Earliest United Domestic Flight (Non Red Eye)
May 13, 2013, 11:50 am
#17
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May 13, 2013, 11:56 am
#18
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Aside from the Pacific Islands, 5am:
Code:
flight | origin | destination | departure_time --------+--------+-------------+---------------- UA192 | ROR | GUM | 02:30:00 UA5062 | GUM | ROP | 02:40:00 UA5069 | GUM | SPN | 02:45:00 UA155 | TKK | GUM | 03:00:00 UA5430 | ACV | SMF | 05:00:00 UA5244 | MAF | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6427 | MFR | SFO | 05:00:00 UA5393 | MKE | ORD | 05:00:00 UA795 | PHX | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6517 | TUS | LAX | 05:00:00 UA5200 | TUS | IAH | 05:00:00 UA275 | MSY | IAH | 05:02:00 UA5579 | MFR | SFO | 05:03:00
May 13, 2013, 3:02 pm
#19
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Does this flight continue somewhere else? Why on earth would anyone need to be in SMF before 6 in the morning? It's not like there's a ton of connecting options out of SMF, especially when compared to SFO.
My earliest United flight was 5:40 PDX-DEN last fall.
Not United, but my parents are on a 5:05 a.m. PDX-SEA later this month on AS.
My earliest United flight was 5:40 PDX-DEN last fall.
Not United, but my parents are on a 5:05 a.m. PDX-SEA later this month on AS.
May 13, 2013, 3:59 pm
#20
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Out of curiosity, where did you get the database from?
Aside from the Pacific Islands, 5am:
Code:
flight | origin | destination | departure_time --------+--------+-------------+---------------- UA192 | ROR | GUM | 02:30:00 UA5062 | GUM | ROP | 02:40:00 UA5069 | GUM | SPN | 02:45:00 UA155 | TKK | GUM | 03:00:00 UA5430 | ACV | SMF | 05:00:00 UA5244 | MAF | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6427 | MFR | SFO | 05:00:00 UA5393 | MKE | ORD | 05:00:00 UA795 | PHX | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6517 | TUS | LAX | 05:00:00 UA5200 | TUS | IAH | 05:00:00 UA275 | MSY | IAH | 05:02:00 UA5579 | MFR | SFO | 05:03:00
May 13, 2013, 4:44 pm
#22
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Aside from the Pacific Islands, 5am:
Code:
flight | origin | destination | departure_time --------+--------+-------------+---------------- UA192 | ROR | GUM | 02:30:00 UA5062 | GUM | ROP | 02:40:00 UA5069 | GUM | SPN | 02:45:00 UA155 | TKK | GUM | 03:00:00 UA5430 | ACV | SMF | 05:00:00 UA5244 | MAF | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6427 | MFR | SFO | 05:00:00 UA5393 | MKE | ORD | 05:00:00 UA795 | PHX | IAH | 05:00:00 UA6517 | TUS | LAX | 05:00:00 UA5200 | TUS | IAH | 05:00:00 UA275 | MSY | IAH | 05:02:00 UA5579 | MFR | SFO | 05:03:00
No BQN-EWR UA1162 on there? 02:55am I think.
May 13, 2013, 4:46 pm
#23
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ACV is served only by UAX to SFO and SMF (and, I guess CEC, which doesn't really count in this discussion). I guess the logic is that it gives people options into the network to have both SFO and SMF, there is also some o/d traffic between SMF and ACV given the long distance and poor road network. The only other option from SMF-ACV is an evening arrival and UA has only one redeye, to IAH, so that is pretty useless for connecting traffic.
If I lived in ACV and was looking at a 3 stop itinerary I would choose SMF over SFO for a connecting point, since there are many fewer delays.
That being said many days one or more of the SMF-ACV and vv flights cancels anyways. Rarely is it the 5am departure from ACV though. That flight is usually pulling in right behind as they are pushing back on the LAX RJ.
Last edited by PV_Premier; May 13, 2013 at 4:52 pm
May 13, 2013, 5:40 pm
#24
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Currently departs at 1:50 a.m. I'd probably count that as a red-eye (for the sake of this thread) even though it doesn't pass eastward through multiple timezones like a conventional red-eye flight. But it seems like it departs late at night and arrives the next morning, as opposed to the earliest flight from a spoke to a hub.
Yeah, I can definitely see the potential o/d traffic, but if someone is making a day-trip to SMF for a meeting, I'd hardly think they want to get there before 6 o'clock in the morning. The person they're meeting might still be in bed! 
May 13, 2013, 11:58 pm
#27
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New thread topic: Lets all complain about the brutally early flights we sometime end up on. Like my 5:35 departure this morning PDX-SFO. At least its getting light that early these days!
May 14, 2013, 1:29 am
#28
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I've got to believe that 5 a.m. forms a psychological barrier for people (me, at least) when considering flights. I can reluctantly agree that 5 a.m. is the morning -- in the summer, the sun comes up sometime during that hour. But, as I see it and as I suspect others do, 1-5 a.m. is the middle of the night; it's just not a time to be doing things, and, while a 5 a.m. flight necessitates overnight preparation, it probably doesn't generate the visceral reaction of an earlier departure time.
May 14, 2013, 2:08 am
#29
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I've got to believe that 5 a.m. forms a psychological barrier for people (me, at least) when considering flights. I can reluctantly agree that 5 a.m. is the morning -- in the summer, the sun comes up sometime during that hour. But, as I see it and as I suspect others do, 1-5 a.m. is the middle of the night; it's just not a time to be doing things, and, while a 5 a.m. flight necessitates overnight preparation, it probably doesn't generate the visceral reaction of an earlier departure time.
For me, that probably counts as late night not early morning. And, if I'm further from the airport, even more so.
May 14, 2013, 6:35 am
#30
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I've got to believe that 5 a.m. forms a psychological barrier for people (me, at least) when considering flights. I can reluctantly agree that 5 a.m. is the morning -- in the summer, the sun comes up sometime during that hour. But, as I see it and as I suspect others do, 1-5 a.m. is the middle of the night; it's just not a time to be doing things, and, while a 5 a.m. flight necessitates overnight preparation, it probably doesn't generate the visceral reaction of an earlier departure time.
This raises the more interesting question of what exactly is an early morning departure, as opposed to a late night departure. Assuming you have to be at the airport 60 minutes before the flight departs and, for the sake of assumption, you need to set the alarm 60 mins before you need to be at the airport, the question then depends as to whether you regard 3am as early morning or late night.
For me, that probably counts as late night not early morning. And, if I'm further from the airport, even more so.
For me, that probably counts as late night not early morning. And, if I'm further from the airport, even more so.
However, when I look at my BPs the night before for that 6am flight, I often feel differently, especially since its an hour drive to the airport for me. We have one 7:30am departure that I often try to SDC onto because it is a much more civilized wakeup call.