BUF ROC PIT ORD EAU have also been mentioned in this thread. I was looking for other peoples observations on sechedule changes, reductions and equipment changes... and some insight on where the CR9's seem to be disapearing to.

I noticed that one flight a day DCA-MSP and DCA-DTW (and vice versa) are switching to a CR9. Because, really, upgrades out of DCA are so easy to come by now...;)

But your OP centers on service reductions at SYR. And your actual title is:

Schedule Changes... Reductions... Goodbye NW

In either case, I personally think you could have had a better thread title. Maybe:

Reductions at SYR - Dude, where's my DC9 and CR9?

:D

David

The 75R's (or 75N's as Delta now designates them) are the first batch of 757's delivered to Northwest from 1984 to 1988. These aircraft have the smaller door behind the wing, as opposed to the double window doors over the wings for exits. They're fairly long in the tooth on the inside. The registrations are N501US through N534US.

The remaining Northwest 757's, N535US to N557NW, are staying and are currently being repainted.

Thank you for this informative reply! ^

David H.

The older 757-200R's (75N's/5500's) as said are the older 757's, that are all 20-25 years old. DL has a ton of 757's post-merger, and is looking to reduce the overall fleet were appropriate. The new NW 757's (5600) are being repainted, some are ETOPs certified, the other can be upgraded to ETOP's -> are all staying put.

Plus, DL appears to not be committed to flying the 744 for much longer.

I don't know the exact number of NW DC-9's, NW 757's, and DL MD-88's to leave the fleet this fall, but they are planning on parking 40-50 MAINLINE aircraft this fall (total from DL & NW's fleet).

There are a number of XJ CR9's now flying out of SLC, so some of the original NW CR9's have migrated Westward to fly routes in/out of SLC.

There are simply a HUGE number of cuts coming to DTW this fall.
Frequency reductions on ORD, PIT, ROC, SYR, TVC, MDT, EAU. There are about 20 markets that are being rebalanced between DTW & CVG come July as well.

MDT-MSP is cut
LBE and YFK are being cut all together.
Not to mention there are going to be pull-downs on international flights this fall.

Now, I understand what DL is doing since traffic and yields are down, but it really stinks for us regular fliers who have gotten used to convienient schedules.

Frankly, in a lot of these markets the schedule stinks, but removing the late day/evening flights, which means more nights away from home for some.

syrwhizzy thanks for posting the schedule info...

I live in the area and was always willing to drive to SYR to get a mainline flight with first class as ITH, BGM, and ELM just have CRJs... I always thought it made sense to have mainline to SYR (the largest of the four) and then have the regionals to the smaller airports...

USAirways still has mainline, A319 out of SYR....maybe that could work for you, but I guess their Michigan coverage probably isn't so great...

Please update this thread if the schedule in SYR changes again (for better or for worse)

That's kind of surprising, it seems that the cuts at CVG have bottomed out and it will hold steady for now? HSV is down to 2x per day to CVG. I could see our 2x frequencies to DTW going away completely if DTW is being downsized.

We went through this in HSV. Delta took away our early departure and our late arrival. For a while the earliest departure was 7:30 to 8:00 and the last arrival was 8:00. Made it very hard for me to make my trips to SBA, ANC, and FAI as those are almost always double connects.

But they woke up and smelled the coffee and we got back our 5:30 a.m. departure and our 10:00 arrival. The tradeoff was that we went to 11x per day to Atlanta with only one mainline. That one mainline now goes away in June and we go to 12x daily with 3 CR9s. That includes a 5:00 a.m. departure and a 11:00 pm arrival. ^ The 5:00 a.m. departure is probably too darned early for even me, :( though I live 8 miles from the airport.

I am told mainline service will return in September. I'm not betting heavily on that one. I'm just hoping HSV stays a mainline station, as we have good staff here. No indications yet of when the NW and DL ticket counters will be combined.

I remember years ago when NW pulled mainline out of HSV. They had good folks here, some of whom went back to Republic and Southern. The red tail has a lot of history.

David H.

Flying NYC to ANC over Labor Day weekend.
I had a 3:45pm departure. Sometime in the last few weeks, the last departure on NW metal that can get in that night now leaves at 1:45pm.

Didn't receive an email -- found out about it when I checked the itinerary on the website.

OP: Looks like the changes stink for you, and that s*cks. I'm curious though... if Delta told you that the changes were because they thought it would be most profitable for them (even when accounting for the upset passengers getting the short end of the stick), would you understand or would you think they are being ridiculous? I ask because all too often people react at any change with anger that implies they are being attacked, as if airlines aren't interested in keeping customers happy. Sometimes changes stink for some people, but if the airline is doing it, you can be pretty sure that they believe it is best for profits. They certainly make bad calls sometimes, but you have to remember that they are *attempting* to do what is in their best interest, and this includes factoring in the cost of customers who won't be happy with the change (be it schedules, planes, fees, etc.)

The most recent DL fleet plan going forward (in SEC filings) does not account for NW's current operating fleet of: DC-9-30's/DC-9-40's/757-200R's/747-200B/747-200F.

While DL has not come right out and said these plans are being cut, if you take their anticipated total fleet numbers next year - the amount being cut adds up to the above fleet types being removed.

Even if NW had continued as an independent carrier they would be doing the same thing. They were already moving down that path.

Great post, except for the last sentence. Talk to the insiders at any legacy, and you will quickly learn that they NEVER game out the "cost of customers who won't be happy..." There are no soft costs like this put into the operations research (OR) game formulas. It's all about the input variables that the airline controls; aircraft type, staff required, fuel, forward yields, segment length, etc. It's never about customer satisfaction. These formulas assume you (the pax) will fly the route regardless of what they change.

Airlines only care about the bottom line - so most of your post is dead on. If they can make an extra $ by changing aircraft, they will not hesitate. Especially a legacy like DL who can save tens of $millions by running jungle jets and using lower-paid staff on them.

But don't be naive - the "cost of customers who won't be happy" is never in the formula. In terms of the OR calculations, you, the flying pax, are merely extra weight to be optimized.

Self loading cargo.

Yes, but alas, they would have replaced a DC9 with a CR9 and kept capacity the same. :)