I hope delta offers the airtran rewards customers (read HVC and first class) something like a 2:1 exchange for delta miles. It would probably help secure that customer block.

Maybe put a restriction on those miles that they can only be used on upgrades and not ticket purchases.

They need to take care of the former AirTran customers. But we also need to get TV's in 100% of our fleet ASAP. We need to offer stuff SWA can't. We won't be able to match their customer service, but we should be able to offer more amenities.

If you are going to compare how airlines compete on a route for route basis you have to use like aircraft and stage lengths. Your correct that our widebody long haul has lower costs then shorter length flights on narrow body aircraft. That is why we need to compare ourselves to SW with like equipment. It also brings up the RJ issue which have a very high CASM on short flights. We won't compete with SW with RJ's on like routes.
SW costs are going up however Delta's costs are also going up and likely will increase faster then SW's costs. Their pilots and union are not comfortable with their current position at the top of domestic pilot pay scales. That is why they have made no real attempt to improve on 10 year old pay rates. They are not going to push for big raises.
Delta on the other hand I really hope is facing a major increase in pilot costs sometime around lets say 31 DEC 2012.

I don't remember seeing that on the 320, but that doesn't mean it wasn't installed. Maybe I just never pushed the rudder hard enough :D

Seriously though, unless you taking off or landing in a crosswind, the airbus is pretty much a feet-on-the floor airplane. It was very rare to need rudder, and that was usually only to correct an out of trim situation.


*Disclaimer - If you're reading this and thinking of bidding either Airbus in Atlanta, disregard. The rudder/tail of the airplane is scary and as FedElta points out, at .15G it will abrupty snap off [*editorial liberty taken when quoting FedElta :p ]

So Sailing, could in ATL we see a shift towards mainline aircraft over RJs?

For instance there are some routes we're doing on the 88 lately that we've taken back from the RJs and they aren't necessarily full. Preemptive move away from competing with AAI with RJs so as to not flood the market with seats but establish a high number of seats for a market?

SFO have a pilot crew lounge? Or a area where pilots are accepted other than in their aircraft?

Not asking for codes and locations, just curious. I'll be stuck there for a few hours soon.

Its not OK, They have to follow the trip coverage ladder. What happens in most cases however is that the pilots don't understand the ladder and the coverage is correct. You have to look at when the trip reports relative to the status of pilots on reserve. Whitlow and 30 and 7 also play a major impact on who gets trips. Short call pilots often have Whitlow restrictions. Some have 24 and 7 issues depending on the trip. Crew scheds makes mistakes and in the last two years has been making a lot more mistakes but most of the time they are correct.
There were several trips this week that went out on GS to guys junior to me. I was sure I should have been given the trips. I always plug them into the legality tool on DBMS and was surprised to find in every case I had a legality issue even though I was sure I was good to go. I suspect that is what is happening with the short call pilots mentioned.

Last time I was stuck there for a few hours I took the bus to the Doubletree. Walked around back to the driving range, got a bucket of balls and a couple loaner clubs. My crew and I whacked golf balls for an hour and then went back to work. The flight attendant that came with us looked pretty good in a dress and high heels swinging a club!!:D:D

fNWA FA's have a base there and there is a FA lounge somewhere out there. Not sure where it is, but if you're looking to hide out for a few hours that may be the place. Just ask a gate agent when you hit the ground and they can probably point you in the right direction.

Here's what you do if you're stuck at the airport:

STUCK