Delta Flight Consolidation

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Flight Consolidation Another method of reducing congestion is to reduce the number of operations into SFO by consolidating flights. Delta Air Lines currently has a fleet of 809 aircraft, several of which require a common pilot type rating to operate (Delta Air Lines, 2015). On a typical weekday, Delta operates seven flights between JFK and SFO. Delta schedules four flights with the Boeing 757 and three with the Boeing 767 on the route; both aircraft have a common type rating. Delta configures the 757 in a two class layout accommodating between 180-234 seats, depending on the variant. The 767 also has a two class layout and accommodates between 226-261 passengers, again, depending on the variant (Delta Air Lines, 2015).
The common type rating …show more content…

An airline can be proactive about delays and consolidate flights before schedules are published or seats are placed on sale to the public. With historic data readily available, Delta can eliminate the 8:00 a.m. departure that arrives into a historically capacity constrained time period and up-gauge operating equipment on the remaining flights operating that day. This decision maintains seat capacity in the market while still reducing arrival demand during congested periods. The affect would be one less flight scheduled to arrive during a capacity constrained period. In addition, costly rebooking fees would be avoided, as passengers would not be able to book tickets on the nonexistent …show more content…

ATC currently implements ground delay programs to reduce arrival demand by shifting aircraft arrival times to time periods where demand is less than capacity.
When adapted for airline use, airline instituted ground delay programs are not feasible due to the current lack of coordinating authority. If a coordinating authority did exist, questions about impartiality, priorities, and implementation still need to be answered before the program could be realized. Shifting aircraft to nearby airports was another method of reducing arrival demand that was analyzed.
Shifting of traffic to nearby airports in the San Francisco Bay is not feasible due to the lack of existing facilities that make transfers between the airports cumbersome, time consuming and expensive. In addition, the hub and spoke model would not function in the most efficient manner possible with flights, crews and aircraft operations split between two or three

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