Red-Eye Travelers Find Full Flights, Long Waits
May 9, 2002, 10:03 pm
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Red-Eye Travelers Find Full Flights, Long Waits
Red-Eye Travelers Find Full Flights, Long Waits
By RAFER GUZMAN and NANCY KEATES
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
What's worse than a red-eye? A full red-eye. Chris Roberts learned that the hard way on a recent flight from San Francisco to Atlanta, as he spent 4 1/2 hours trying to sleep sitting straight up in the dead of night, squashed next to a guy who hogged the armrest and behind a woman who reclined her seat into his lap.
"I couldn't believe it was full," says the network consultant, who expected to find an empty row to stretch out in. "It was awful."
It should be good news: Air travel is taking off again, prompting airlines to beef up the schedules they cut after Sept. 11. But as veteran travelers are finding, few flights are being restored late at night, even though demand for those oddball times has remained relatively strong. The result: packed planes, crowded airports and long lines, all at the times passengers least expect to find them.
Cutting Back
There are 19% fewer late-night flights (those that leave between 8 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.) than a year ago, according to BACK Aviation Services. Compare that to the 6% cut in flights that depart at peak times. Other oddball hours, such as between midnight and 7 a.m., are also sharply lower -- down 16% from a year ago. America West, for one, made nearly 80% of its total cuts to off-peak flights, while Northwest eliminated most of its last bank of flights -- most of them leaving between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. -- out of its hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis. "We tried to do it in a way that would have the least impact on our customers," says a Northwest spokesman.
Tell that to Roxanne Swisher, who took a sleeping pill and a few shots of sake before boarding a recent San Francisco-New York red-eye -- and still could barely shut her eyes. Like many night-flight regulars, the New York playwright figured she'd find an empty row and snooze her way across the continent, but the best she could do was a two-seat row near the bathroom. "I am so not awake," she says.
Full story in the Online WSJ.
By RAFER GUZMAN and NANCY KEATES
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
What's worse than a red-eye? A full red-eye. Chris Roberts learned that the hard way on a recent flight from San Francisco to Atlanta, as he spent 4 1/2 hours trying to sleep sitting straight up in the dead of night, squashed next to a guy who hogged the armrest and behind a woman who reclined her seat into his lap.
"I couldn't believe it was full," says the network consultant, who expected to find an empty row to stretch out in. "It was awful."
It should be good news: Air travel is taking off again, prompting airlines to beef up the schedules they cut after Sept. 11. But as veteran travelers are finding, few flights are being restored late at night, even though demand for those oddball times has remained relatively strong. The result: packed planes, crowded airports and long lines, all at the times passengers least expect to find them.
Cutting Back
There are 19% fewer late-night flights (those that leave between 8 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.) than a year ago, according to BACK Aviation Services. Compare that to the 6% cut in flights that depart at peak times. Other oddball hours, such as between midnight and 7 a.m., are also sharply lower -- down 16% from a year ago. America West, for one, made nearly 80% of its total cuts to off-peak flights, while Northwest eliminated most of its last bank of flights -- most of them leaving between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. -- out of its hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis. "We tried to do it in a way that would have the least impact on our customers," says a Northwest spokesman.
Tell that to Roxanne Swisher, who took a sleeping pill and a few shots of sake before boarding a recent San Francisco-New York red-eye -- and still could barely shut her eyes. Like many night-flight regulars, the New York playwright figured she'd find an empty row and snooze her way across the continent, but the best she could do was a two-seat row near the bathroom. "I am so not awake," she says.
Full story in the Online WSJ.
