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Same City Pairing, Different Route
So my wife and I enjoy going to Cancun as often as we can. For the summer this year both Delta and American are running Saturday only non-stops from Nashville, but what I find odd is they take very different routes getting there. American 801 runs down the west coast of Florida to Key West then a right turn and straight over to Cancun. Delta 539 which leaves :30 minutes later heads south to New Orleans, then straight down to Cancun. Since time is money...and burned fuel, why would American take a slightly longer route..? It's block times are about :20 minutes longer.?
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog"
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
Different dispatchers will route aircraft differently depending on a multitude of factors. Due to military airspace in the gulf and cun prefered arrivals there are a finite number of routes which can be flown into CUN from the eastern USA. One takes you over the yucatan on the Otomo arrival, the other via Tadpo and Cuban airspace eventually direct the CUN VOR but you'll get vectors over isla de mujeres. If winds aren't strong it's a coin flip which is quicker.
[Edited 2016-05-28 05:42:57]
[Edited 2016-05-28 05:42:57]
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
N757ST... I understand that part of route selection.....but this is every week...and only :30 minutes different departures. We flew down on Delta in February...and already booked our December trip on American....and hoping to pull one more off this summer. We really miss the USAirways flight we'd take down. Yes, there is a difference.
[Edited 2016-05-28 05:56:13]
[Edited 2016-05-28 05:56:13]
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog"
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- maxholstemh1521
- Posts: 40
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RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
The American Aircraft may not be overwater equipped, and the Delta aircraft is. There is a pretty decent size chunk of the gulf that is not within 162nm of the shore. Going south from MSY will put you right inside that area.
[Edited 2016-05-28 06:05:04]
[Edited 2016-05-28 06:05:04]
It's not a Beaver
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- BostonBeau
- Posts: 547
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RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
I think maxholstemh1521 may have hit on it. In the olden days, not every aircraft was equipped with life jackets and life rafts if there was no likelihood of the plane regularly flying over water. That may still be true since it does save considerable weight. I remember flying to Miami from Boston once. The most direct route would be mostly over water. Going down, we were over water basically after Rhode Island, whereas coming back, we were mostly over land. I asked why on the return trip and was told that the aircraft had no life rafts so we could not take the more direct route.
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
Dispatch is a mystery.
I follow (almost) every night the departure of El-Al flights to New York (JFK & EWR) and Boston (which from TLV it is on the same route) which departs shortly one after the other.
It is the same company, same departure time, they all should fly the same initial direction and yet I can see them flying in different directions (one can head north to Cyprus and Turkey, the other North West to Rhodos and Greece and from there over the Balkan or even Italy in rare occasions).
Why? When you depart TLV, what is the difference between JFK and EWR?
Go figure.
I follow (almost) every night the departure of El-Al flights to New York (JFK & EWR) and Boston (which from TLV it is on the same route) which departs shortly one after the other.
It is the same company, same departure time, they all should fly the same initial direction and yet I can see them flying in different directions (one can head north to Cyprus and Turkey, the other North West to Rhodos and Greece and from there over the Balkan or even Italy in rare occasions).
Why? When you depart TLV, what is the difference between JFK and EWR?
Go figure.
Long live the B747
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
Forgot entirely about the rafts. A large portion of ex us Airbuses are not raft equipped. That is the only requirement though over the gulf. Even though some of the route is outside VHF range there is no need for an HF radio.
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
| Quoting N757ST (Reply 6): That is the only requirement though over the gulf. |
The crew also needs to be "overwater" trained/certified. For LAA pilots that is what separates the "international" and "domestic" division qualifications. As a "domestic" 737 pilot, I can not operate beyond 162nm from land when flying over the Gulf even though the plane has all required equipment.
*NO CARRIER* -- A Naval Aviator's worst nightmare!
RE: Same City Pairing, Different Route
I wish more threads were like this one. I've learned more in 7 posts here than I normally do in a day on this site.
Ben YVR
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