Delta to close 16 of 24 gates at MCO in Jan

[Lewisc]

Until Delta gets rid of some of its premium service elements (assigned seats, first class service before takeoff, etc.), this closing of 16 departure gates will likely translate into some significant delays on the tarmac for arriving flights, and perhaps even some delays in departures.

Even Delta can't be that stupid. The numbers don't work. I suspect they're either going to go back and lease some gates at a lower fee or are planning on cutting flights, but want to wait to announce it. I guess they could just spread out the flights evenly throughout the day, more flights at non-peak times.

 

[bicker]

And who knows what the future of Song is???

We do. Song is history. Its flights and aircraft are being consolidated into Delta's mainline operation.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

We do. Song is history. Its flights and aircraft are being consolidated into Delta's mainline operation.

Yes, Song is history. But will they really keep all the routes that song flies today? Probably not. I really like those planes. The entertainment system is a good distraction. I hope they bring it to most of the planes they fly. When $$ allows, of course.

 

[bicker]

I would suspect that they're more likely to discontinue Delta routes rather than Song routes.

 

[erikthewise]

When I read this it didn't seem to make any sense. There's no way their current operations could be so inefficient that they could cut 2/3 of the gates without reducing the number of flights. 24 gates is clearly far more than is necessary for 115 flights per day. But 115 flights from 8 gates is 14-15 flights per gate per day. I guess that's possible if scheduling is perfect and nothing goes wrong. But I would hesitate to fly to Orlando on Delta for fear of not having a gate when we land.

 

[bicker]

Well, I wouldn't say that there is no way their current operations could be so inefficient. I can think of a few ways.

Keep in mind that a dozen of those flights could originate from just one gate each hour (the commuter gate). Does anyone know what percentage of Delta's operations in Orlando are CRJs and ATRs?

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Keep in mind that a dozen of those flights could originate from just one gate each hour (the commuter gate). Does anyone know what percentage of Delta's operations in Orlando are CRJs and ATRs?

There are right at 70 departures for the commuters (CRJ and ERJ) in the January schedule from what I can tell, which makes up the bulk of the operation in MCO. I seen them operating off the 90's gates though, even when the commuter gates weren't full. Perhaps this was out of convienience.

 

[bicker]

Sure. Why bother with the whole shuttle-bus ground operation when you have lots of spare jetway-gates? However, now, without those jetway-gates, they can put those CRJs out on the tarmac, and shuttle guests to them. They can handle all 70 of those flights from one gate.

So that leaves 45+ flights a day from 15 gates. That sounds emminently do-able.

 

[Chuck S]

Our flight to into ATL to connect to SAT was cancelled on Dec 15th (the Atlanta ice storm day), and they switched us to a CRJ non-stop to San Antonio from the lower level "60s" gates in MCO. They really don't need all those "60s" gates 60-a 60-b 60-c etc. Probably 3 or 4 of those gates would suffice fine. They can also drop some of the jetways, they are not in constant use. Assuming they count the "60s" gates as seperate gates, it won't have a big impact on Delta operations.

 

[NotUrsula]

When I read this it didn't seem to make any sense. There's no way their current operations could be so inefficient that they could cut 2/3 of the gates without reducing the number of flights. 24 gates is clearly far more than is necessary for 115 flights per day. But 115 flights from 8 gates is 14-15 flights per gate per day. I guess that's possible if scheduling is perfect and nothing goes wrong. But I would hesitate to fly to Orlando on Delta for fear of not having a gate when we land.

If you are on a small commuter jet, you won't need a "gate". More specifically, you won't need a jetway, which is what a larger plane is really waiting for when you are told that no gate is available. Commuter jets park farther from the building and bring passengers into the terminal via shuttle bus, or even just let them walk in, depending on the way the ground-level access is set up, and if their loading space is close enough to the building to allow it.

Delta's strongest route base is in the Southeast; as far west as Louisiana, and as far north as Cincinnati. Many flights to FL are plenty short enough
to be handled by commuter aircraft.