Originally Posted by
readytoretire
The 220 base was opened with a real bang. What's the future of MSP for the 320/737 given the continuing deliveries of the neo, the coming max 10 deliveries, and the possible parking of older 320's and 737-800s? It sometimes seems like the company doesn't want to base to be too big, perhaps due to the family leave laws, etc. here. Is throwing nearly 400 220 pilots here going to be balanced by reductions in the other two NB fleets (by attrition), or will the neo and max deliveries keep those categories at their current level or higher over the next couple of years and beyond?
What are your thoughts?
We've been having this same discussion about NYC on other threads as well. So far, it seems as though the company plans to mega base DTW/ATL 737/320 and staff NYC/MSP via rotation flow-through and overnights. I have no idea if MSP is in this same boat, but that certainly seems like the case in NYC. Essentially, shrink the base to the amount of valuable (reliable) locals, and flush out commuters.
If I had to guess, the company will keep 321s in MSP for core routing, but replace the 319/320 flying with 220s. That could shrink the 320 side of things. The wrench in all of this is - what's going to happen to sun country? If Allegiant largely abandons MSP, I can't see why we would shrink.
Also, genuine question…. aside from a NW legacy base, what does MSP provide that DTW cannot? Real question.