Aeromexico - >> The Cranky Flier

Browsing Posts in Aeromexico

LAX Trying to Make Room for More Airlines

January 11, 2007 CF 6 comments

Thanks to an ill-advised agreement with surrounding communities that limits the number of gates at LAX, operator LAWA is looking for ways to optimize the gates that already exist.

First, let’s describe LAX for those who aren’t in the know. The terminals are all in a horseshoe shape, as you can see below.

Of the nine terminals at LAX, fewer than half are run by the airport itself. For example Delta leases out Terminal 5 and nobody else can fly there unless Delta subleases them the space. On the other hand, LAX runs Terminal 1 where US Airways and Southwest fly and those terminals are bursting at the seams. If you don’t see where I’m going, I’ll be blunt:

Terminal 1 – 9.4 flights per gate per day
Terminal 5 – 4.5 flights per gate per day

Hmm, you think Terminal 5 is underutilized? Clearly.

For those who are interested in the details, I looked at today’s (Jan 11) schedule for both terminals.*

Terminal 1 (16 gates)
Southwest – 118 flights
US Airways – 33 flights

Terminal 5 (13 gates)**
Delta – 50 flights***
Aeromexico – 9 flights

Do you think that JetBlue would like to get their hands on those gates now that they’ve gone into SFO? Maybe Southwest wants some more room to grow? You know it. For that reason, consumers should rejoice that LAWA has decided to take back the leases on Terminals 2 and 5 so they can control them going forward. This means Delta will no longer be able to squat on those gates and other airlines will have a shot to use them.

I know I’m often critical of LAWA but this move deserves praise. It’s going to cost a pretty penny, $150 million or so, but it’s worth it in the long run.

*Additional info: Terminal 1 is full of narrowbody flights with only 5 regional jets. In Terminal 5, they may have 11 widebodies but they also have 15 regional jets.

**I know Terminal 1 has 16 gates, but Terminal 5 has either 13 or 14. I count 50B, 51A/B, 52A, 53A/B, 54A/B, 55A, 56, 57, 58A, 59A so I think it’s 13, but worst case it could have even lower utilization if there is one more gate.

***Delta actually has 58 flights scheduled today, but 8 of those are flying out of Terminal 6 so I didn’t count them.

Aeromexico, Delta, LAX - Los Angeles, Southwest, US Airways none

Random Bits of Info

October 30, 2006 CF 3 comments

I was out of town over the weekend, so I didn’t have time to write. Here are a few random bits of info:

Looks like it only took Oasis Hong Kong one extra day to get approval to fly in Russian airspace. The airline is now operating regularly. We’ll see how long it takes for them to burn through their cash.
Ryanair is again looking to Poland for expansion. The latest route, Shannon (Ireland) to Lodz begins December 4. Many of Europe’s low cost carriers have looked toward eastern Europe for expansion, and Poland has benefited tremendously.
In news of the weird, Air Astana, one of Kazakhstan’s main airlines, changed it’s two letter airline code from KC to 4L. The old one apparently stood for “Kazakhstan Carrier” and the new one clearly stands for nothing. When asked why they made the change, they said it was “the latest development in Air Astana’s rapid growth road to becoming a world class airline.” Uh, ok. Updated 8/5/08 @ 11p – I’ve been informed (two years late) that they actually switched from 4L to KC. Makes much more sense, no?
Skybus appears to be getting closer to launch. The airline ordered 65 new Airbus narrowbodies to be delivered beginning in late 2008. They plan to start operations next year with aircraft on short term lease until the new planes arrive.
Mesa will begin flights between Las Vegas and both Visalia and Merced (California) on November 19. The flights will be operated as US Airways Express.
On November 14, Aeromexico will begin nonstop flights between Chicago/O’Hare and Guadalajara. The lack of extensive air service between Chicago and Mexico has always surprised me. Chicago has the United States’ second largest Mexican population.
Cyprus’ AJet will mercifully be shut down. You might remember the airline under its previous name, Helios, when it had a 737 crash after sitting on autopilot with nobody at the controls for two hours. The airline has had multiple safety issues since then.