Originally Posted by
NuGuy
Dunno Bill,
The MD-90 (Saudia) and the 717s have similar setups. If the 717s showed up, then the case COULD easily be made for a combined category, and if you added them all up, it would be around 50+ airplanes, which would make it worthwhile.
But this all pre-supposes that:
1) DAL wants to be in the 100 seater business
2) They want the Saudia birds bad enough
I don't see anything like this going on, though. If DAL wanted to be in the 100 seat business, they have 30-40 DC-9-30s that have another 3-4 years worth of cycles on them, and they're paid for, with MX and training already in place.
If they wanted to Saudia birds bad enough, they could make that happen, too. We got 16 747-400s...and a similar number of 767-400s. Running a 25+ fleet of MD-90s with a different setup wouldn't be an issue if they really needed the lift.
My point is if the company wants the airplanes, they show up and they make it happens. This ain't my first rodeo, and I've heard every excuse in the book as to why airplanes don't show up. My fav is the "they aren't available", yet when outsourced, the people that got the contract seem to have no difficulty at all finding 25 on their doorstep in 3-4 months.
Nu
Nu,
Delta is keeping the DC9s a little longer than planned because they are still filling the seats. The -30s will go sometime this Fall, and the -40s next Spring, but that all could change too. If we ever did get a bigger foot print at LGA via USAir, the 717 would be the perfect plane to throw on many of those markets. And, if we are supposedly thinking about a bunch more hiring in the near future (rumors point to consistant hiring for an additional 48 months maybe), then throwing 25 717s in the fire doesn't seem too far out there. I hope it happens.