Want to Turn Planes Around Faster? Delta, United, and Southwest Have Some Creative Ideas

We saw separately how Delta Air Lines customer service agents came up with an idea that shaves a couple of minutes off turnaround time for the airline"s jets at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. 

I was curious whether other lines did the same or similar thing, so I reached out to all of the Big Four. Southwest and United replied, while Delta also responded with a couple of other ideas worthy of attention.

Turnaround time is a big deal. The FAA reported in 2010 that flight delays cost the U.S. economy roughly $ 32.9 billion a year. Andit"s one of the key metrics on which airlines  judge themeselves.

Here are some of the other things big airlines are doing to turn airplanes around more quickly.

45 degree pushback

This is the original idea that Delta customer service agents came up with. We"ll summarize it here: Instead of pushing an airplane straight back from the gate, then turning it 90 degrees and pushing it again, the idea is to push straight back at a 45 degree angle.

This simple change shaves about a minute or more off turnaround time, which really adds up over 1,000 or more flights a day. Delta does it at Atlanta and Detroit. And, United tells me they do a 45-degree pushback at some airports as well, "depending on a variety of factors including aircraft type and setup of gate."

The Quick Turn Playbook

This one is all United. The airline has what it calls a "Quick Turn Playbook," which is a proprietary document that it says outlines "how all departments work together to help reduce the amount of time it takes to service and turn an aircraft."

"The playbook was developed with the help and input of United frontline employees," a United spokesperson told me. "We continue to go back to employees to solicit feedback on how it can be continuously improved."

Maybe it"s working: United ranked #1 among competitors during the Q2 of 2018 for on-time departures.

Open seating

Yes, this one is limited to only one big airline--Southwest--and they were quick to point it out when I asked about turnaround tactics. Letting passengers take any open seat "saves us valuable time and keeps our aircraft moving efficiently," as a spokesperson put it.

It"s hard to understand why other airlines don"t copy this--perhaps not on entire plans, but maybe by letting economy passengers board in order of how expensive their fares are?

Self-parking guidance systems

Both Delta and United told me they use laser-guided parking systems at some airports and gates. 

Instead of an employee standing on the ground and guiding the plane in with a couple of orange flags or lights, the laser system lets the pilot know how to inch the plane up to the gate, and when to stop. That means the employees can get ready to hook airplanes up to ground power and do other tasks more quickly.

Not charging for checked bags

Again, this is just Southwest, which doesn"t charge bag fees for any passengers. That"s in contrast to economy class passengers on United, American and Delta.

As a result, on any given Southwest flight there are likely fewer people carrying bags onto the plane and trying to put them in an overhead compartment to avoid a bag fee. That means less blocking of the aisles, and a faster process. 

The one they"re not doing

I found a few other interesting tactics. Ryanair, the low cost European carrier, says it cut turnaround time "dramatically" by removing seat back pockets, which means there"s no place for passengers to stick trash that has to be cleaned out. 

But the interesting one is a more complicated boarding dance called the Steffen Method, after the astrophysicist who came up with it in 2014. In summary, passengers would board from the outside in: window, then middle, and then aisle. And they"d board from the back, skipping every other row.

One drawback: Travelers flying together couldn"t board together if they were really strict about the process. Maybe that"s why it hasn"t really caught on.

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Delta Passengers Are Outraged. They Say Those With the Cheapest Tickets Are Getting Nicer Seats

Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. 

"You"ll enjoy the best elite travel experience whenever you fly."

That"s how Delta Air Lines describes the blessed privilege of being a Delta Medallion member.

Not just elite, but the best elite. The elite of the elite. 

I worry, therefore, that some of these Delta elitists are concerned that their eliteness is not complete.

And, indeed, that they"re being cast aside when it comes to upgrades, in favor of the riff-raff who bought the cheapest tickets.

Points, Miles and Martinis describes the pain: "On a recent trip, I noticed that the flight went from 6 Comfort Plus seats an hour before the flight, down to just 1 seat, 30 minutes prior as a result of the gate agents clearing Basic Economy passengers into Comfort Plus."

Indeed, on this occasion, Points, Miles and Martinis insists that only one Medallion customer received an upgrade to Comfort Plus, while five Basic Economists were slipped straight into these more comfortable seats.

Others  commenting on this accusation said they"d seen similar events too. 

Goodness, this is like pulling people in off the street and giving them a table at the French Laundry. (Well, almost.)

It"s like giving lower-paid people a tax break that"s bigger than that poured upon the rich.

These Medallionists are peeved that Delta appears to be favoring the Basic Economists, who are only given a seat at the last minute.

The idea of Basic Economy -- or Sub-Cattle Class, as I prefer to call it -- is to shove these low-fare passengers into the middle seats that are left over. Not the Comfort Plus seats that are, well, a little more comfortable.

The suspicion is that, on some flights, gate agents are giving the nicer seats to these low-paying customers in order to get packed flights out on time.

I contacted the airline for its view. 

"While the situation described does not align with Delta"s upgrade procedure/policy, there is not a way to determine the Medallion level of other customers or the fare product another customer purchased via gate upgrades or standby displays," a Delta spokesman told me.

So what are these aggrieved Medallionists supposed to do?

"Any customer who feels they were not given the correct seat assignment should share their concern with customer care, who will review their inquiry," said the airline spokesman.

Some might fear, though, that this could be another painful assault on an airline"s most important customers.

Last week, I wrote about how United Airlines was angering its First Class passengers, removing some favorite menu items from its premium offerings.

Just, it seems, to save a little lucre.

Still, this alleged Delta move might encourage some passengers to buy the lowest fares, in the hope that they"ll actually get far lovelier seats.

Don"t airline passengers realize that the concept of Something For Nothing is precisely the one that airlines are fighting against?

Their principle these days is Everything For A Payment.

If this alleged Delta generosity toward the Sub-Cattle Class is true, it casts a pall on the image and modern purpose of airlines.

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