Originally Posted by
CanoePilot
Really.... We're shouting doom and gloom because out of almost 1000 airplanes 30 are being removed this year? Heck they are md-80s we're losing... good riddance. We have almost 1000 airplanes and more 777s alone than delta has group 4 planes in their entire fleet not even counting the 330s and 787s. Let's also not forget we have more a/c on order than delta and united have combined.
While the min cal day is annoying let's be realistic it's not the end all. For me personally it would have only benefited me 2 times in the last 365 days.
What we really should be worried about is the middle-east airlines and their train of destruction funded by their totalitarian dictatorships. Also the fact that while our south american network is superior to what both delta and united offer combined, it is in the worst economic region in the world and on the brink of financial collapse. Those are the things that should keep you up at night not the fact some piece of crap md-80s are finally going to where they should have gone 20 years ago.
I think you'll find that the min cal day affects the domestic guys more than the international guys. It makes the domestic long layovers hard for the company to justify.
Also, the ME carriers have all of the planes on order with taxpayer subsidized loans, don't think that gives them just a little bit of leverage when/if DC wants to play a little more hardball.
Lastly, all those new planes are great, but they also come with a wee bit of debt, I guess we'll see how this all plays out.