One way for DL to save money...

[stagn8]

Seeing recent articles about liquidity problems, more losses etc, and flying back from JFK today and discovering DL have suspended 'linen' service in the front to save money, I wonder why on earth DL flt ops haven't approached FAA ATC and asked for a northerly departure for transatlantics out of ATL westbound using the northerly runwys.

Currently almost every long haul flt (767, 777) goes off the southerly 27R and does a long climbing turn to the south and east before heading north, about 10 mins added flying time. I wonder how much money is wasted on fuel this way. Can't FAA develop a routing for transatlantics ex ATL that takes them off 26L and turns them north. Over a year it would save millions !!

(26 is the northerly set of runways, 27 the southerly set)

[Final 3 Greens]

And when you've got an answer to that one, maybe you can clarify why pax arriving at Atlanta's international pier have to undergo an inbound security check by the TSA and recheck their baggage (just off the carousel), before taking a train to the terminal and collecting it again.

It sure looks like a job creation scheme from my point of view :O, but my mind is open for enlightenment!

[Globaliser]

Final 3 Greens: And when you've got an answer to that one, maybe you can clarify why pax arriving at Atlanta's international pier have to undergo an inbound security check by the TSA and recheck their baggage (just off the carousel), before taking a train to the terminal and collecting it again.Personal view: Just the normal inability of the US to comprehend that air travel between one country and another is actually a normal, everyday event that ought to be properly planned for, instead of being inappropriately and incompetently grafted onto a domestic air travel system.

SEA is a bit better. At least when you've handed your bag back for its second approach to a carousel, you don't have to go through the TSA nonsense again as you can get onto the segregated half of the train that's considered "landside" and non-sterile.

IAD is an example of the same problem at ATL, but at the opposite end and therefore manifesting different symptoms. You have to be slowly taken off the aircraft by those ludicrous mobile lounge things, specifically to stop you from going inside the terminal and mixing with the domestic traffic.

[bafanguy]

Thread seems to have gone off track a bit. The original question had to do with air traffic patterns and the efficiency thereof.

In answer to the original question, I can only offer the opinion ( from three decades of operating from this airport ) that it is the busiest airport in the country and the international flights are NOT the only airplanes departing. There are traffic patterns established to accomodate all traffic in the most efficient manner which means that someone isn't going to get the most efficient tracks.

Apparently, that would be northbound international departures in the opinion of stagn8. They use 27R because it is the longest runway on the airport...and all departures go from the inboard runways and arrivals use the outboards.

I would imagine Delta has explored all avenues for efficiency with local ATC ( among the best I've ever seen, by the way ).

Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

[stagn8]

- Thanks, good point re longest runway, so safety first and why not. I hadn't spotted that.

As for why you have to do a TSA security check from concourse E inbound from an international flight this is because you can come in from overseas from an airport that doesn't check as closely as TSA, and from concourse E you can either egress to the airport exit (Baggage Claim and out), or transit and take a connecting flight from D,C,B,A or T. Since the screening for domestic flights is in the main terminal you need a recheck, consider it like BAA's Connections suite which is supposed to do the same thing, ie re-screen transit pax. Except in ATL they can;t differentiate arriving pax from trabsit. This will go away when the new international terminal is built which will have a seperate exit for ATL only pax. Hope this helps.

[saline]

I wonder why on earth DL flt ops haven't approached FAA ATC and asked for a northerly departure for transatlantics out of ATL westbound using the northerly runwys.

The runway for departure is strictly based on your route. If you want to go north out of ATL simply file a northerly departure route. If your takeoff performance allows it you will get assigned 26L. If you are going northeast you have to go initially east anyway to avoid inbound arrivals, so no advantage in particular to departing north or south side.

BTW, the reason for the bag check and pick up again at departure concourse is mainly due to the inability of the train system to accomodate all the international passengers with their bags. So even if security wasn't a consideration they would not let everyone haul their bags on the train. This will be fixed with new terminal.