"Airport layovers lengthen as airlines try to cut costs"

Monday, November 15, 2004

Airline cuts bring longer layovers 
By Barbara De Lollis
USA TODAY


The scramble by big traditional U.S. airlines to become profitable again is
leaving many travelers with longer airport layovers.

The typical American Airlines passenger connecting through Dallas/Fort Worth
now has a 75-minute wait, 11 minutes longer than four years ago, according
to an analysis by Back Aviation Solutions for USA TODAY. Waits for
connecting flights have also lengthened for American and United passengers
at Chicago O'Hare and for US Airways passengers at Philadelphia, says Back,
which analyzed schedules for February 2005. (Related story: 10 great places
to hang out during a layover)

Back found no change in the average wait for Delta passengers in Atlanta.

Hub airport layovers are lengthening on average because American, United,
Delta and US Airways are spreading flight times more evenly over the day to
save money. They're mimicking the scheduling strategy of successful
discounters such as Southwest. Spreading flights more evenly squeezes
productivity from planes and ground crews. 

Big airlines traditionally have clustered flights in a series of
high-activity periods over the day to give fliers the ability to make quick
connections. But accommodating peak periods has meant having extra planes,
gates, people and tractors to move bags at peak times.

For money-losing big airlines, the new-style hub strategy is central to
plans for turning business around. It has saved American "tens of millions"
of dollars, says spokesman Tim Wagner. How:

   . Labor costs are down because fewer ground crewmembers can do more work
when it's scheduled evenly.

   . Revenue is up because American can fly its planes more hours per day.

Longer layovers aren't necessarily a bad thing, some travelers say. "A few
extra minutes to make a connection takes much stress and pressure off the
journey," says frequent flier Roy Berger of Birmingham, Ala.

Back's analysis also shows that the airlines' scheduled trip durations, on
average, stayed roughly the same over the four years despite longer
layovers.

A possible reason, says analyst John Weber of Back, is that airlines have
allowed for plenty of slack in their published trip durations.


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