Month: October 2014

Flight Log Version 1.2: Operators and Codeshares

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I’ve updated the Flight Log to version 1.2 by adding codeshares, operators, and fleet numbers to flights.

Not all flights are operated by the airline that advertises it; often, airlines subcontract out flights to other airlines, particularly regional flights. In either case, whether the flight is operated by the advertising airline (i.e., United) or a different operator (i.e., ExpressJet), the Show Flight view now displays this. In addition, if the flight was a codeshare (where an airline sold a ticket on a partner’s flight), this is shown too.

Screenshot of Show Flight view
In this example, I bought a flight through American Airlines, but American Airlines didn’t offer a flight from Flagstaff to Phoenix, so they booked me a ticket on US Airways flight 2909, and American sold it to me (as a codeshare) as American Airlines flight 2669. Then, since this was a short regional flight, US Airways didn’t operate it themselves; they subcontracted out to SkyWest Airlines to actually operate the flight under the US Airways name.

Clicking on the operator brings up details on a Show Operator view:

Screenshot of the Show Operator view

In some cases, I know the fleet number the operator uses for the aircraft, so the bottom of this page contains a list of the known fleet numbers.

Screenshot of bottom of Show Operator view

Clicking on any fleet number will show details for all flights flown on that operator-fleet number combination.

Finally, all of the operators are now listed on the Index Airlines view, below the airline list:

Screenshot of the Index Airlines view

…I fly on a lot of regional jets.

Change Log

Flight Log 1.2 – released 27 October 2014

  • Added operating airlines, fleet numbers, and codeshares

My Airport History: St. Louis (STL)

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Flight Log: http://www.flighthistorian.com/airports/STL

Given that I moved from the UK back to the United States when I was 10 years old via a TWA flight, I’m reasonably certain that I’ve visited St. Louis before my flight log’s scope of all flights since my 16th birthday. But since I don’t 100% know, it’s best to start talking about my visits to St. Louis starting as a layover on the way to my very first work trip.

I hadn’t specifically tried to get a job with frequent travel; at the time, I enjoyed travel, but it wasn’t a goal. So on the first Monday of February 2009, I started a position on a new program; that day, my boss asked me if I could travel to Dallas a week later for a program meeting. Of course I could, and with that, I picked the same flight itinerary as my coworkers – Dayton through St. Louis to Dallas/Fort Worth on American Airlines. I promptly managed to lose my second boarding pass somewhere in the St. Louis airport, proving my travel inexperience. (I’ve since gotten better!)

From then on, I had a few more trips through STL as a layover. I also had business in the St. Louis area, but at the time I usually drove, as the drive was an easy six hours on I-70 each way, unless I had to visit St. Louis as part of a multi-city itinerary.

Nowadays, even though there is no longer a direct flight, I usually fly – with a layover in O’Hare, it generally takes about six hours either way for me to get to St. Louis, but I can get work reading done on a plane, while there’s not much I can safely accomplish while driving.

My Airport History: Dayton (DAY)

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entrance

Flight Log: http://www.flighthistorian.com/airports/DAY

James M. Cox Dayton International Airport, 20 miles from my home, is my primary airport. While it doesn’t serve quite as many destinations as Columbus, Cincinnati, or Indianapolis, it serves multiple hubs or focus cities for each of American/US Airways, United, Delta, and Southwest. It’s easy to get to, and parking is cheap. They’ve been working on renovating parts of the terminal and concourse, and they’ve placed all new signage with a background texture which matches their new control tower.

Signage at Dayton Airport
Signage at Dayton Airport
Control tower at Dayton Airport
Control tower at Dayton Airport

I have flown out of alternate airports for work, but with the additional justification required for the extra mileage reimbursement to get to other airports, Dayton is usually the most logical choice. I made my 100th visit to DAY on 3 May 2013. At the rate I’m going, I may achieve 200 visits to Dayton before I get 100 anywhere else.

2013-05-03 22.46.32

I’ve had a flight to or from Dayton on every airline that serves it at the time of this writing. With Southwest nearly complete with its takeover of AirTran, I can also almost say I’ve flown on airlines that no longer serve Dayton, and I’ve certainly flown flights that no longer exist due to hub changes (notably DAY – STL when American dropped their TWA-inherited St. Louis hub a few years ago, and DAY – CLE when United dehubbed Cleveland earlier this year). With Southwest expanding service here, though, and American adding a flight to LGA, I’ve got a bright future with Dayton on my flight log.