Another Set of Service/Schedule Changes
 

Delta:

- CVG-IAH has been reinstated from 18Aug. This city pair was originally scheduled to be axed.
- DCA-DSM/MSN transferring from NW to DL from 01Sep.
- JFK-AMS transferring from NW to DL from 01Sep. Currently operates with a NW 757. DL equipment type will be 767-300ER.
- One LAX-HNL roundtrip transferring from NW to DL from 03Sep.
- SEA-OGG suspended 20Sep-16Dec (seasonal).

Northwest:

- Adding one addt'l roundtrip NRT-GUM from 24Oct.
- Reducing DTW–RST by one roundtrip from 01Sep.
- Reducing DTW–NRT by one roundtrip from 24Oct.
- Reducing MSP–MOT/STC by one roundtrip from 01Sep.

Some of these may have been alluded to and/or mentioned in previous threads however most of these changes are new.

Also for winter schedule:

- JFK-FRA upgauges to 763ER from 752 (probably due to cancellation of CVG-FRA)
- JFK-BRU upgauges to 763ER from 752 (don't know why)
- JFK-PRG increased frequency to 5x weekly from 3x weekly (probably due to seasonal suspension of ATL-PRG and OK completely withdrawing TATL flights including JFK-PRG)
- JFK-SVO daily 763ER instead of usual winter reduced frequencies (probably due to seasonal suspension of ATL-SVO)
- JFK-LAX 6 out of 7 daily (weekday) flights to be on BE-equipped 752s
- JFK-BOS all mainline (M88, 738)

- ATL-MUC 764ER instead of 763ER
- ATL-MAD 764ER instead of 763ER
- JFK-DUB 763ER instead of 752

Since this IS Delta, I would probably count on more schedule and equipment changes as we head into the fall/winter...

Is ATL-SVO dead for the winter season or just cut back? I've heard both but can't get a clear word either way. Might anyone know?

woody125 - The suspension of ATL-SVO has been described to employees as a seasonal suspension.

For those of us who do not have non-stop access to JFK, SDF-CVG-JFK-xxx is my preferred routing.

While SDF-CVG has been cut, it still seems feasible - the problem on the current, summer schedule is CVG-JFK.

CVG-JFK is at 3 to 4 flights a day on the summer schedule, two of them CRJ's and one is a DL 757-200 Atlantic (DL 96), which I presume is one of the 757-200ER/Atlantic Arrivals making a rotation back to JFK.

Go back a couple years, and CVG-JFK worked well with several mainline flights; now it's a bloody joke when I want to go to JFK as an O/D or fly beyond JFK.

As an O/D, I travel out to Long Island at least a few times a year and with LIRR access, JFK is the best option. DL pulled out of ISP (understandable with WN) -- ISP provides some sanity when traveling to LI, but it is now a US or WN only market. Often I combine LI into a multi-city trip and WN just doesn't work & US just doesn't meet my needs with cities/schedules.

At the moment, it looks like my second best bet is via DTW, but not sure what will happen with DTW-JFK with the winter schedule. Despite the ATL flights, delta.com doesn't like using an ATL routing for JFK or JFK/beyond.

I think it's kind of a sad statement that access to JFK from this part of the nation is limited - more so on other carriers last time I checked.

Will see what winter holds for JFK access...

I think that this is one of Delta's big challenges.

JFK is a natural for so many European routes because of the huge O&D market as well as simple geography (it's generally on the way to Europe from most of the country, while ATL is not).

But being able to feed connecting traffic to JFK is very problematic because of gate/terminal space as well as slot constraints during peak time.

One thing I wish Delta would try is a series of one-stop domestic connecting segments into JFK. For example, OKC-SDF-JFK, or LIT-PIT-JFK, or BHM-TYS-JFK, or BNA-DAY-JFK. Do a Southwest-style turn at the stops (ground time max 30 minutes) so that the time penalty of a one-stop is still far better than the time penalty of a connection at a hub. Doing this would allow one to market "direct" and or "nonstop" service to NYC from all of those markets, and it would allow efficient feed from all of those markets without crowding the skies with nonstop service from each of them (which is realistically not possible anyway due to slot and terminal constraints).

For years, Southwest has used the one- and two-stop direct flights effectively, but Delta (other than the old ATL-BHM-JAN-DFW route) rarely did. It would seem to me like a way to get around some of the constraints faced at JFK while providing decent feed to the international flight bank and avoiding problematic double connects at other hubs.

This is a really good idea and I would not intentionally avoid 1-stop flights if the ground time was minimal as you suggest. For some reason (probably financial), Delta and most other majors seem to now loathe this once common approach.

Looks like some upgrade in capacity for international flights out of JFK. I can understand DL wanting to be the major O/D force out of NYC, that's a huge and lucrative market, but I'm worried that DL is going to want to start moving the rest of us who don't live in the NE through that airport. Personally I would much rather fly through DTW or ATL than JFK. I really don't have much flying experience there, but it seems nearly every time I check flight delays JFK has a 1-2 hour ground hold on it. No thanks. Double that because there are only 3 flights daily from CVG to JFK! And this is a "hub" to hub route. And only one is a mainline flight, and that mainline flight gets in after most of the international flights take off.

Where do you find flight changes?
 

Where can you find flight changes from an airline? I'm taking a trip with a group in October to Cairo and Amman. We were tentatively given Delta flights between jfk-cai (10/9) and amm-jfk (10/23), both non-stops. But, now, I see that there is no non-stop amm-jfk on the date that we are to fly back, 10/23, when I check flights on delta.com. I haven't heard anything from our group coordinator about a change, so I'm wondering what's going on...

One-stop flights are more expensive to operate than nonstops; you do pay a penalty for the stop.

However, if the flight is able to feed higher yielding traffic to your international routes, that can offset the increase in costs relative to a nonstop -- and a one-stop direct flight is certainly less costly than double connecting the passenger over another, potentially out-of-the-way, hub.

There just isn't enough air or ground capacity at JFK to bring in nonstops from all decent potential secondary markets. I am advocating that from a cost and marketing standpoint, it would be better to offer the one-stop direct spokes rather than double connecting people over CVG/ATL/DTW.

Not sure where you are seeing that the JFK-CAI flight isn't operating. Assuming by "10/9" you meant October 9, 2009, DL84 JFK-CAI is operating as scheduled. If by "10/9" you meant September 10, 2009, DL84 is operating as scheduled as well.

On the other hand, AMM-JFK does not operate on 10/23 (October 23, 2009) as you pointed out.

I'm not sure what you meant when you said your flights were "tentatively given" in your case. If, for instnace, you actually had previously booked these two flights and the schedule was changed, Delta would contact you directly (via e-mail usually) and inform you of the change and provide you with an alternative routing. If the provided alternative routing doesn't fit your travel plans, the airline will generally be accommodating to any reasonable request you make to them in person via telephone.

Airlines submit schedule updates/changes to various 3rd parties such as Amadeus for distribution. They take a few days to filter down into Deltamatic, though. That is to say, any schedule changes usually appear first to the general public via the 3rd party systems prior to them appearing on Delta.com. A good resource for tracking airline schedule updates is Jim's blog, airlineroute.blogspot.com.

Hope this helps.

What is the start date of the BE-equipped 752s on the JFK-LAX route?

For all intents and purposes, September 1, 2009.

However the 75E first shows up on JFK-LAX on August 17, 2009. The 6x daily 75E services do not commence until September 1, 2009 though.

There is also a 767-300ER on JFK-LAX depending on the day of the week.

It was early when I posted - not quite awake. The jfk-cai flight I know is there. It was the amm-jfk return that I was worried about. As for my knowlege of the flights - I'm with a group. When I signed up, the Delta flights were given to me as what we would be taking. But, I haven't seen any absolutes yet. I've just been tracking on my own. It really doesn't matter what I end up with - I just like to watch for my own "enjoyment." I'll write an email to my group leader to see what has happened...

When DL will be reusme service for ATL-SVO during next summer 2010, am I correct?