Originally Posted by
ShyGuy
RAH is going to have a tough time staffing AAs 53 new planes let alone be a 9E replacement. It's unrealistic to do within a year. More realistic would be 2-3 years, which is what the -200 winddown is to begin with. Just 41 planes left, and the new order for 40 planes as a carrot to vote yes. But even this will take through 2016. A fleet that big cannot be parked in 12 months. Look at the current fleet plan.
I was particularly referring to XJT, SKW, and GJ for the 9E flying....I won't go into more details or sources, but from what I can tell, Delta was *not* bluffing and other places were preparing to pick 9E's bones.
You know, I keep hearing RAH won't be able to staff, but even as things get more cataclismic there, they are still filling jet classes. (The Q seems to be its own ball of wax....)