Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

Do you think NWA is having a schedule faux pas or they really are flying CRJ's between Indianapolis and Fort Myers during prime season?

AirTran could take advantage of this and severely put a crunch on their pockets and profit margin.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

The way I understood was that they were supposed to put DC9's on all their FL routes. I think 2x daily for the holiday travel season. But the online schedules don't seem to match the press release.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

Well, something might be amiss there. You can pick a seat aboard a CRJ and the whole nine yards when booking.

When you get into March, though, the DC9 option pops back up.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

How many, and which, days did you check? It's not uncommon for airlines to switch out a/c types, especially when repositioning for new routes. And it's possible that they're starting some of the service with CRJ's, but will switch them to DC9's if they see sales approaching 30-35 seats per flight.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

i checked dates November, December, January, and February. that is prime time for Indy to Florida.

the DC9's start reappearing in early March.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Will we see the E jets replace the niners here next year?

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

I suspect Indianapolis will stay predominantly Airbus and DC9 operations until the new airport opens and Northwest can secure some additional gate space for increased flight frequencies and operations.

Member

Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Posts: 248
Location: Lexington ky

the problem of securing more gates is theres only like what 7 more gates

could they go back and add more gates right now and save money down the road?

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

No, not really. Northwest is in A and has all of A because they were able to get enough gates that they needed at the time, and all in succession. At this point and time they don't even utilize all of the A concourse to the fullest potential, but down the road when the larger size regional jets replace the DC9 flying, then there probably will be a need for two more gates due to increased frequencies of operations.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Their plan "A" was not the "A" concourse. It was the 10 gates in the "D" concourse. But that fell through when US survived. I know they do still want more gates but at this time it looks as if they are going to wait the 2 years until the new terminal opens. If they wanted to operate like they did before they got all 8 gates they could go as high as 80 flights per day. But if you were ever in the "A" concourse when it was them and Southwest you'd know what a nightmare it was. That concourse (the entire airport actually) was never designed for that kind of load. The concourses in the new terminal will be nearly twice as wide. This will make the large passenger loads much easier to deal with.

Personally I can't wait to ride the moving walkways.

I just hope they aren't as lame as the ones in AMS which constantly repeat "mind your step".

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

I agree...the current layout at the old terminal at IND is not conducive to the type of schedule NWA has today. Once the new terminal opens, it will be much wider, roomier and easier to use. It will be like when DTW built their terminal...the old C,D, E, and F concourses were nightmares when flying Northwest, especially during the holiday season. People would have to sit against the walls because there were not enough seats in the gate areas. Then the McNamara terminal opened and DTW went from the worst to one of the best in my opinion.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Yeah I agree. Worst to first. I only flew to the old terminal once but that was enough for me.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

I remember flying back to IND from PHL via DTW back in 2001 or 2002 and the flight to IND was supposed to leave at 10pm or somewhere around there...we did not leave until 3:20 am. It was a 727 and they had tofly a part in from MSP. It was very erie being in the old DTW terminal (Concourse C) at that time of night/morning. And with nothing to eat/drink (except the disgusting water fountains) it was crazy. Why they did not cancel the flight and just put us on a morning one is beyond me.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

That happened to us one day in MSP. We were supposed to leave about 5:00 p.m. But, it took them four hours to determine we needed to switch aircraft, and then another 2 or 3 to get an aircraft. We didn't get back to IND until 1:00 am. Biggest ghost town of an airport I had ever seen...

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

It probably would have been a "ghostown" at the new terminal if the same thing happened but at least you are in a nicer place and more roomier instead of a dungeon.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Do you remember in the old DTW terminal how the moving sidewalks were kind of hidden behind a wall? It was all very strange.

Also, I always found it ironic how the DTW and MEM airports kind of reminded me of each other. They both had that dark, low-ceiling, brown brick motif.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

Question...i just bought a one way ticket on NW from here to PHL (non stop) for December 30...how safe am i taking into account the labor problems? I also have a ticket for November 16....

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I wouldn't worry about it. It's flown on a Pinnacle RJ, not mainline a/c.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

That's right...i don't know why i did not realize that *lol*

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

Some Indianapolis to Ft. Lauderdale dates are also coming up CRJ service. First flight ouf of the day, interestingly enough.