F:Y Ratio - Delta domestic aircraft
I used to make the mistake of assuming more seats/bigger planes meant better chances of an upgrade - but I realized that this logic was flawed. As planes get bigger, airlines sell more tickets, and the number of people vying for an upgrade also increases. Because of this, I went in search of other means of picking the right route to help my upgrade chances.
 |
| Which would you choose? |
The importance of the F:Y ratio was discussed in my post about increasing your odds of an upgrade on your next flight. The F:Y ratio is essentially a reflection of how many people are fighting for the same spot. The number listed is a ratio of the number of seats in F compared with the number of seats in Y. With a number of 0.1, that means that there will be 10 seats in Y for every one seat in F, and if you're a low ranking elite, you're not going to fare well on busy days. A plane with a ratio of 0.15 means there are only about 7 seats in Y for every seat in F - much better chances for the low (or any for that matter) elite!
If you ever have the option to fly a time or routing that optimizes your F:Y ratio, then do it!
Delta Airlines
Below is a listing of Delta aircraft (which regularly fly domestic routes) and their respective F:Y ratios.
|
Plane
|
F seats
|
EC Seats
|
Y Seats
|
F: Y Ratio
|
|
CRJ/ERJ
|
0
|
0
|
50
|
0.00
|
|
CR7
|
9
|
8
|
48
|
0.16
|
|
CR9
|
12
|
12
|
52
|
0.19
|
|
E170
|
9
|
12
|
48
|
0.15
|
|
E175
|
12
|
12
|
52
|
0.19
|
|
MD88
|
16
|
15
|
118
|
0.12
|
|
MD90
|
16
|
15
|
129
|
0.11
|
|
DC9
|
16
|
14
|
90
|
0.15
|
|
A319
|
12
|
18
|
96
|
0.11
|
|
A320
|
12
|
18
|
120
|
0.09
|
|
B737
|
12
|
18
|
94
|
0.11
|
|
B738
|
16
|
18
|
126
|
0.11
|
|
B757-200 (J,M,N)
|
22
|
18
|
141
|
0.14
|
|
B757-200 (U)
|
24
|
21
|
135
|
0.15
|
|
B757-200 (V)
|
22
|
21
|
132
|
0.14
|
|
B757-200 (75X)
|
26
|
26
|
132
|
0.16
|
|
B757-300
|
24
|
23
|
177
|
0.12
|
|
B767-300
|
30
|
28
|
203
|
0.13
|
Two things are apparent from this - first is that the CRJ and the A320 are terrible airplanes for those looking for upgrades. Second is that Delta has too many variants of the B757-200 - they all have slightly different ratios too. It seems the best way to know which one you'll be on is by the number of F seats.
By looking at this chart, can you see why I prefer to get on CR9 and E175s whenever possible?
For updates, please follow me on Twitter (see the link on the right)!
Best of luck and safe travels!
Tim
Great post and thanks for posting on DeltaPoints too in the comments. I like where you are going with this. I like the match and logic. I think the other issue is the number of medallions on each type of aircraft. Clearly all the other bits from my upgrade post become a part of this. Fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree - assessing the number of medallions (usually by looking at preferred seat and economy comfort seat emptiness) on the flight can help us to make even more well informed decisions.
DeleteHummm... oh this just get's more and more fun. What we need to do is get a hold of some internal Delta data sheets showing how many medallions on each flight. Oh to be a data geek ;-)
DeleteI don't know what I'd be if not a data geek - Hey, it's hard for us lowly DL FO's!
DeleteMileage run anyone? :-)
Delete