SQ 22 departure too late in the day?

[Short Final]

SQ 22 (SIN-EWR) typically departs 11am and arrives at 5pm at EWR. The timing of the arrival means options for connecting flights are often limited, especially when you realize you have to allow time for clearing customs and immigration and also an AirTrain ride to another terminal. In some cases, you may have to spend the night in EWR, as my friend did because no connecting flights were available to Pittsburgh that late in the day. That's not my idea of a fun layover.

Why can't SQ 22 depart earlier in the morning from Singapore? Perhaps a 9am departure? Even just two hours earlier could make a big difference for connection options. From an equipment point of view, both A345 flights (arriving from LAX and EWR) could accomodate this, no, as they arrive in SIN in the early morning (before 6am)? Does anyone have an insight on how SQ settles on timings such as this?

[sabian]

Maybe slots at NY airports are hard to come by and they were allocated those arrival timings?

[CarbonMan]

SQ 22 (SIN-EWR) typically departs 11am and arrives at 5pm at EWR. The timing of the arrival means options for connecting flights are often limited, especially when you realize you have to allow time for clearing customs and immigration and also an AirTrain ride to another terminal. In some cases, you may have to spend the night in EWR, as my friend did because no connecting flights were available to Pittsburgh that late in the day. That's not my idea of a fun layover.

Why can't SQ 22 depart earlier in the morning from Singapore? Perhaps a 9am departure? Even just two hours earlier could make a big difference for connection options. From an equipment point of view, both A345 flights (arriving from LAX and EWR) could accomodate this, no, as they arrive in SIN in the early morning (before 6am)? Does anyone have an insight on how SQ settles on timings such as this?

It's a similar problem for SQ38 SIN-LAX whose ETA is 1750, but worse if I may say so because the west coast's time zone is way behind everywhere else in the US except for Hawaii.

On SQ22, I can still get a connecting to IAH easily; with SQ38 it'll be impossible.

So if they can change SQ22's schedule, they should also consider SQ38 as well.

Personally, connections aside, I like the timing of both flights' ETA; it allows me to get to my hotel, plonk my bags, have a great dinner and rest for the night. If only the return flights to SIN had that kind of timing, it'll solve some of my jetlag issues.

[9V-JKL]

SQ 22 (SIN-EWR) typically departs 11am and arrives at 5pm at EWR. The timing of the arrival means options for connecting flights are often limited, especially when you realize you have to allow time for clearing customs and immigration and also an AirTrain ride to another terminal.

My experience on SQ22 is that arrival at that time is very quick and often the only flight at that time

[flying.monkeyz]

I think the 9am slots at WSSS are all taken up, unless they open up another runway.

[Short Final]

It's a similar problem for SQ38 SIN-LAX whose ETA is 1750, but worse if I may say so because the west coast's time zone is way behind everywhere else in the US except for Hawaii.

On SQ22, I can still get a connecting to IAH easily; with SQ38 it'll be impossible.

So if they can change SQ22's schedule, they should also consider SQ38 as well.

Personally, connections aside, I like the timing of both flights' ETA; it allows me to get to my hotel, plonk my bags, have a great dinner and rest for the night. If only the return flights to SIN had that kind of timing, it'll solve some of my jetlag issues.

CarbonMan, you're right, SQ 38 also arrives "late". Was on that flight last month on the way to Vancouver and had to spend the night in LA. Only thing is that it gave me an excuse to spend a night and see friends in LA. (Btw, as you suggested, I finally got the courage to ask to see the morgue on board. What a sight.)

With the ULH flights supposedly constantly under pressure, I would think it would be a sensible option to streamline flight timing to make it more attractive to passengers needing to connect to other US destinations. Make the flight more attractive to more people. Is it really due to slot restrictions? I mean, are WSSS, LAX or EWR really that slot restricted? We're talking one flight per day at most at LAX or EWR and at most two a day in WSSS.

When I lived in the US, I had never been too impacted as I only had to connect to either Boston or DC, where I lived. Both easy connections. In fact, to DC, I found it fastest and most reliable to just hop the Amtrak from the airport.

[Short Final]

My experience on SQ22 is that arrival at that time is very quick and often the only flight at that time

Processing time hasn't been too bad for me in the past either. Regardless of immigration processing time, if SQ 22 were to arrive 2-3 hours earlier, you'd necessarily have many more connection options available. In some cases, it would mean the difference between having any connection option available at all or spending the night in EWR.

[flying.monkeyz]

mean, are WSSS, LAX or EWR really that slot restricted?

For WSSS, yes. Just have a look at how many flights departing between 0700 - 1000HRS. Many of the forummers here agree or have experienced lengthy wait for pushback / take-offs due to congestions.