Why airline schedule changes are loaded on weekends
"This weekend, we'll load a revamped schedule" wrote Oscar Munoz, United's CEO, and Scott Kirby, United's President, in an April 15 memo to employees.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've seen airlines across the world quickly slash schedules, reduce frequencies and park large portions of their fleet. But, when a carrier announces a schedule change, you typically have to wait for the weekend to get the full scoop.
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Take for instance the massive scale-back in flight operations in the New York metro area. United was the first major carrier to suspend most of its New York operations. Guess when that change was filed? Saturday night, April 4. American and Delta followed suit later that same weekend. Come Monday, April 6, New York lost most of its flights operated by the U.S. big three.
Though we're living in unprecedented times, one thing that's remained consistent throughout: Whether it’s a new route, a dropped route or a simple frequency change, airlines usually file those schedule updates on a weekend — particularly on Saturday nights.
Turns out, there are actually a few reasons for this. (And no, it's not just so that aviation journalists have to work on Sundays).
Saturday nights are the ideal time for airlines to load schedule changes since it's the quietest in terms of booking activity, particularly with business travelers. As John Grant, senior aviation analyst at OAG, explained to TPG, "systems are normally at their lowest levels of activity then."
Related: How far in advance should you book a flight?
With fewer people searching for flights, combined with the fact that airlines aren't doing much flying on Saturday nights, it makes sense that this is the preferred time to load schedule updates to the GDS, or global distribution system.
Grant continued to explain another important reason for this practice. When changes are filed, passengers with existing reservations are going to need to be notified and rerouted. By waiting for the quietest night of the week, these automated rebooking system won't get overloaded.
When an airline cancels a route, "you literally have to 'clear' the flight of all reservations and place them somewhere before you can do a cancellation," Grant said. This takes up an immense amount of bandwidth, and processing these changes during a busy weekday could crash an airline system.
In fact, this is also one reason why we see so many incremental schedule changes loaded in multi-week batches. Since "the volume of work involved in rebooking passengers is immense," airlines sometimes split the updates across multiple weekends to avoid overwhelming the backend.
There are some other important considerations too. Major carriers typically have lots of codeshare partners. "Airlines need to advise the codeshare partner when the schedule change takes place to ensure services, connections, etc. are synchronized in each other’s respective systems," Grant explained. This complicates the backend process, giving airlines another reason to choose the quietest night of the week to make such changes.
Related: What are codeshare flights and how do they work?
In fact, this is the same logic for why airlines perform updates to reservation systems over the weekend. For instance, when American and US Airways merged, they used a weekend to transition all US Airways bookings to American's Sabre system. Grant noted "these are huge, huge tasks," and airlines choose weekends — and Saturday night in particular — since that's "when the maximum amount of resources are available."
So, the next time you wake up Sunday morning to an email with the subject line "Your flight's been changed," you now know why.
All photos by the author.
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| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
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Why We Chose It
There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.