American Airlines has focused like a laser on “D0” – exact on time departures – over nearly all other priorities. That hasn’t always made them a reliable airline, but it’s led to numerous dysfunctions.
- American has focused and measured ‘D0’ but hasn’t always done all of the things that make them ready for an on-time departure.
- So it’s manifested itself in the form of managers yelling at gate agents for not getting out planes and flight attendants getting yelled at for requesting missing catering items.
- And it’s meant sending out planes with broken seats, which means selling fewer seats, rather than fixing them during the day.
United Airlines will sometimes hold a plane for connecting passengers when it’s not going to cause further delays or inconvenience others on board. American has rarely been willing to do this.
However during the first quarter earnings call on Thursday, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom signaled a shift in the airline’s thinking towards D0. In response to a question from Jamie Baker, he began suggesting that on-time departures make everything else seem better and,
The outcome of on-time arrival we know is the biggest driver of customer satisfaction…the best way to make sure on-time arrival is to make sure you depart on time.
But then he explained that his view – the airline’s view – has “evolved over time and we really do want to take into account that the things we do to get an aircraft out on time don’t compromise the rest of the operation.”
He even said they’ll hold a flight and sacrifice D0 now when it makes sense, looking both at “flights we can get out on time but when you ought to hold for connecting passengers, we do so.”
Instead of just D0, he’s more focused on:
- Right start. Having aircraft ready to go at the start of the day
- Turn planes on time so that the operation moves smoothly throughout the day
We’ll see how this subtle shift manifests itself, But for years the near-exclusive focus has been D0. Customers don’t actually care about exact on time departures. They care about on time arrivals. And while leaving on time matters, it’s the hard work that goes into that which drives reliability not the metric itself.
That means making sure planes are properly maintained; gates are properly staffed; upgrades and standbys are properly cleared (American is automating this more); flights are properly catered on time; customers are able to board with their bags when overhead bin space is available; planes are cleaned on time; to name just a few. It’s actually doing these things, rather than skipping these things, that matters.
I wish them luck with their new emphases.
In my experience, they weren’t that successful with “D0” anyway.
The Parker Terrorist Organization has caused a lot of damage that needs to be fixed.
Hopefully the AA organization will continue to make the needed adjustments and hit the outer marker and line up with the ILS.
Some communities do road work at night.
Along the line of “Right Start for the day,” perhaps maintenance is best done on a graveyard shift.
I’ve never quite understood D0. I am okay with a departure 15-30 minutes late. I know they pad the flight times. Maybe even longer for international, where I tend to build in long connections (or have a backup plan) just in case of delays. I’d rather be delayed awhile than not know the plane is in good shape and fully provisioned. It is delay, delay, delay and then cancel that I really don’t like.
@Gary – was there any talk about product or customer ? I saw the transcript from UA call and they talked a bunch about product and focusing on the customer experience.
Small anecdote – i got my step daughter and her friend Main Cabin Extra seats for a recent domestic flight . Luckily , I sent her a link to the Main Cabin Extra amenities because the FA insisted that she had to charge for beer/wine/cocktails. Obviously, that is incorrect and worked out in the end with no charge . So , even though the flight was D0 , the experience started out a bit rough because of a lack of training . Of course it’s imperative to have the operation run smoothly and efficiently but the passenger experience is far more than on-time proficiency. If AA ever hopes to gain a revenue premium , then they need to focus on the entire travel experience including onboard , customer service etc etc .
Things seemed a bit better on my last set of flights, with boarding going smoothly and us even departing a bit early. Planes were clean, food was actually decent (charcuterie plate), predeparture drinks offered, good service from the FAs. However, here are a few glitches, not that AA is reading this blog:
1. People cutting the line on boarding. This is really people being dishonest and AA not enforcing the rules, but it’s still annoying. They call Group 1 and everyone in Groups 1-4 goes for the gate. I see your Group 4 boarding pass, and you’re in with Group 1.
2. Boarding passes not automatically updating. I know this has worked in the past, but now if an upgrade clears after you’ve loaded your boarding passes into your wallet, they’re not reflecting the change and they need to print you a new one when you scan. Slows down the line just a little bit and adds up when you have to do this numerous times.
3. Big annoyance – slow bags, and then not priority. Not sure who’s actually in charge of this down below, but we do check bags since we get priority handling, it’s a nice perk of status. But when bags take an hour after landing to show up and then the priority bags are last, not first on a full flight, not cool. (It’s been awhile, but LAS has always seemed to have slow bag service.) I just saw AA offered a bag delivery service anywhere within 40 miles a few hours after landing for a reasonable $40 for 1-2 bags, $50 for 3-4 bags. Next time I’m in a hurry or trying to relax I might try this and just have them delivered to the hotel rather than steam at the carousel. Just walk off the plane and grab an Uber or rental car and go do what I want.
Focusing on D0 at the exclusion of other things hurt the very people that have to make AA work on bad days at the cost of AA running well on many more good days.
Anyone that flies DL knows that they also focus on D0 but also get all of the other things right more often than AA or UA. It is common for DL flights to arrive early which provides just a little extra time to turn an aircraft and doesn’t really impact customer demand by having to push the operation 20-30 minutes longer by scheduling earlier morning departures and later evening arrivals.
DL’s plan of operation has been pretty apparent for anyone to see for years. Isom clearly decides AA can duplicate it in part or in whole and he is probably right.
And he is right that even Coca-Cola tastes better when you are on an on-time flight that is expected to arrive at its destination early.
The problem with holding for connecting passengers is that it ignores those who have connections (or commitments!) that aren’t with the airline.
When our PHL to DTW American Airlines flight operated by PSA Airlines as American Eagle
went mechanical this week, “D0” became “D50.”
I’m retired from “another airline”. When I was working they told us that an on time departure was 85% likely to be an on time arrival. One minute late it dropped to 50%.
Changing travel plans at the last minute had me (ExP) sitting in coach on two flights yesterday.
On th connection through ORD, AA held the flight for 4 passengers that had a delayed connection.
Personally, I would rather they didn’t in this specific case as I would have gotten the bump to first and a meal.
Instead, I got a diet Coke, a 7-footer that they put into bulkhead center seat next to me (that could have easily fit two seats), and a “no, they aren’t catering us for snacks or food in coach yet”.
First may be improving, coach is not the ExP experience of the past at all.
And the question is, will they roll out an affiliate program in the future for travel bloggers? What do you think?
DO was the old CEO’s program. New CEO. New program. New execs always change stuff like that whether it needs changing or not.
Chris D, holding the plane for people making connections tends to happen at hub airports and, in the past, was used for the last fight out so people are not stranded for the night. I understand that some people do not like it, until they are the ones with the issue.
One of the main issues I am seeing with AA is the turn times they give their aircraft at outstations. For example, RJs flying into MDT from PHL and CLT have turn times as short as 30 minutes. Add that to a normal connection times of less than 60 minutes and you have a recipe for disaster. I have had GAs in PHL and CLT slam the door as I was running to the gate to make a connection because the outstations cannot turn the planes around fast enough, stranding me for the night or forcing me to fly to an alternative airport when that’s an option (like when traveling to South Florida). Not only is this lousy customer service, it’s totally avoidable.
On-time departures are increasingly useless when on 90% of routes, the pilot can make up the time in the air. If my flight is delayed 20 minutes on departure but lands on time, I couldn’t care less.
Flying in general these days is a crappy experience when compared to 25 years ago. Cramped seats/ leg room ( even for short guys like me) ,
in flight, narrow ailes
pre flight/ post fight the whole 9 yards. Dollar you to death fees for a checked bag etc. The whole experience makes one feel like you are paying to be used and abused.
DO versus properly serviced. airliner? That’s why you add in extra contingency time on the ground and in the air. You pad your chock to chock time by 30 minutes and add in an extra 30 minutes for ground time. That should result in fully serviced airliners and legally “on time” arrivals. If you happen to arrive at the gate “early” by 30 minutes? I doubt the passengers will complain much.
Holding for passengers? DL used to do that at ATL, but only for the last flight of the day for passengers using a Delta Connection airline to their final destination. For example the last flight of the day from ATL to MCN(Middle Georgia (Macon) Regional) airport.
Just had a HORRIBLE experience with AA. Their earlier flight was NOT ON TIME so we had to run through the airport to get to their next gate. We were ASSURED all would be OK. Upon arriving at gate, the black clerk gave away 2 of our tickets (I do not believe that she liked white people). She smiled and said only 4 of us could go. We ended up getting to our destination a day late (bad way to vacation with family). AA gave us nothing for their delay and what we believed was racism that we encountered. They never even reached out. Sad. No longer flying AA.
Personally I don’t believe in golding a flight for anyone. An aircraft with day 180 passengers most probably has 60-70% connections. By golding a flight all these people are running late for their connections. If you really want to make ypur flight be there early. Book an earlier connecting flight
Pilots get 12 percent profit sharing and flight attendants get 3 percent. The f a s are pissed off and sick calls are coming this summer before their new contract is settled. Face it AA is a chauvinistic airline full of good ol Texas boys who hate the F a s . Isom better cough up some money to his f a s soon. Take delta or United so much more reliable.