Originally Posted by
Whalehunter
Are you sure? Looks like it just sits in MCO all the time.
Well, it's based in MCO, so...
September was its first full month of operation. It did 21 legs, a combination of domestic and international. In comparison, the average Omni 767 makes say 30-35 legs per month, same combination of domestic and international. But the work comes in spurts, so it's hard to get apples-to-apples. The A330 is on track to do closer to 30 legs this month, but the mil passenger work in this quarter is likely to be a little lighter compared to prior years. Still, for the first couple of months in service, the utilization isn't bad for the space it is in, and will likely increase to be on par with Omni. But the economics of these operations means that you can't have a brand-new airplane banging you for a big lease payment every month, or you'll be out of business in a year. You need a capital cost that allows the aircraft to sit around from time to time without putting you into Chapter 11, but you need an aircraft that the AMC customer thinks looks nice inside and out, and is well-maintained so that when the heavy periods hit, you can perform reliably. It seems like this aircraft fits the bill.
National does get a positively-insane amount of use from its 757 passenger aircraft, for a military charter aircraft, at least. It did 54 legs both domestic and international in September. In the air virtually every day. (Of course, some of the international trips require stops where an A330 wouldn't, but, still. That 29-year-old ex-AA airplane is a cash cow, and they manage to keep it running reliably.)
And you probably know this, but National pulled 3 Pratt-powered cargo 747-400s from the desert and sent them to SAT to bring back into service. One of National's two GE-powered 747s recently went through a heavy check in TPE, and when it came out, the other went in. They have both seen heavy service this year.
One of the 3 that were being readied for service at SAT just started into revenue service today, so they currently have two flyable 747-400s. By the end of November, the one in TPE should be back in service, and the two in SAT should be as well. So by Thanksgiving or so, National should have 5 747-400s in the air, up from 2.