As an example SWA2504 arrived in Reno on 2-15-07 at 2.13pm
Next flight was on 2-16 out of Rhode island (KPVD) the next morning. Why is the “ferry flight” not listed? it may not have been a revenue flight but they surely must have had a FLIGHT PLAN?
Abie
Philadelphia Int’l (KPHL) Pittsburgh Int’l (KPIT) 09:20 EST 10:01 EST 0:41
16-Feb-2007 B737/L Theodore Francis Green State (KPVD) Philadelphia Int’l (KPHL) 07:21 EST 08:07 EST 0:46
15-Feb-2007 B737/L Mc Carran Int’l (KLAS) Reno Tahoe Int’l (KRNO) 13:21 PST 14:13 PST 0:52
15-Feb-2007 B737/L Pittsburgh Int’l (KPIT) Mc Carran Int’l (KLAS) 11:06 EST 12:14 PST 4:08
There is no ferry flight from RNO to PVD. The routing of this flight is PVD-PHL-PIT-STL-LAS-RNO. The aircraft operating this flight then operates another flight.
The same flight number is rarely used round-trip. One exception to this is express carriers, who often use the same flight number hub-boondocks-hub. The reverse routing (if it’s flown) is probably flown by multiple flight numbers. Use the flight finder to find the flights between each pair of airports for the return trip; you may find one flight number covers them all.
You should also know that it is very rare for a particular aircraft of a major airline to fly the same flight every day. Also, if an airline has a multiple-stop flight from Point A to Point B, it’s not uncommon for the airline NOT to have a flight in the opposite direction.
Southwest is also one of the few airlines that will have the same flight number between two cities with two or more stops enroute. I looked up the current schedules for Southwest between PVD and RNO. They show flight 2504 operating from PVD to RNO. However, to go the other direction you need to make a connection.
Also, Southwest has some flights from a to b, b to c (ie east coast to midwest) and then completely unrelated the same flight number operates from y to z (west coast). I hope that makes sense and isn’t what Dami just said. I don’t feel like looking up an example right now but I see 'em do it.
I am right and I DO feel like looking up an example to prove my point. Let’s take SWA2123. This flight flies from CLE to MDW to SAT to PHX. However, the timetable shows only the following city pairs for this flight:
CLE-MDW
CLE-SAT
MDW-SAT
SAT-PHX
Think about it. Cold logic would dictate that there would be a lot of confusion if an airline operated multiple, non-continuous flights with the same flight number. Would you want to be in charge of scheduling in an airline that has a Flight 1 from CLE to MDW and a Flight 1 from SAT to PHX?
EGF177 is a mid-afternoon E145/Q flight in the Midwest, KORD/KGRR, and it’s a mid-afternoon E135/Q flight on the West Coast, KSJC/KSAN. Whenever you have a severe weather delay in Chicago, these flights could be operating simultaneously.
Other ‘commuter’ airlines do the same thing. I just didn’t have the time to find a second example.
That is something entirely different from my Southwest examples. If you were to look in the timetable, the flight numbers shown are all unique. There is a difference between flight numbers used by the FAA (i.e. as shown in FlightAware) and the flight numbers used by the airlines for their passengers. In fact, in the case of Skywest, American Eagle, et al, the flight number isn’t even the same. For example, the flight may be EGF177 but in the timetable it would be shown as (example only!) AAL2177.
