What the Other Airlines Said After My Delta Story

They said: Us too! We have some good stuff too!

After I wrote about how Delta Air Lines customer service agents came up with an idea that shaves a couple of minutes off turnaround time for the airline's jets at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, I heard back from some other airlines. 

Actually, I was curious if they did the same thing as Delta, so I reached out to all of the Big Four. Southwest and United replied, while Delta also responded with a couple of other ideas worthy of attention. (Nary a word from American Airlines.)

Turnaround time is a big deal. The FAA reported in 2010 that flight delays cost the U.S. economy roughly $32.9 billion a year. Andit's one of the key metrics on which airlines  judge themeselves.

Here are some of the other things big airlines are doing to turn airplanes around more quickly.

45 degree pushback

This is the original idea that Delta customer service agents came up with. We'll summarize it here: Instead of pushing an airplane straight back from the gate, then turning it 90 degrees and pu…