Airliners.net

AntonioMartin wrote:

MO11 wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

I wonder when we will get service to Puerto Penasco here at Phoenix (or Mesa for that matter)

Perhaps MQ can do it from PHX? After all, PP is Arizona's beach!

It's been done. It's really tough to beat a four hour car ride.

Hmmnnn...do you remember who used to fly it???

MO11 wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

MO11 wrote:

It's been done. It's really tough to beat a four hour car ride.

Hmmnnn...do you remember who used to fly it???

It was either Great Lakes or its predecessor in Arizona (Arizona Airways?). There was a proposal from a company in Scottsdale to start service with a Jetstream which never got off the ground. I think more recently, someone ran public charters with a Caravan from DVT or SDL.

One big problem is that you can't fly in a straight line to PPE. Due to airspace restrictions, you have to either fly over Nogales (which is typical) or Mexicali, which adds a lot of miles to the trip.

Maverick623 wrote:

Just east of the new T3S, north of the fire station there's a structure being built. Anyone know what that might be? From my T4 view it looks almost stand-alone.

AntonioMartin wrote:

I wonder when we will get service to Puerto Penasco here at Phoenix (or Mesa for that matter)

Perhaps MQ can do it from PHX? After all, PP is Arizona's beach!

Or the Mexican charter airline Global Air working with some AZ based travel agent??

travaz wrote:

Anyone remember where Cochise airlines flew out of Phoenix? They were using Twin Otters. I think Scenic tried it also.

kearnet wrote:

So I’m a bit late in posting this, as such I lost track of the exact date and time.

My office is at Priest and Washington and I’m currently fortunate enough to have a south facing view meaning I’m front row for PHX east ops.

About two weeks ago there was what appeared to be a biz jet, with what I think I was seeing, some kind of probe on it doing circuits over ASU/Tempe Market place area.

What really seemed odd to me was it looked like it was in the path and altitude for the 25s/26. As one of the neighboring buildings block my full view to the east I only got glimpses of it and couldn’t fully tell.

I’m guessing this might have been a Honeywell test aircraft?

Anyone have any insight on this?

wetpantsmcgee wrote:

kearnet wrote:

So I’m a bit late in posting this, as such I lost track of the exact date and time.

My office is at Priest and Washington and I’m currently fortunate enough to have a south facing view meaning I’m front row for PHX east ops.

About two weeks ago there was what appeared to be a biz jet, with what I think I was seeing, some kind of probe on it doing circuits over ASU/Tempe Market place area.

What really seemed odd to me was it looked like it was in the path and altitude for the 25s/26. As one of the neighboring buildings block my full view to the east I only got glimpses of it and couldn’t fully tell.

I’m guessing this might have been a Honeywell test aircraft?

Anyone have any insight on this?

FAA testing the ILS for the recently reopened 8/26.

atcsundevil wrote:

wetpantsmcgee wrote:

kearnet wrote:

So I’m a bit late in posting this, as such I lost track of the exact date and time.

My office is at Priest and Washington and I’m currently fortunate enough to have a south facing view meaning I’m front row for PHX east ops.

About two weeks ago there was what appeared to be a biz jet, with what I think I was seeing, some kind of probe on it doing circuits over ASU/Tempe Market place area.

What really seemed odd to me was it looked like it was in the path and altitude for the 25s/26. As one of the neighboring buildings block my full view to the east I only got glimpses of it and couldn’t fully tell.

I’m guessing this might have been a Honeywell test aircraft?

Anyone have any insight on this?

FAA testing the ILS for the recently reopened 8/26.

That would make sense, but the probe mentioned by kearnet is throwing me off. I've never seen a FLC aircraft with probes on it, certainly not one of the jets, and I can't think of a reason they'd need it. The only bizjets I can think of that would have probes would be for aircraft testing (either a manufacturer or a company like Honeywell) or maybe for airborne environmental sampling. It most likely was FLC though — they probably did their thing before the runway reopened, which would explain the goofy pattern (just not the probe).

atcsundevil wrote:

wetpantsmcgee wrote:

kearnet wrote:

So I’m a bit late in posting this, as such I lost track of the exact date and time.

My office is at Priest and Washington and I’m currently fortunate enough to have a south facing view meaning I’m front row for PHX east ops.

About two weeks ago there was what appeared to be a biz jet, with what I think I was seeing, some kind of probe on it doing circuits over ASU/Tempe Market place area.

What really seemed odd to me was it looked like it was in the path and altitude for the 25s/26. As one of the neighboring buildings block my full view to the east I only got glimpses of it and couldn’t fully tell.

I’m guessing this might have been a Honeywell test aircraft?

Anyone have any insight on this?

FAA testing the ILS for the recently reopened 8/26.

That would make sense, but the probe mentioned by kearnet is throwing me off. I've never seen a FLC aircraft with probes on it, certainly not one of the jets, and I can't think of a reason they'd need it. The only bizjets I can think of that would have probes would be for aircraft testing (either a manufacturer or a company like Honeywell) or maybe for airborne environmental sampling. It most likely was FLC though — they probably did their thing before the runway reopened, which would explain the goofy pattern (just not the probe).

atcsundevil wrote:

travaz wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

PHX is not equipped to handle scheduled A380 service. The only contingency is effectively on a diversion basis. No taxiways are capable of handling an A380 without impacting parallel taxiways, and I don't believe any gates are equipped for it. It can't taxi on Charlie or Romeo, and if it's on Bravo, it effectively shuts down Charlie, and could prevent aircraft from landing on 8/26 due to lack of egress. I recall seeing an A380 study done about six years ago, and long story short, it would be a mess...it would require a lot of money and result in a lot of disruption.

I thought I had read somewhere in the past the PHX was limited on the use of the A380 but didn't know if they had upgraded. I think that may put the speculation to rest. As much as PHX likes BA service I doubt they would spend the money and have the disruption to accommodate 1 A 380.

Thanks for Info atcsundevil

Right...it's a great idea, but the airport just isn't equipped. Without a legitimate business case, there's no way to justify likely hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work to the terminal and airfield. Maybe if multiple airlines were clamoring to bring their A380s, but clearly that's not the case! PHX simply has larger priorities — competing T3 and S1, demolishing T2, building out the SkyTrain, and eventually constructing a new north/south taxiway (Taxiway Uniform). A fourth runway would be nice, but Honeywell isn't about to give up their lease, and things generally run fine with three. Besides, after more than $2 billion spent in capital improvement projects between 2008-2022, they probably don't even have the money to put into things like gate reconfigurations and taxiway realignments to accommodate a scheduled A380.

hz747300 wrote:

It would not make sense, I agree. Maybe, if the route is considered metal neutral, 1 777 / 789 by BA and 1 A332 by AA, each daily.

atcsundevil wrote:

hz747300 wrote:

It would not make sense, I agree. Maybe, if the route is considered metal neutral, 1 777 / 789 by BA and 1 A332 by AA, each daily.

Absolutely. The 744 won't be around forever, so at some point, increased frequency is going to be the only option. The 77W could replace the 744, but I think the better option would be a twice daily combination of 772/788/789. BA don't have a large enough fleet of 77W, for one thing. That said, I don't know if AA will ever operate their own metal on the route. I would be pretty surprised if they did.

alasizon wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

hz747300 wrote:

It would not make sense, I agree. Maybe, if the route is considered metal neutral, 1 777 / 789 by BA and 1 A332 by AA, each daily.

Absolutely. The 744 won't be around forever, so at some point, increased frequency is going to be the only option. The 77W could replace the 744, but I think the better option would be a twice daily combination of 772/788/789. BA don't have a large enough fleet of 77W, for one thing. That said, I don't know if AA will ever operate their own metal on the route. I would be pretty surprised if they did.

A combination of the AA 332 plus the BA 772 daily would be equal to the current 1.4x peak schedule but does reduce F seats a bit but I don't think they are selling the full compliment currently. That being said, shuffling the 332 into PHX for an LHR turn seems like it would isolate it from the existing CLT/HNL runs (assuming they reappear in the future once more 787s relieve the 332s internationally) as it would likely be a LHR-PHX-LHR turn with an early PM arrival/departure but it could link up with the CLT/PHL LHR runs.

wn676 wrote:

Does AA have a firm draw-down/exit date yet for the A333s? When those do finally leave, it should make a stronger case for rotating an A332 in to PHX over LHR, if that’s what they intend to replace the CLT/PHL-LHR turns with.

In theory at least, AA could also operate an A332 to LHR for half of the year and to HNL for the other half, or with some kind of combination of months between the two, and just continue to rotate an aircraft in from CLT. With LHR they’d have to retire the CLT flight, and this is of course assuming too that HNL would work with the smaller A332. But, that could take advantage of the traffic swings in the peak seasons.

Mboyle1988 wrote:

Southwest posted their updated schedule. No new routes for PHX, but some pretty nice new capacity. +1 daily to DEN, SJC, AUS, SAT, and MSY. Southwest does seem to be adding capacity to PHX as American reduces capacity. I really do wish WN would bring New England flights back though. Serving BOS would be a huge win for the city, with BDL a nice perk as well.

uconn99 wrote:

Mboyle1988 wrote:

Southwest posted their updated schedule. No new routes for PHX, but some pretty nice new capacity. +1 daily to DEN, SJC, AUS, SAT, and MSY. Southwest does seem to be adding capacity to PHX as American reduces capacity. I really do wish WN would bring New England flights back though. Serving BOS would be a huge win for the city, with BDL a nice perk as well.

I am surprised WN never jumped on PHX-BDL since America West stopped the flight in the mid 2000's. I believe Phoenix is the largest unserved market from Hartford with good O&D between the pair.

alasizon wrote:

wn676 wrote:

Does AA have a firm draw-down/exit date yet for the A333s? When those do finally leave, it should make a stronger case for rotating an A332 in to PHX over LHR, if that’s what they intend to replace the CLT/PHL-LHR turns with.

In theory at least, AA could also operate an A332 to LHR for half of the year and to HNL for the other half, or with some kind of combination of months between the two, and just continue to rotate an aircraft in from CLT. With LHR they’d have to retire the CLT flight, and this is of course assuming too that HNL would work with the smaller A332. But, that could take advantage of the traffic swings in the peak seasons.

The 333s are slated to exit in Winter 19/20 based on the latest fleet plan but their exit seems to constantly be backing farther up. HNL needs the extra capacity but I'm not sure what the "right" long term fleet mix is for the route.

skyharborshome wrote:

Anyone know what happened Saturday around 1:30 pm? The LiveATC scanner is too far away to pickup radios from ground units so all I could hear was the closure of 8/26 and foam trucks crossing being cleared to cross the runway at the west end. I was driving by there and saw about 8 emergency vehicles however never saw a plane come in nor did I ever hear what happened. Was thinking maybe engine failure on departure so they were scanning the runway however pulling out multiple foam trucks seems to not support that. Runway opened about 5 minutes later. Just curious.

MO11 wrote:

skyharborshome wrote:

Anyone know what happened Saturday around 1:30 pm? The LiveATC scanner is too far away to pickup radios from ground units so all I could hear was the closure of 8/26 and foam trucks crossing being cleared to cross the runway at the west end. I was driving by there and saw about 8 emergency vehicles however never saw a plane come in nor did I ever hear what happened. Was thinking maybe engine failure on departure so they were scanning the runway however pulling out multiple foam trucks seems to not support that. Runway opened about 5 minutes later. Just curious.

Maybe a drill? That's not unusual.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

I wonder when we will get service to Puerto Penasco here at Phoenix (or Mesa for that matter)

Perhaps MQ can do it from PHX? After all, PP is Arizona's beach!

Or the Mexican charter airline Global Air working with some AZ based travel agent??

I had a coworker and his family make the drive down recently. I think most people would prefer to fly but the cost would be much more than sharing a car with a few people. For me, if I'm getting on a plane, I might as well go to Cabo.

AZLiam wrote:

Delta to open Sky Club in Terminal 3 in late April:
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/03/14/delta-to-open-sky-club-at-sky-harbor-airport.html

atcsundevil wrote:

AZLiam wrote:

Delta to open Sky Club in Terminal 3 in late April:
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/03/14/delta-to-open-sky-club-at-sky-harbor-airport.html

The article says late 2018. Either way, it's good to see that this is official. It's been rumored here for a while and even confirmed at one point, but this is the first official news that I've seen. I believe NWA used to have a lounge a little over a decade ago, so it's good to see they're making the investment.

AZLiam wrote:

Delta to open Sky Club in Terminal 3 in late April:
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/03/14/delta-to-open-sky-club-at-sky-harbor-airport.html

atcsundevil wrote:

AZLiam wrote:

Delta to open Sky Club in Terminal 3 in late April:
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/03/14/delta-to-open-sky-club-at-sky-harbor-airport.html

The article says late 2018. Either way, it's good to see that this is official. It's been rumored here for a while and even confirmed at one point, but this is the first official news that I've seen. I believe NWA used to have a lounge a little over a decade ago, so it's good to see they're making the investment.

AZLiam wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

AZLiam wrote:

Delta to open Sky Club in Terminal 3 in late April:
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/03/14/delta-to-open-sky-club-at-sky-harbor-airport.html

The article says late 2018. Either way, it's good to see that this is official. It's been rumored here for a while and even confirmed at one point, but this is the first official news that I've seen. I believe NWA used to have a lounge a little over a decade ago, so it's good to see they're making the investment.

Haha, thanks for the catch. I'm pretty sure I meant late 2018, but somehow got distracted.

atcsundevil wrote:

AZLiam wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

The article says late 2018. Either way, it's good to see that this is official. It's been rumored here for a while and even confirmed at one point, but this is the first official news that I've seen. I believe NWA used to have a lounge a little over a decade ago, so it's good to see they're making the investment.

Haha, thanks for the catch. I'm pretty sure I meant late 2018, but somehow got distracted.

I figured! I got a little excited when I heard April. I don't live in Phoenix anymore to see the updates; I know things are built with lightning speed there, but April would have been very impressive! In any case, I'm anxious to see how things turn out...that project is a long time coming.

kearnet wrote:

Heads up, I just a saw a DL 777 on final.

Any idea whether this is a swap or a diversion (at work so I can't check the trackers at the moment)?

INFINITI329 wrote:

kearnet wrote:

Heads up, I just a saw a DL 777 on final.

Any idea whether this is a swap or a diversion (at work so I can't check the trackers at the moment)?

Looks like it was a sub for their A333 ATL-PHX-ATL

INFINITI329 wrote:

Not sure how this missed the prying eyes of this forum, maybe I missed it being posted... HA is operating a red-eye flight HNL-PHX with an A332. tonight 03/17. It is definitely a revenue flight because as of 8:40 PM PST tickets are still available for purchase. Operating as HA 1036, arriving into PHX at 8:30 AM. HA 36 currently en route to PHX as normal.

cm642 wrote:

In my opinion the new Delta Sky Club looks far superior and more luxurious than any of the Admirals Clubs which makes me kinda sad since we're a hub for AA. It's makes me think AA's not trying as hard, like I said just my opinion.

FA9295 wrote:

INFINITI329 wrote:

Not sure how this missed the prying eyes of this forum, maybe I missed it being posted... HA is operating a red-eye flight HNL-PHX with an A332. tonight 03/17. It is definitely a revenue flight because as of 8:40 PM PST tickets are still available for purchase. Operating as HA 1036, arriving into PHX at 8:30 AM. HA 36 currently en route to PHX as normal.

That's quite interesting. I wonder why they would perform a one-off flight like that. It looks like HA 1035 departs PHX at 10:30 AM. So, the turn-around time is only two hours long. That's not a lot of time at all for a wide-body jet...

MO11 wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

I wonder when we will get service to Puerto Penasco here at Phoenix (or Mesa for that matter)

Perhaps MQ can do it from PHX? After all, PP is Arizona's beach!

It's been done. It's really tough to beat a four hour car ride.

FA9295 wrote:

cm642 wrote:

In my opinion the new Delta Sky Club looks far superior and more luxurious than any of the Admirals Clubs which makes me kinda sad since we're a hub for AA. It's makes me think AA's not trying as hard, like I said just my opinion.

Ever since the AA/US merger, AA has kinda overlooked PHX a bit. Although, they did get some regional routes, such as PHX-MFR, PHX-RDM, and PHX-EUG. I think PHX-MEM was also a route established by AA.

Anyhow, I read somewhere quite awhile back that the Phoenix airport officials were at one point, trying to persuade AA into launching a PHX-NRT flight. I think they may have also talked to All Nippon Airways, of Japan as well. I don't really know what ever happened to that...

cathay747 wrote:

PHX news on airlineroute.net: https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/

Delta Airlines in recent weeks adjusted planned Boeing 767-400ER operation on Atlanta – Phoenix route, previously scheduled as daily service from 03APR18 to 07JUN18. The 767-400ER operation has been revised to following dates only: 12MAY18, 13MAY18, 26MAY18, 27MAY18, 28MAY18.

DL1772 ATL1101 – 1215PHX 764
DL1772 PHX1310 – 1954ATL 764

wn676 wrote:

FA9295 wrote:

cm642 wrote:

In my opinion the new Delta Sky Club looks far superior and more luxurious than any of the Admirals Clubs which makes me kinda sad since we're a hub for AA. It's makes me think AA's not trying as hard, like I said just my opinion.

Ever since the AA/US merger, AA has kinda overlooked PHX a bit. Although, they did get some regional routes, such as PHX-MFR, PHX-RDM, and PHX-EUG. I think PHX-MEM was also a route established by AA.

Anyhow, I read somewhere quite awhile back that the Phoenix airport officials were at one point, trying to persuade AA into launching a PHX-NRT flight. I think they may have also talked to All Nippon Airways, of Japan as well. I don't really know what ever happened to that...

PHX has received quite a bit of attention post-merger with the following additions:

AMA
ASE
EGE
EUG
FSD
JAC
LBB
MAF
MEM
MFR
MTJ
OKC
RDM
ROW
SAF
SGU
STS

As far as NRT, it’s something that’s been discussed ad naseum on this board and IMO does not have the best chances of materializing anytime soon. US had actually secured a route authority from DL to fly PHX-NRT (more than anything I think this was just to give the illusion of a more equitable trade with the slot swap) but of course never came about, even after open skies and post-merger with AA.