Originally Posted by
sailingfun
NWA started the year with about 100 DC-9's. The original fleet plan had them down to 68 by year end. A fleet plan revision in late spring changed that number to 62 at year end. I called a NWA friend and he believes they have about 70 left now so there are 8 more to be parked in the next month. He has heard of no plans not to park those aircraft. On a somewhat related note Delta is bringing 4 MD-88's out of storage to replace RJ flying.
I guess you talked to the wrong NWA pilot then. A DC-9 that had just been pulled out of the desert was spotted at NWA's heavy maintenance facility the other day. According to the mechanics, it was going through some refurbishment so it could be sent back to the line. Seems like a strange thing to do if you're going to turn right around and repark it along with 8 more to get down to the magical 62 number. The original fleet plan from many months ago when oil was approaching $150/barrel had the DC-9 fleet down to 62 by the end of the year. Plans change. Especially when oil gets down to where it is now. Just like how the original plan for the new merged carrier next summer had close to 360 route/aircraft swaps. Now, the plan, as of 2 days ago calls for 6 (Former NWA) aircraft to change routes by next summer. 4 747-400s and 2 A-330s. From 360 changes down to only 6. Quite a change from the original plan wouldn't you say?