United vs. Southwest Airlines’ Flight Planning Strategies, Explained | WSJ Booked

United Airlines flies 988 routes globally with around 30,000 departures every week. How do airlines choose where to fly when they have so many flights every week?

It turns out legacy airlines like American and Delta and low-cost airlines like Southwest and Spirit use different models when planning their route networks. WSJ asked United’s global network planning expert to explain how airlines plan and manage their routes.

0:00 Meet Patrick Quayle, a global network planning executive
0:27 The hub-and-spoke network structure
2:50 The linear route system, point-to-point
4:45 When to update route networks

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#Flights #Travel #WSJ

[paragtech]

I like when people are enthusiastic about their work.

[slipperyslope]

This is the kind of guy you want working for your airline, crunching complex logistics. Keep this guy at all costs, he's oozing with passion.

[fraydendsofsanity]

As much as airlines can screw up and get things wrong, it's amazing how much they are able to get right managing these thousands of flights per day

[TheSysrocked]

What a great informative video to watch! No Drama, No Bull. Just straight to the point.

[muhammed]

Concise and succinct oration Mr. Quayle. Good production by WSJ as always!

[mikentx]

I cannot imagine anything more complex than running an airline. You have to plan out routes. Plan on seasonal changes. Plan on things like a big rush for the Super Bowl. make sure if you have a change what plane flies a route because you need a bigger or smaller plane. That you have pilots for it. Most people do not know that a pilot is certified to fly just one type of an aircraft at a time. So a pilot of a Boeing 737 cannot one day fly an Airbus 320. Even though they are the same size of aircraft. Plan on constant ongoing maintenance on aircraft that is performed at many airports. Plan crew schedules (this is a huge complex deal) There are strict rules about rest and days off. Plan on ongoing crew training. Book hotel rooms for lay overed crew. Keep tract of luggage. Find lost luggage. Buy fuel. Plan the exact route each flight will fly. Taking in account weather and winds. Have dispatchers that monitor flights in real time. All of this is just scratching the surface of what they really have to do every day.

[piphastings]

Great job Patrick. I've always been impressed with you and this just gives me another reason to be impressed. Thanks WSJ.

[aznpridebuhhd]

As a scheduler and planner (diff industry), really enjoyed this video!

[cellpat]

I work at one of their hubs and can say that convenience costs both the passenger and the provider. They can't fly those big routes they have if this type of model is not used. From one Pat to another, good job Pat.

[mtunofun]

I have the unique quirk of living in between a major hub and and medium sized airport, SFO and SMF. Although SMF is slightly closer, I prefer to use SFO because of the availability of more direct flights and lounges. But if SMF has a direct flight, I do like flying out of there. It’s a very lovely airport for size city it has and never crowded.

[logantrigg]

Such an interesting video and so well explained

[bwayobrian]

Always love Yr informative content...big love🎉

[jaxonmattox]

Southwest is not a LCC, it is just a normally priced carrier that offers the quality of a LCC

[KeemBeckford]

The way he describes things and. Breaks it down is really interesting.

[Bdbabsfbbs]

He’s so cool, like the kind of guy that would make you want to do his job when you’re older

[markanthony]

I love videos like this. I fly a lot for work and I found I’m very much interested in airlines and airports

[anotheran]

Customer prefer point to point but if we had to go transoceanic like described, you're mostly stuck having to get to a hub for that bigger plane. During severe weather systems, Southwest needs to temporarily pivot to a hub stoke system to be able to get everyone to where they need to go. you need more aircraft to service the same number of airports if you did a point to point for each one (which southwest probably doesn't do).

[torquetography]

Mr.Quayle just explained my future dream job!

[zenthorp]

this is so informal, i've always been curious about the analytics of flights through the day, how hub / flow is managed etc 😀#WSJ

[Gazma_Muzaale]

a whole ton of information and knowledge mushed into a 6 minute video