Originally Posted by
dudeskibro
If any of you don't have access to Spiritboard...
A little bit of juice flowing over there recently. A poster is familiar with "new" A320s that are coming. Apparantly they are older and may have various configurations...different FMGC...and possibly with CFM-56 engines. He said SM replaced AP because of his great A320 experience...especially in Latin America...and that SM convinced upper management he could set up the differences training by a certain deadline to get these A320s on the line.
My optimistic side thinks all this is way too detailed and specific just to be a rumor. Has anyone else heard any rumors like this?
There's also some rumors floating around that some aircraft are already in the hangers in DTW...anyone heard that either?
SM is absolutely the right man for the job, but your info regarding the reason he replaced AP is uninformed wild speculation. Trust me on that. He did NOT lobby for the job and was only picked after AP quit. Yes, he has a great deal of Latin America and A320 experience and that greatly influenced his selection, but SM will do the job without being influenced by business deadlines that conflict with safe operations, or he won't do it at all.
SM's greatest task will be in avoiding all of his new "friends".