Why do they change their schedule?

[dogsmom]

Looking at how much AirTran has revised their schedule, I can't help but wonder why they do this? They have eliminated the late evening nonstop flight from MCO to PHIL at least thru October. I know so many people book this flight so that they can have more time in WDW. Would sending emails to AirTran expressing our dismay about these changes have any affect?

 

[Kriii]

Ohhh, I am crabby at Airtran right now. They have changed my flight TWICE and I no longer have direct, non-stop flights. I have connecting flights that will land me at my destination at 11:30 p.m. - from which I have a 90 mile drive home. If I had wanted connecting flights I would have booked them!

 

[dogsmom]

Ohhh, I am crabby at Airtran right now. They have changed my flight TWICE and I no longer have direct, non-stop flights. I have connecting flights that will land me at my destination at 11:30 p.m. - from which I have a 90 mile drive home. If I had wanted connecting flights I would have booked them!

This is what I'm talkin' about!!! Why do they do this?

 

[dudspizza]

This is what I'm talkin' about!!! Why do they do this?

Because they are a low cost carrier trying to make some money. Their prices have been lower than most out of the MSP market and I am sure they tweek to try to get an extra flight per day out of their planes.

This is the chance people take flying Airtran right now. I personally would book them without hesitation, knowing there will be schedule changes. If I don't want to take that chance, I pay a higher price and book NWA.

Duds

 

[zulaya]

See duds, I think the issue is more changing the non-stop to a stop. You know as well as I do that Airtran connects through ATL and if you are lucky, you get a short layover. Not lucky, you could get a lengthy one that either messes up your ADRs on the front end of the vacation OR gets you home really late on the back end when you are facing a long drive home.

Not everyone is as lucky as we are to live within a half hour or so of the airport. Some people do have to drive hours. If they book a flight at a certain time to ensure they aren't driving all night, and then don't get in until 11:30pm, I'd be peeved about that myself.

Maybe you are cool with having times changed around and your planned scheduled being messed around with, but some people ~ me included~ have plans that they don't want messed with.

That's why I refuse to fly Airtran to MCO. The cost savings is not worth the hassle to me and the possibility that my plans will be chucked out the window because Airtran decides on a whim to make a non-stop a stop.

 

[cbrfan]

I'm sure it has to be about getting the maximum number of passengers on the minimum number of planes. If I was in the discount airline business I'd do the same thing. It's called "cost-effectiveness". I fly AT all the time for several reasons. The price, the aircraft, the rewards program, advance seating at minimal cost, credit when the fare drops and proximity and ease of departure airport. I understand SWA doesn't change their schedules very often but even if they offered a lower fare I'd stay with AT for one major reason....I don't have to go to DTW!!!

 

[jobie61]

My late flight is still there for Sept 1st. Depart MCO at 8:10 arrive in PHL at 10:30 or so.

I've never had a problem with them changing flights except for a few minutes.

 

[Lewisc]

Airlines change their schedule to reduce empty seats (increase load factor) and to reduce the flights that require deeply discounted fares in order to sell seats. Airlines don't want to fly empty planes nor do they want to planes full of passengers that are flying at fares that are below cost.

Sending emails won't do any good. AirTran is basing their decision on what passengers are really doing, not what passengers say they're going to do in emails.

I don't know if most airlines can make money with $200 R/T fares but people on DIS are looking for money losing fares of under $150.

Looking at how much AirTran has revised their schedule, I can't help but wonder why they do this? They have eliminated the late evening nonstop flight from MCO to PHIL at least thru October. I know so many people book this flight so that they can have more time in WDW. Would sending emails to AirTran expressing our dismay about these changes have any affect?

 

[CarolA]

Part of it may be driven by some changes the FAA is making here in ATL to TRY to reduce congestion. Landing slots have been rearranged some and that tends to have a ripple effect throughout both DLs and AirTrans schedule. And it's an ongoing effort here, it's not a one time thing....

 

[Sea Turtles]

They have eliminated the late evening nonstop flight from MCO to PHIL at least thru October.

Did u call AirTran to find this out, or just going off their website? I booked my air thru Disney so I called them since they're essentially my TA, and they showed that late evening flight (629) as still being available in mid Sept.

 

[mrslur]

Did u call AirTran to find this out, or just going off their website? I booked my air thru Disney so I called them since they're essentially my TA, and they showed that late evening flight (629) as still being available in mid Sept.

If you check the AirTran web site you will see that 629 has been cancelled at least for September. We love this flight! We were booked to fly it on Sept. 20th. I called AirTran as soon as I noticed it was gone and they had put us on a one-stop flight that had us getting home at 1:00am. No thanks. They gave me the option of any flight I wanted that day or the next. I did pick a one-stop that gets us home at 10:30 although we have to leave a couple of hours earlier than we wanted.

 

[MrMarv]

The fact that Airtran has changed that flight from a non-stop to a one stop is, as stated by others above, merely trying to get more revenue out of a single plane.

Since a single Southwest aircraft can usually make anywhere from 9-12 flights per day due to their point-to-point network as opposed to the hub-and-spoke system that the six legacy carriers utilize, Southwest tends to get more revenue per day out of each of their aircraft than most, if not all, of the other carriers.

Even though they've been flying coast-to-coast nonstops for over 14 years, such as LA-Baltimore, and have plenty of 3.5-4.5 hour long nonstop flights from cities such as Nashville and Chicago to the West Coast, they're masters at maximizing their revenue from as many flights as they can.

 

[Sea Turtles]

If you check the AirTran web site you will see that 629 has been cancelled at least for September. We love this flight! We were booked to fly it on Sept. 20th.

Such an ideal flight! But, oh well...
I called today and got bumped to an earlier nonstop.