Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
I am going to bet, imho btw, that we'd do alright in that situation. Not only because of Trainer but because if oil prices spike this weak economy is probably going to crash some more.
If that happens then demand may drop and prices may have to drop and UCAL and AMR will have to pay for those modernized fleets plus deal with their large 50-seat fleets with less revenue. We have a less expensive fleet to maintain on routes where revenue would take the largest hit.
I've heard it said on the missions they run the 88 fleet even with old engines is pretty cost efficient.
I also remember prior to 9/11 how CAL had this new fleet and all these newly leased airplanes while NWA and DAL had old fleets. 9/11 happens and Bethune hit the panic button real quick, if felt like they were operating with maxed out credit cards. It was not an enviable position.
I could be wrong.
You could be right also. The bad news is that management considers the MD88 a accumulator fleet. They can be parked quickly at little cost in a downturn. Airlines with newer fleets have to keep those aircraft flying to generate revenue for payments. A downturn could see Delta with a quicker capacity drop then others. That's never a good thing for pilots.