golfingboy

Last Sunday I noticed for some reason they made it an one-off day to have a ton of red-eyes out of PHX to many secondary cities and some hubs that do not have a regular red-eye on the East Coast. A few examples were:

PHX-DTW
PHX-PIT
PHX-STL
PHX-BWI
PHX-MSP
PHX-TPA
PHX-MCO
PHX-BOS
PHX-ORD
PHX-DFW
PHX-MIA
etc.

Personally, I was on the PHX-PIT flight (AA837) and this is not a regularly scheduled flight. Some bigger cities and hubs (PHL, CLT, etc) had multiple flights instead of the usual one.

This got me thinking, while those flights suck, but having the option is fantastic. Sometimes I have a full day commitment on Sunday and can't grab a mid-day flight back to the east coast, which forces me to get in at 9-11am on Monday morning instead of 6-630am with plenty of time to be in the office before the day starts.

I wish they would make this a regular thing and I am not sure why last Sunday was an one-off event. Was there a major convention or event in PHX last weekend?

dls25

Those are not unusual flights for PHX. PHX operates a "flex" schedule where there is an additional red-eye bank on thur,Fri,sun, and Mon that includes flights to most destinations. This flex schedule has operated for at least the last 5 years and operates year round except for the softest demand weeks of the year.

golfingboy

Interesting, I hope PIT will become a regular in that "flex" schedule. Many of us have begged for a redeye option either from LAX or PHX as doing a redeye to CLT/PHL/ORD then onto PIT kills off the morning in the office instead of arriving close to lunchtime and working the afternoon.

The flights I was on was packed (I know does not equate to profitability) and everyone in F on my ONT-PHX flight connected to a redeye.

metallo

The PHX-STL redeye is a regular... I've taken it several times this year.

radiowell

This brings back the memory of LAS hub days (pmHP).

arlflyer

11:55 PM to 4:41 AM? Brutal.

pinniped

I don't mind those west-to-midcon redeyes if I have a half-day to recover. I've taken them home from a long weekend to the West Coast many times: lets you spend the whole Sunday doing whatever you like and then head to the airport at 9 or 10PM.

Wouldn't want to go straight into work after one of course...

chrisphx

I have taken the red eye to STL, and it is brutal. By rule, there should never be a red eye to any airport west of the Mississippi River (even by just a few miles). Upon landing, I took the local light rail line down to Amtrak and then took a train to central Illinois. Needless to say, I was exhausted upon arrival.

formeraa

But it was YOUR choice to take the redeye flight, RIGHT?

While I don't particularly enjoy redeye flights, it makes it easier to get to many destinations during daylight hours. For example, when I was in college, I took a redeye flight out of SEA because it was cheaper and it got me to PVD during daylight hours when there were cheaper airport transportation options.

IADCAflyer

Good aircraft utilization. Simple as that.

I don't like PHX for red eyes and I don't like CLT for red eyes. Being 300 to 400 miles from the coast means a good hour of sleep lost.

If I take a red eye, I want it to be as long as I can make it. LAX-BOS, SFO-PHL.

A red eye where the flight time is 3:30 or time in that range is pure torture.

tusphotog

I guess you're not a regular on the PHX-DFW redeye (air time is roughly two hours)?

IADCAflyer

Hell no. Ugh.

I'd like to know what type of mindf**k that does on flight crew who are flying that route.

Josh1780

I flew the PHX-DFW red-eye last month. It's a very short flight at under 2 hours which makes the chance for any sleep almost impossible. Also flown PHX-MSP leaving at 2 AM which is also under 3 hours. They can work if you're ok with not getting much sleep.

haddon90

i remember doing PHX-BOS two years ago and saw PHX-MKE red eye. they do have some odd red eye flights that i was not used to seeing.

amolkold

I've taken the PHX-PIT flight in the past (Saturday night after Thanksgiving). Great for getting to PIT from the west coast early in the morning directly off a redeye (rather than connecting in ORD/DFW/CLT/PHL).