What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

It's hub to hub operated 3x or 4x daily. They're doing just fine.

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

The change from 2 departures/arrivals to 1 (eliminating BA68/69) was some time in late March of this year. It is true that the 744s are worn and weary, but I welcome the opportunity to fly on them before the end of their service life.

Prior to that, I usually flew LHR-PHL on a 789 several times per month (before that, it was a 772 if I remember correctly).

Most of the times I fly this route, it's full of nearly full--both outbound and return.

The route makes money on the cargo carried. Below the passenger cabin everyday on this flight it is full of pharmaceuticals, mainly originating in Germany or India. The US is a huge market for medicines and experimental drugs for current and future ailments.

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

BA dropped a frequency but AA added one. Also, I believe BA are now using one of their Super Hi-J 747-436s on this route, which have been refurbished nose to nail.

After the swap of BA to AA metal this spring, the total seats went up 100 or so per day between the two. It is now flown 2x on AA 333s and 1x on BA 747. I believe before the swap it was 1x AA 333, 1x BA 772, and 1x BA 789 on most days.

caoimhin wrote:

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

The change from 2 departures/arrivals to 1 (eliminating BA68/69) was some time in late March of this year. It is true that the 744s are worn and weary, but I welcome the opportunity to fly on them before the end of their service life.

Prior to that, I usually flew LHR-PHL on a 789 several times per month (before that, it was a 772 if I remember correctly).

Most of the times I fly this route, it's full of nearly full--both outbound and return.

Thanks for that, I very much liked PHL as a city & would defo return. Maybe on AA next time though as wasn't impressed with BA at all.

Ben

The BA flight has been cancelled quite frequently during the current cabin crew strikes and not many other transatlantic flights have been cancelled.

LHRFlyer wrote:

The BA flight has been cancelled quite frequently during the current cabin crew strikes and not many other transatlantic flights have been cancelled.

Yes, but IAH, DFW, BWI, ORD have seen multiple cancelations the past few weeks

As OslPhlWasChi said, the total number of seats went up by about a hundred or so, from the previous 1x daily AA A330, BA 772 & 788/9. Now operated by two AA A330 and one BA 744, I would think that the route is doing well. I often fly Spirit out of PHL, a gate over from BA and I always see their boarding area filled. What I find more interesting is that DL recently discontinued the route for their own reasons.

PHL also has lots of business demand to LHR and Beyond for Jclass. I think AA/BA do well upfront.

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

Tastykakes, Philly pretzels and cheese steaks

crownvic wrote:

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

Tastykakes, Philly pretzels and cheese steaks

Don't forget cream cheese

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

I've used BA to fly internationally from Philly several times (none recently). There has been this flawed concept on a.net that Philadelphians (and those in the surrounding areas) would rather drive to EWR or JFK. I'd rather have my toenails removed without anesthesia. I have lived within 35 minutes of PHL on and off for the past 27 years (now only 15 minutes away) and appreciate being able to get off of an international flight and in my bed within 30-40 minutes. As far as BA/AA I think that between the 747 and the A330's there a great deal of premium space and that's what pays the bills. Remember that Wilmington, DE (25 minutes from PHL) and Philadelphia are large players in the banking and technology space. Throw in pharma nearby in New Jersey and the relative ease of the airport and it's no wonder that at one point last year there were almost 5 daily flights to LHR spread over 3 carriers (which, as a.net predicted then, has leveled itself out).

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

I think I am right in saying that at the time BA reduced the flights from two to one a day AA increased theirs from one to two a day - so in effect for a metal neutral JBA there is no change.

PS I agree with your comments on the shocking state of the unrefurbished 744s!

Edit - I found this article which confirms what I thought about the
AA/BA swap
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/t ... d-one.html

When is BA going to retire the unreferbished 744's? How many are in the fleet? I was on one JFK-LHR 5 years ago in it was grubby at that point I cant imagine flying one today if it hasn't had a refresh

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

They're down grading from 2 to 1 daily because AA is going from 1 to 2 daily.

jeffh747 wrote:

As OslPhlWasChi said, the total number of seats went up by about a hundred or so, from the previous 1x daily AA A330, BA 772 & 788/9. Now operated by two AA A330 and one BA 744, I would think that the route is doing well. I often fly Spirit out of PHL, a gate over from BA and I always see their boarding area filled. What I find more interesting is that DL recently discontinued the route for their own reasons.

Delta was only flying PHL-LHR to fulfill the DOT's terms for the acquisition of the slot. This slot was divested of by AA/US as a part of their merger agreement to increase competition on this route. DL discontinuing the route comes at no surprise since their load factors on this flight are terrible.

acentauri wrote:

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

And do you have any proof or source to substantiate that claim??

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

It was probably a Mid-J configured Boeing 747-400 you travelled on then considering they have not been refurbished and are currently in the process of being withdrawn. I agree to an extent that they are not in the greatest shape and that is because they are now nearing end of life. Usually PHL should see Super Hi-J Boeing 747-400's, but are regularly substituted by the unrefurbished Mid-J examples.
Checking FlightRadar24, BA66/67 has been operated by refurbished Super Hi-J Boeing 747-400's so I will be very surprised if they are suffering from poor and untidy conditions already!
The change in frequency is down to the changes made between the joint-venture by American Airlines and British Airways at the start of the S17 schedule in late-March. British Airways reduced from twice daily (mixture of Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 787-9) to a single daily flight (Super Hi-J Boeing 747-400), with American Airlines in return going from daily to twice daily (both flights operated by Airbus A330-300's). The changes does not suggest to me the route is performing poorly.

Speedbird96 wrote:

acentauri wrote:

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

And do you have any proof or source to substantiate that claim??

I think he was being sarcastic. Apparently BA has been flying the route for 33 years. Someone asked if the route does good [sic]. He was being sarcastic in the fact that if it weren't doing well, then probably BA wouldn't have been flying the route for the past 33 years.

acentauri wrote:

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

Hey! That is nearly not even close to the losses. Since they started flying to PHL since 1969, that's 48 years of losses!

crownvic wrote:

acentauri wrote:

CayneHampton wrote:

What does British Airways import and export to and from Philadelphia International Airport. Is the London to Philadelphia British Airways route doing good?

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

Hey! That is nearly not even close to the losses. Since they started flying to PHL since 1969, that's 48 years of losses!

yeah, I have a half-assed photo of a BA 707 parked at the Overseas Terminal at PHL. But makes me wonder...I was a kid (late 70s) were are all the adults who took 8mm, 16mm or 35mm film shots of PHL back then? I bet tons of good footage is rotting away in many Philadelphia attics and basements. Tragic!

BN747

jeffh747 wrote:

As OslPhlWasChi said, the total number of seats went up by about a hundred or so, from the previous 1x daily AA A330, BA 772 & 788/9. Now operated by two AA A330 and one BA 744, I would think that the route is doing well. I often fly Spirit out of PHL, a gate over from BA and I always see their boarding area filled. What I find more interesting is that DL recently discontinued the route for their own reasons.

As a result of the USAirways-American merger 1 slot to LHR had to be given up. The route had to be flown from PHL-LHR for a prescribed period of time. I think 2 years. After that the Airline operating the route (Delta) may move it anywhere they desire. It was always a play for the LHR slot.

BN747 wrote:

crownvic wrote:

acentauri wrote:

People. Nope, it's not doing good. BA's been taking a loss for 33 Years !!

Hey! That is nearly not even close to the losses. Since they started flying to PHL since 1969, that's 48 years of losses!

yeah, I have a half-assed photo of a BA 707 parked at the Overseas Terminal at PHL. But makes me wonder...I was a kid (late 70s) were are all the adults who took 8mm, 16mm or 35mm film shots of PHL back then? I bet tons of good footage is rotting away in many Philadelphia attics and basements. Tragic!

BN747

My earliest recollection of a PHL-LHR experience was on a BA L-1011 in 1989.

MIflyer12 wrote:

BN747 wrote:

crownvic wrote:

Hey! That is nearly not even close to the losses. Since they started flying to PHL since 1969, that's 48 years of losses!

yeah, I have a half-assed photo of a BA 707 parked at the Overseas Terminal at PHL. But makes me wonder...I was a kid (late 70s) were are all the adults who took 8mm, 16mm or 35mm film shots of PHL back then? I bet tons of good footage is rotting away in many Philadelphia attics and basements. Tragic!

BN747

My earliest recollection of a PHL-LHR experience was on a BA L-1011 in 1989.

Service started either in 1968 or 1969 (BOAC) using a combination of Standard VC-10s and 707s. Into the early 70s (now BA), they switched to Super VC-10s and 707s which were eventually replaced by a combination of 747s and L1011s. During the earlier years, flights routed DTW-PHL-LHR-PHL-DTW. Later on, the flights operated PHL-LHR-PHL. BA inaugurated their first 747-400 service in their system with a PIT-PHL-LHR-PHL-PIT service. I do not recall how many years that operated though. Once PIT got their own dedicated nonstop to London (IIRC on a 763), the service reverted back to PHL-LHR-PHL only and has been ever since with combinations of 763s, 772s, 744s and 788s that is now back to a sole 744.

CrawleyBen wrote:

I flew this route in May on a clapped out BA747 that looked like it was on its last legs. The plane was dirty, and was in very poor internal condition. It wasn't full by any means either. If I'm not mistaken BA dropped the Philadpelphia route from 2 flights a day to 1 a day. Not sure if this means the route is performing poorly or means something else?

Cheers

Ben

Oh that must have been the same aircraft I got from Miami. in horrible shape.