Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

Sailing, I agree management buys airplanes, we don't. But, management can also decide to tank the company without any harm to themselves while outsourcing our jobs, rinse, wash repeat. It seems we would have learned something from the last decade.

• FedEx typically runs their airplanes two cycles a day. They have very low utilization, which is why DC8's still survive in cargo service. Who cares what they cost to operate ... they don't operate that much and the margins are better than in the pax business
• Boeing designed the 757 for a 20 year life
• The FAA considers the service life of a 757 to be 50,000 cycles, the 737 is 75,000
• To continue in operation past the "service goals" the aircraft must go through heavy maintenance every 30 to 72 months. Economically, my understanding is that parks the airplane. More so on the Airbus A320 than the Boeing and more so on the 757 than the MD fleet although all have a 48,000 to 50,000 limit
• There are three parties at the table on the life extension programs. The operator, the manufacturer and the FAA. Two of the three would like to see new airplanes, only one wants to keep what they've got
• Delta's 757's are the most efficient jets in the fleet. The 737's efficiency does not come anywhere near the 25% or higher improvement that would be needed to fund their replacement ... and a 737 can't do everything a 757 can do
• Skywest and Republic have been well managed and are in an excellent position to win a "survival of the fittest" contest to provide domestic flying under codeshare agreements. They are a real white paper player for the C Series, or equivalent, with no legacy overhead. With musical seniority lists and certificates, I mean no legacy overhead, not even their own.
• Operators like Southwest have replaced 737NG's with new 737's as they wear out. There is no efficiency payback.
• We are pretty much at the top of the efficiency curve. The improvements nowadays are much closer to the margin and do not come near as quickly.
• Cost to replace the 757 fleet with less capable 737's is approximately $14 Billion. Cost to do so with the 787 $31.5 Billion. Profits in 2010 if we are lucky around $1.25.

I believe this next round of labor negotiations (not just ours) will seal the fate of domestic flying. It is the most critical round of negotiations which will effect a vast number of mainline pilots careers, survival of regional players and probably the survival of our union.

All I'm saying is there is a lot more to this than C2K pay rates and an arbitrary percentage. There are some very large economic forces which will exert pressure on management like they are the pebble holding the San Andreas fault together.