Originally Posted by
FlyingSlowly
UAL is retiring very old planes, not parking. But if things really do go south in the coming year... we have scores of additional planes we could retire tomorrow. We also have HUNDREDS of planes we could park (temporarily) while simultaneously reducing fuel- and maintenance-related CASM... The key is we have the flexibility in our fleet renewal to weather the storm, so to speak.
Kind of a weird way to look at it. If we’re parking HUNDREDS of planes, we’re sending THOUSANDS of pilots home too, so yes, the airline can weather a big financial storm, but “shrinking to profitability” has never been a pilot-friendly policy.
To be clear, I don’t think we’re staring down that barrel right now, but the financial indicators are worse than they’ve been in a while, & the next round of tariffs- if implemented & maintained as advertised- would almost certainly drive it further in that direction. Fortunately(?) there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive strategy so everything for the next 4 years is just wait & see.