The base keeps shrinking…. Do u think more us will be displaced?

 

the title says it all "IF". As in IF denver will ever grow.

Short answer. Yes, i think theyll displace more to fill the new base

 

Unfortunately network planning sees DEN as a great place for connections, but not for originators or terminators. It's annoying because daily flights are still high but pairings that start or end there keep going down.

Who knows what their plan is, it seems to change every single month. Great for market demands, awful for pilot QOL.

 

Remember the “rock the Rockies” campaign from a year ago? The company found out quickly that passengers preferred United’s product over SWA’s gimmicks and they abruptly canceled that whole thing and started retreating from DEN. I can’t imagine the extra inch of legroom is going to move the needle at all as it relates to the DEN pullback.

 

The company hasn't retreated from DEN at all outside of how they position crews on originators. They aren't dumb. If we were to give up a gate in Denver, it would be immediately leased by another airline and not given back ever. Denver clearly isn't a priority as far as new traffic and routes, but I would honestly say they are just running it smarter than they have in the past. As a long time former Denver commuter, it's sad for me, but I don't fault them for making a smart business decision. AW is trying to get away from the SWA model of originating a plane at 5am with 40 pax on it and taking it to an outstation to start the day. That is just dumb. Nobody wants to fly at 5am, especially at an airport that takes over an hour to get to the gate, but that plane needs to get moving and get off the gate for the next wave of originators/early connects. Better to position that plane at an outstation and originate it there.

But yeah, rock the Rockies was stupid. The company loves a good slogan with empty words and a few lanyards. I was sad for the VP of helium balloons when it kind of unceremoniously wound down and I feared for their job. After doing some Hawaii flying, though, I see they just shifted their good deeds a few time zones. Their budget has to be one of the highest in the company.

 

DEN has been running into a few problems with basing the plane at an outstation. The flight that comes in goes out as an originators, i know stupid name but thats what the sups have it down as, and get this, its a diffenert crew. So the plane lands at gate 23 and the crew coming off of that one hops and skips their merey way over to 65 for a different originator. If i have a flights at around 7-8 am it can be an originators with a crew coming off that flight from the outstation. Happened last week and the sup said it is a big concern because none of these flights even come close to going out on time.
it's like whoever plans these doesn't have a map of the C concourse and figures all gates are close like DAL.
IDK I'd expect more changes coming for DEN beccause they cant figure how to turn a plane in less than an hr.

 

Sounds like a DEN problem and not a network planning problem. There is another airline right across the ramp that not only flies their own metal but has a feeder too. Seems to work there. Another words, the station manager needs to answer for that at some point if that is the case.

 

DEN didn't get any smaller with this latest vacancy.

I think the right seat in DEN will continue to shrink. As of Jan Bid, there are almost 100 more FOs than CAs in DEN. Clearly, they are going to adjust that.

 

it's definitely a DEN problem but we all know ground ops listens to no man. So it'll fall on planning or crews or someone else to catch the blame.

 

UAL generally doesn't plan to turn any plane in less than an hour, even -700/319. Boarding starts :40 to push. Also has pax/crews going between B and A 😳