Delta’s massive schedule shakeup — described as the largest single-day schedule redesign in aviation history — got off the ground and was running full speed ahead.
The massive schedule route rescheduling was praised by passengers at Delta’s Atlanta hub.
“The lines seem to be shorter,” business traveler Mike Hall told The Atlanta Constitution Journal. “Thumbs up; it’s working.”
The airline is reorganizing and consolidating flights around its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City, while shutting down its former hub at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW).
The schedule changes include more than 1,000 daily Delta flights departing from Atlanta, with flights to 37 key destinations departing every 60 to 90 minutes.
Under its “Operation Clockwork” plan, Delta rescheduled flights to arrive and depart evenly throughout the day instead of in Delta Air Lines waves, according to USA Today.
The old scheduling model left planes and ground crews idle for longer periods of time. The faster airplane-turnaround time helped the carrier add 81 extra flights a day in Atlanta.
Delta hopes the change will generate up to $100 million in savings and new revenue within a year.
“The worst mistake that we can have is having a plane sitting out there waiting to come into a gate. We’re burning fuel,” said Rob Maruster, vice president in charge of Delta’s operations at Atlanta.
Delta Airlines says it’s also adding a direct flight between Salt Lake City and Maui, and that more than a dozen other cities will have direct flights out of Salt Lake City after it shuts down its hub operations at the airport in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Report by David Wilkening
