UPS parking 747-100/200s
UPS plans to park its classic 747 fleet beginning in January 2008, just after peak. The nine remaining 747-100s and -200s will go into storage as they come due for intensive heavy maintenance checks.
Capt. Rick Barr, Airline Operations manager, said with modern large aircraft joining the fleet, the old 747s are no longer cost effective to operate.
“Some of these classic 747s were built back in the early 70s. Compared with the newer generation airplanes, they are very inefficient in both fuel burn and range. We’re seeing significant operational savings with the new 747-400s and MD-11s,” Barr said.
Parking the 747s also simplifies the company’s aircraft fleet, reducing training, maintenance and parts costs. By August 2008, the company plans to have just three of the classic 747s still in operation; those aircraft are scheduled to fly through peak 2008, then be parked in late December and early January 2009.
“We’re optimizing cost avoidance where we can,” Barr said. “The aircraft that needs the most maintenance will be the first to go.”
New airplanes will replace the lift capacity of the classic 747 fleet.
“As we continue to bring on more MD-11s and 747-400s, we feel very comfortable we have enough lift to offset the aircraft we’re parking,” Barr said. The airline is taking delivery of 10 additional converted MD-11s this year, and 10 747-400s in 2007 and 2008.
Barr said it’s always possible that the parking plan could be modified in the future, based on volume and the needs of the company, but he doesn’t expect any significant changes to the plan.
A realignment bid for 747- 100 and -200 crewmembers is scheduled for sometime in mid- October. Specific numbers are still being finalized, but the bid is expected to reduce, by about 20, the number of crews on the aircraft. Those crewmembers will transition to other fleets. Barr said 747 flight engineers over age 60 should have the opportunity, if they choose, to move to the DC-8, the only remaining three-crewmember aircraft in the fleet.
“For the backseaters, we’re seeing a retirement rate that keeps our numbers in line with the numbers we need to staff the DC-8,” he said.