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The test program for our meal sales has been well received by our customers and flight attendants. The catering vendors are still adjusting the ratios and products to find the right mix to make these sales profitable. We currently have meals for sale out of MDW to LAX, SEA, SFO, SJC, PHX, and LAS. Out of IND we sell meals to LAX, SFO, LAS, and PHX. We also sell meals on the LGA-SFO-LGA and LAX-PIE-LAX flights. In the future, we will expand our meal sales to other flights throughout our system.
Did you know that our maintenance reliability for the B-757 and B-737 aircraft is at the top of the industry quarter after quarter? In fact, for the quarter ending December 30, 2003, we were No.1 in the industry on the B-757 with a reliability rate of 99.55 percent, which means that our aircraft are ready to fly their schedule on time day after day. For the same period, we also were No.1 on the B-737 at 99.62 percent. That's pretty incredible considering that we have flown the B-737 aircraft for only a little over two years. For the rolling 12 months, we were No. 1 in the industry at 99.54 percent for the B-737 fleet and we were No. 2 on the B-757 fleet at 99.35 percent. The next time you see a mechanic, give him/her a high-five and thank them for the great work they are doing! They sure have my sincere appreciation.
This week, we expect to have FAA CAT II operational approval for the B-757 fleet. What this means is that we now can conduct approaches with reduced visibility down to 1,200 feet runway visual range (RVR) at airports where CAT II operations are approved. We have been working on this program for more than two years and it is indeed a major milestone for us. We expect approval for the B-737 to follow shortly.
Here is a recap of some schedule changes that will occur over the next three months:
On March 15, we added a third IND-MCO, which we will discontinue in the summer.
On April 20, another B-757 will be committed to the military, making this the third B-757 flying for the military, along with six L-1011s.
On May 1, we will add an additional MDW-MCO flight and a PIE-LGA flight.
On June 1, we start service from Fort Wayne to MDW with four flights a day, and we will add a sixth flight to DFW from MDW and a second MDW-GDL flight.
We also will be flying only Saab aircraft from IND-MDW with 16 flights a day.
On Saturdays only, we will add a second MDW-CUN flight.
Ed Duchnowski, our vice president of safety and security, will work with
One of ATA's high-priority goals at MDW is to reduce delays, cancellations and diversions. A key element to achieving this goal is to obtain approval for lower landing minimums for the runways at MDW. Last year we applied for — and received — FAA approval to lower the visibility from 4000 feet runway visual range (RVR) to 3000RVR for Runway 31 Center. This year, we worked with the MDW Department of Airports and removed certain obstacles — mainly trees — below the arrival/departure path of each runway at MDW.
The FAA has now accepted our request to lower the decision altitude (the point where a pilot must see the runway) by 50 feet. This new procedure should be in place within the next week. The approvals for lower landing minimums are special authorizations based on the use of our advanced instrument equipment on all of our B-757 and B-737 aircraft, such as the heads- up guidance system on the B-737 and the advanced autopilot system on the B-757. Last Saturday morning the visibility at MDW dropped below 4000RVR; and because of our special 3000RVR procedures, we were able to keep our operation moving and we avoided flight cancellations and diversions, which would have been horrific for us with a load factor over 90 percent. The 50 percent reduction in the decision altitude will be another big step to help the pilots see the runway when there is fog or reduced visibility at MDW.
taken from ATA infoline
from the emp web site emp.iflyata.com
The test program for our meal sales has been well received by our customers and flight attendants. The catering vendors are still adjusting the ratios and products to find the right mix to make these sales profitable. We currently have meals for sale out of MDW to LAX, SEA, SFO, SJC, PHX, and LAS. Out of IND we sell meals to LAX, SFO, LAS, and PHX. We also sell meals on the LGA-SFO-LGA and LAX-PIE-LAX flights. In the future, we will expand our meal sales to other flights throughout our system.
Did you know that our maintenance reliability for the B-757 and B-737 aircraft is at the top of the industry quarter after quarter? In fact, for the quarter ending December 30, 2003, we were No.1 in the industry on the B-757 with a reliability rate of 99.55 percent, which means that our aircraft are ready to fly their schedule on time day after day. For the same period, we also were No.1 on the B-737 at 99.62 percent. That's pretty incredible considering that we have flown the B-737 aircraft for only a little over two years. For the rolling 12 months, we were No. 1 in the industry at 99.54 percent for the B-737 fleet and we were No. 2 on the B-757 fleet at 99.35 percent. The next time you see a mechanic, give him/her a high-five and thank them for the great work they are doing! They sure have my sincere appreciation.
This week, we expect to have FAA CAT II operational approval for the B-757 fleet. What this means is that we now can conduct approaches with reduced visibility down to 1,200 feet runway visual range (RVR) at airports where CAT II operations are approved. We have been working on this program for more than two years and it is indeed a major milestone for us. We expect approval for the B-737 to follow shortly.
Here is a recap of some schedule changes that will occur over the next three months:
On March 15, we added a third IND-MCO, which we will discontinue in the summer.
On April 20, another B-757 will be committed to the military, making this the third B-757 flying for the military, along with six L-1011s.
On May 1, we will add an additional MDW-MCO flight and a PIE-LGA flight.
On June 1, we start service from Fort Wayne to MDW with four flights a day, and we will add a sixth flight to DFW from MDW and a second MDW-GDL flight.
We also will be flying only Saab aircraft from IND-MDW with 16 flights a day.
On Saturdays only, we will add a second MDW-CUN flight.
Ed Duchnowski, our vice president of safety and security, will work with
One of ATA's high-priority goals at MDW is to reduce delays, cancellations and diversions. A key element to achieving this goal is to obtain approval for lower landing minimums for the runways at MDW. Last year we applied for — and received — FAA approval to lower the visibility from 4000 feet runway visual range (RVR) to 3000RVR for Runway 31 Center. This year, we worked with the MDW Department of Airports and removed certain obstacles — mainly trees — below the arrival/departure path of each runway at MDW.
The FAA has now accepted our request to lower the decision altitude (the point where a pilot must see the runway) by 50 feet. This new procedure should be in place within the next week. The approvals for lower landing minimums are special authorizations based on the use of our advanced instrument equipment on all of our B-757 and B-737 aircraft, such as the heads- up guidance system on the B-737 and the advanced autopilot system on the B-757. Last Saturday morning the visibility at MDW dropped below 4000RVR; and because of our special 3000RVR procedures, we were able to keep our operation moving and we avoided flight cancellations and diversions, which would have been horrific for us with a load factor over 90 percent. The 50 percent reduction in the decision altitude will be another big step to help the pilots see the runway when there is fog or reduced visibility at MDW.
taken from ATA infoline
from the emp web site emp.iflyata.com