Originally Posted by
gloopy
What does that have to do with anything? If they sign 2 year or 200 year DCI contracts, that doesn't mean at the end of those contracts those jets just go away. They are very clearly considered permanent jets. If they weren't, they would have a sunset clause to all of them, yet none of them do. When the leases run out, they will be renewed or given to a cheaper DCI carrier who "deals them an ace" to undercut another DCI carrier. The seat ranges and counts we give them will remain at DCI forever unless they become totally out of whack with CASM. The extra 90 seaters we are giving them insure fierce mainline CASM loyalty to DCI and not mainline for every seat of that lift for all eternity.
That's not the way it has worked so far...we once had a whole lot more 50 seat rj's and the first ones were delivered in 1993. That means a whole lot of them left when their DCI or EDC contracts were up, and that was well before 20 years. The 700's and EMB-170's are similary situated.
There's 311 of the 50's obligated through the end of 2015.