PHL question
 

In a nutshell, I was originally scheduled on the 6am flight yesterday morning (Monday) but was feeling pretty ill so I changed my flight to the 4:22pm departure. That flight canceled, and they rebooked me on the 6am this morning (Tuesday). That flight subsequently canceled, and I was placed on the 7:15am flight this morning.

I got to gate D12 just as the 6:10 MEM flight was closing. DTW was next out of that gate, but they had to tow our plane over from the other side of D. This did not happen until about 8 am and I heard grumblings from other passengers that the city has to be involved in ushering the planes from one gate to another. It was ridiculous that it took nearly 2 hours to tow a CR9 from one side of D to the other.

To make matters worse, it took us over 2 hours to go through de-icing, finally departing around 10:30am.

Does anyone know if the city needs to be involved in ushering planes? And why? If so why would an airline allow the city to cause substantial delays for them?

I have never heard that the city specifically needs to be involved when towing planes. It wouldn't suprise me though, PHL has a lot of these "bonus features."

Someone forgot to deliver the briefcase of unmarked bills that is required to obtain the city's permission?

jimrpa... sorry for stealing your line. I won't let it happen again.

I do not know the "official" answer, but I'm sure that the City of Philadelphia has found a way to "monetize" every aspect of operations at PHL, including dragging aircraft around the tarmac. Be glad they don't require that the aircraft-dragging be done by PHL employees, or your aircraft would have been dragged from one side of D to the other via I-95 and through less desirable portions of west Philly, where it would have been liberated of various bits and pieces :D

By the way, lest people get the wrong idea - Philadelphia is a wonderful city - please come and visit it and enjoy some of the sights. It really has a lot to offer. Sadly, it's saddled with a horrible government and a truly dysfunctional airport with a completely inadequate physical plant and municipal employees and leaders who's attitudes hearken back to the heydays of 1970s European socialism.

Same thing happened to me this morning, my 9:00 to DTW left two hours late, the story I have been told in the past is the airport only has one “escort” available for jockeying the planes, and whenever a plane needs to be towed to a gate it needs the official escort, with my missed connection in DTW it took all day to get to my final destination, very frustrating

I had the same experience recently in PHL. (I believe it was 1589 to DTW on 1/31 scheduled 9:05 a.m.) We had to wait for a "police escort to accompany the plane" because it had to be "towed across an active runway".

Makes no sense to me.

Makes even less sense to me now that I hear it wasn't an isolated incident.

Where are they towing the planes "from"?

Part of the Phila City public employee full employment program

All of these things to me add up to Philadelphia NOT being a wonderful city. That, and the tremendous hospitality in the hotel industry...especially out by the airport...oh and tolls. But there is the Liberty Bell.

Tolls? There's only one toll road - the PA turnpike. Of course, we charge tolls to escape New Jersey, but that's to discourage bad elements (think the cast from Jersey Shore) from entering PA. Sadly, it's not very effective. :D :D :D

"LePetomaine Thruway? Somebody needs to go back and get a ---load of dimes!!"

Killadelphia? I have enjoyed my prison sentence here for almost 4 years. I can assure you there are some good things about the area, but what has been said is very true. Less than 3 months until graduation.

Southwest NJ = Philadelphia as far as I am concerned. :) And I don't know ANYTHING about the cast of Jersey Shore.

Some of the aircraft for the morning flights are parked where the old overseas terminal was (Island Ave side of the airport); they are usually some of the last arriving flights from the night before. They do have to cross an active runway to get to the terminal, but the arrangement of having only one escort available when several planes need to be moved within a short period of time is often the cause for delays, IMHO.

Them's fightin' words indufan! ;) Jersey is Jersey and needs to stay there!

I did notice that DL was boarding out of D3 on Tuesday morning, too. I forget what flight it was (it wasn't MEM, DTL, or MSP). Maybe ATL? I thought it was odd that they were using a gate that high up in D, although I have seen DL planes parked there in the AM from the night before