. Under a new plan, called Tango, AA employees from the cockpit to the control tower to the ground crew work feverishly to ensure a prompt arrival at a designated gate.

"Each airline will tell you that one of the top priorities for their customers is to get to the final destination on time," Mike McKanna, of American Airlines, said.

The task is daunting.

"Right now, we have over 500-odd flights departing daily, and by the Christmas season, we're going to have more," Ian Austin, of American Airlines, said.

Tango, which has the potential of affecting 50 flights per day, involves a real-time Web site that tracks flights that are on the verge of arriving late.

"When an airplane lands here, the captain will notify our traffic agents by declaring Tango," McKanna said.

Tango flights are those that land three minutes before to eight minutes after the scheduled arrival time.

That alert sends AA employees scrambling to give the flight top priority. Tower personnel, ground crews, baggage handlers and gate agents work to bring in the borderline flight, get the passengers off the plane and on to their next stop. Moving the flight through faster also allows the subsequent flight from that gate to depart earlier.

"It's somewhat of an orchestration of a chess game in trying to get airplanes to and from the gates," McKanna said. "It's all about coordination and, again, everybody needs to step up to the plate. To this point, our employees have done a great job."

AA employees have an added incentive to get flights moving faster than simply job satisfaction. The airline also awards cash bonuses for Tango's success.

"I do love the challenge because it helps me to keep people on their toes," Austin said.

HKG_Flyer1

Zzzzz... what's the next big news out of AA going to be: "AA employees rewarded for treating pax with common courtesy and respect?"

JerryFF

"How to Lie with Statistics" rears its ugly head yet again in the great corporate world. Obviously, TANGO does not improve the overall on-time performance of the airline. It only appears that way because of the yes or no aspect of the A+14 on-time arrival system. The FAA would do a lot better simply publishing the average number of minutes late (or early) of all flights. Then, this nonsensical game playing would be meaningless.