Delta Schedule Change Gives Immediate On-Time Boost By Steven Lott 02/07/2005 09:01:29 PM Delta's massive Atlanta schedule change, launched one week ago, already yielded significant improvements throughout the airline's air and ground operations despite several days of severe winter weather, and the carrier will likely hit its performance goals for the year. Delta executives across the airline kept their fingers crossed last Monday when the airline launched the largest single-day schedule redesign in recent history (DAILY, Jan. 31). Executives hoped the change to a continuous hub operation would boost its annual on-time arrival performance by seven percentage points this year. While the airline has only seven days of data, early returns show the airline may beat its most aggressive goals this year. "Everything we hoped would happen has come to fruition," said Lucio Petroccione, director-operation strategy. "Operation Clockwork is succeeding." He told The DAILY the new system has already proven it can cut the severity of weather disruptions, allowed the airline to recover more quickly from irregular operations and set new records during calm weather. Operation Clockwork during its first seven days was tested during all types of weather. On Sunday, Atlanta had clear and calm weather and the airline set an all-time record for flights pushing off exactly on time (D-0), with an "incredible" rate of 81.5%. On the same day, 96.7% of flights arrived within 14 minutes of the scheduled time (A-14). It wasn't all sun and calm winds last week as Atlanta was also hit with several days of irregular operations. Despite the reduced overall flow to the airport on the bad days, the airline's schedule operated more smoothly because it cut its hourly flights from 90 to 69. Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, about 82% of systemwide flights arrived on time, a nearly 10-point jump from the same week in 2004. The D-0 rate shot from about 55% to 68%, thanks to faster turn times at the gate and a new boarding system (DAILY, Jan. 31). Specifically for Atlanta, the A-14 rate during the week was 78%, up from 70% last year, and the D-0 rate soared nearly 20 points from 41% to about 61%. Petroccione also reported that the average time it took for Delta planes to taxi out to the runway for takeoff was cut about 25% from 22 minutes to 16 minutes, which could help on-time performance and will likely save fuel over the long term. Roger EWROPS