Originally Posted by
Dave Fitzgerald
We Right now only have 9 of the 14 original 300er's ordered. The others are supposed to be ready for delivery, but still waiting on seats for completion.
We eventually will have a total of 18. Not 18-19, unless we order more. The last 4 announced at Paris, won't be delivered for a while, I think 3Q of 2018, so all this flying from the 747 will have to be supported 14 airframes, and only if the late planes are delivered soon.
3 of the 4 additional 777-300s, by next summer's flying (from the company comms):
In addition, we have confirmed orders for four additional Boeing 777-300ERs, three of which will be delivered and in operation for our planned summer growth in 2018 and the fourth of which will be delivered in late 2018 for operation in 2019.
Plus one 787 this August and 4 more in Dec-Feb of this winter. The 17 777-300s (by next summer) plus the additional 5 787 airframes will cover all the flying the 747 was doing plus some extra.
Not saying I like the 747 going away, but we will still be a net positive on WB flying for pilot pay purposes, just not as much as we could have been if we had kept the whales flying.