Question for ASA DFW CR7 pilots

[General Lee]

I have some questions for you guys. I just saw in the OAG that you are adding CR7's to SNA from DFW in SEP. I guess that is the right move (from MD90's) in the Fall--due to the lighter loads....

Anyways, here are the questions: What are your trips like out of DFW? I saw that you have late afternoon flights from DFW to OAK, ONT, and SNA, and then they go on to SLC, and then back to those cities. Do you guys have long SLC overnights? Do you have short ones in those cities and then fly back to DFW in the early morning? Do you have trips that go to DCA, overnight, and then cross country? I was just curious.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[sleepy]

I start one this week out of ATL, I'll let you know how it goes. It's a 5 day trip out of ATL with overnights in DFW, ONT, and DCA.

 

[General Lee]

Sleepy,

5 day trip? Ouch. Do you remember what the legs were? It must be worth a lot of hours, which is good. Bring a couple shirts....

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Heavy Set]

How do you like flying the CR7?

I have ridden on a CR7 in the back as a pax - unfortunately it was a bit uncomfortable for a longish flight... How do the pilots enjoy flying it? We did take off like a bat out of HELL though - nice acceleration...

 

[rjcap]

5 day trip? Ouch. Do you remember what the legs were? It must be worth a lot of hours, which is good. Bring a couple shirts....

I start this trip on Friday. It is an ATL based trip.

Eventhough it is 5 days the blessing is we leave ATL on day 1 early and don't come back until we are done on day 5.

here is the breakdown.

ATL - SAT, SAT - DFW day 1
DFW - ONT, ONT - SLC, SLC - ONT day 2
ONT - DFW, DFW - DCA day 3
DCA- DFW day 4
DFW - JAN, JAN - ATL day 5

The interesting aspect of this trip is it is the first coast to coast pairing that gets us out of the southeast collection of pathetic destinations.

It will be interesting to see how these pairings develop in the future.

 

[ASApuppy]

The trips out of DFW for the CR7 are getting better. For the last few months there has only been a dayline to DCA and 4 day trips to OAK-ONT-DCA. The only real difference being am or pm flying. We only spend the night in SLC when we break it there. ASA contracts with Delta for maintience there rather than use Skywests more CRJ familar mechs. This month we get two day trips and a nap added. One of the 4 day trips went away. The two day trips spend the night in SNA (2), and OAK. The nap is to New Orleans. We also are going to CVG on one of the 2 days. The 5 day trip for the ATL crews is going away in OCT and the 3 days they fly out of DFW will turn back to DFW crews. This was our original 3 day trip before we added OAK.

Latest rumor was SAN, but I didn't catch whether that was an additional flight or more mainline replacement. Loads to SAN are always full and there are only 3 flights there and 2 back.

 

[General Lee]

ASApuppy and RJCap,

Thank you for replying. Those are interesting trips and the coast to coast thing is exciting for you guys. I have no problem with the 70 seaters flying the routes, as long as the loads are lighter than a MD90 load. That only makes sense. Hopefully things will improve for all of us and those current flights will eventually be regained by mainline, and the 70 seaters will be put on more route finding trips--like DFW to Jackson Hole, and DFW to Key West etc..... For what it is worth, I know this is hard to beileve, but a DFW based flight attendant group I just flew with (all 30 year plus mamas), just said that there was a meeting with crew planning at the DFW base and that they admitted that they pulled too many flights out of DFW, and that they may increase them in the future--including the DFW to HNL flight. (which made them all start drooling..) I personally don't see our mainline flights ever being like they were again in DFW, but I can see them increasing the size of some of the planes. They took out most of the 757/767 flying to ATL for example, and put mostly MD88s--which are always oversold. They need to put more 737-800s in there to connect the east and west coasts, and that HNL flight would be nice for frequent flyers and non revs like you and me---the ATL flight is packed......

Bye Bye----General Lee

 

[701EV]

General Lee,

Here is a 4 day trip out of DFW.

701EV


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A7813 : 03SEP ONLY ON WED BSE REPT: 0625L Operates: Sep 3 Only
Base/Equip: ATL/CR7 CA01
DY DH C FLTNO DPS-ARS DEPL ARRL BLKT GRNT TBLK TDHD TCRD TPAY TDUTY LAYOVER
WE DH 1059 ATL-DFW 0725 0831 0206 0119
WE 4908 DFW-OAK 0950 1145 0355 0355 0206 0601 0835 OAK 1755
D-END: 1200L (NR 900) REPT: 0555L
TH 4803 OAK-DFW 0640 1206 0326 0104
TH 4192 DFW-DCA 1310 1705 0255 0621 0621 0825 DCA 1215
D-END: 1720L (NR 1100) REPT: 0535L
FR 4205 DCA-DFW 0620 0845 0325 0055
FR 4179 DFW-ONT 0940 1059 0319 0644 0644 0839 ONT 1931
D-END: 1114L (NR 900) REPT: 0645L
SA 4186 ONT-DFW 0730 1224 0254 0156
SA DH 1562 DFW-ATL 1420 1739 0219 0254 0219 0513 0809
D-END: 1754L T.A.F.B.: 8329 DHD: 0425
Total: 1954 0425 0000 2419 3348

 

[General Lee]

701EV,

Wow, that really is a "Coast to Coast" trip. That makes sense since the later flights to the West Coast that go on towards SLC and back to that particular city, leave on the afternoon flight to DFW. Well, that is good for you guys and atleast you get to see sunny California and busy DCA in the same trip. Besides the possible SAN supplement, any other rumors on new cities? With the leading edge devices, I bet you could fly into Jackson Hole this Winter from DFW. (We did it on the 757 from ATL on Saturdays last Winter---FUN) Thanks for responding.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[StaySeated]

Wow, those two leg days must be rough...here is an example of one of my days this week on the Dornier at Skyway.

ATW-MKE
MKE-CLE
CLE-MKE
MKE-MSN
MSN-MKE
MKE-IND
IND-MKE
MKE-MSN

I get dizzy just typing that many legs!

 

[General Lee]

Stayseated,

Atleast you do have some long ones (MKE-CLE) to relax alittle. How long is that on the Dojo? 1 and 1/2 hours?

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[climbhappy]

How has Song been doing? Will it be the first major airline branded discount operation to succeed and grow?

 

[General Lee]

Song has been doing well. The loads have been strong (77% in July). The introduction of the TV systems will help with customer retention, and now all 3 major NYC airports are served. I know this sounds like a commercial, but I think it is doing well, and by the end of the year we will have 37 757s on it--so that will be the true test. When the weather gets cold this Winter, we shall see how the loads are. Fred Reid said the CASM was near 7.0, which is great. So far so good. But, there are undoubtably people out there that think it will fail. We shall see.

Bye Bye--General Lee