Alaska Airlines turns around turnaround times
5:22 PM
Charles dickens
,
SEATAC, Wash. (AP) - Alaska Airlines Flight 72 is still 20 minutes missing from the airport, but dozens of ramp workers, mechanics, fuelers, cleaners and gate agents are previously staged for its arrival.
A huge electronic sign above the airport's Gate C-11 displays the flight's vital statistics.
It tells the effort team that the flight is coming from Juneau, Alaska, to Sea-Tac Airport. It also spells out where the flight goes subsequently.
Most prominently, the screen counts down the minutes remaining until the airplane must push back from the gate as Flight 464 bound for Los Angeles.
If Flight 72 is on time, that crew has an hour to deplane the Juneau passengers and their luggage, clean the airplane, service the bathrooms, add fuel, load new luggage and passengers, and fix any mechanical or electronic issues that have developed on the air travel down from southeast Alaska.
Odds are, they will be successful. Sea-Tac based Alaska ranks first among the nation's major airlines this year in on-time presentation. In unofficial statistics compiled by Portland's Flightstats.com, 90.12 percent of Alaska's flights arrived on time previous month.
It wasn't always so. Less than five years ago, Alaska ranked dead last among the 19 airlines tracked by the federal Department of Transportation, with just 69.7 percent of its flights arriving promptly.
While Alaska's standing for customer service over the years has ranked high, its on-time presentation was less than mediocre. The airline ranked seventh among airlines the DOT tracks for on-time recital in the 23 years since the DOT began compiling on-time figures. That seventh ranking is not as excellent as it appears. Only eight domestic airlines that existed in September 1987 when tracking happening are still flying today.
Alaska had excused itself for lateness by citing its intricate flying conditions in remote parts of Alaska and on the foggy West Coast, said Ben Minicucci, Alaska chief operating officer. But Minicucci said that excuse was just a prop for substandard performance.
A huge electronic sign above the airport's Gate C-11 displays the flight's vital statistics.
It tells the effort team that the flight is coming from Juneau, Alaska, to Sea-Tac Airport. It also spells out where the flight goes subsequently.
Most prominently, the screen counts down the minutes remaining until the airplane must push back from the gate as Flight 464 bound for Los Angeles.
If Flight 72 is on time, that crew has an hour to deplane the Juneau passengers and their luggage, clean the airplane, service the bathrooms, add fuel, load new luggage and passengers, and fix any mechanical or electronic issues that have developed on the air travel down from southeast Alaska.
Odds are, they will be successful. Sea-Tac based Alaska ranks first among the nation's major airlines this year in on-time presentation. In unofficial statistics compiled by Portland's Flightstats.com, 90.12 percent of Alaska's flights arrived on time previous month.
It wasn't always so. Less than five years ago, Alaska ranked dead last among the 19 airlines tracked by the federal Department of Transportation, with just 69.7 percent of its flights arriving promptly.
While Alaska's standing for customer service over the years has ranked high, its on-time presentation was less than mediocre. The airline ranked seventh among airlines the DOT tracks for on-time recital in the 23 years since the DOT began compiling on-time figures. That seventh ranking is not as excellent as it appears. Only eight domestic airlines that existed in September 1987 when tracking happening are still flying today.
Alaska had excused itself for lateness by citing its intricate flying conditions in remote parts of Alaska and on the foggy West Coast, said Ben Minicucci, Alaska chief operating officer. But Minicucci said that excuse was just a prop for substandard performance.
