Originally Posted by
sailingfun
The 757 is a expensive jet to build. The 737-800 is 30 percent cheaper on a per trip basis to operate overall then the 757 with only 23 fewer seats. The production line for the 757 has been long since closed and updating the jet would not make sense.
Delta is not looking at near term jets. They are looking to 2020 and beyond and I would be surprised if anything other then MD90's show up in the next 10 years. What Delta is trying to do I think is push Boeing to go for a new clean sheet aircraft based off the 787 technology. Really looking at well after 2020 for those jets. Still if a all new jet is announced it puts Delta in a good place verses many other airlines. We will be in the cycle to replace our current jets vice stuck with jets that are still new but not up to the efficiency of a clean sheet aircraft.
If Boeing does not go for a new jet then Delta is now in a bad position. They will be faced with a fleet replacement requirement but will not gain the efficiencies they need. The airlines like AMR that are replacing their MD-80's now will end up with lower overall costs.
Timing is everything. Delta is trying to force the issue. The new jet has to come as close to 2020 as possible. Every year after that will cost Delta a lot of money.
The C-Series is going to be here if it can get some orders. The fact is that if they can re-engine the 320 and 73N that is a lot better than buying hew jets that cost over 30 million a copy. When not if the Next Gen Jets arrive 2022-2025 these re-engined jets will be obsolete, and DAL like AMR will be stuck with a ton of CapEx they need to pay off on those airplanes. Leasing would be a better short to mid term option.
Originally Posted by
slowplay
Gotta disagree with you here.
The early 5500 and pre-ship 622 series 757's will be 30 years old in 2016. I don't believe these aircraft can be wingletted due to a different wing structure than later aircraft. Including those aircraft, there will be around 75 757's over 25 years old that year. The earliest A320's (about 18 a/c) will be over 25 years old. 89 of the MD-88 fleet will be 25 years or older, not to mention the age of the 34 DC-9-50's we still operate. 10 of the 16 744's will be over 25 years old, as will a number of 767 domestic and 767ER. While the MD-88's have fewer structural concerns, that's a lot of older airplanes. There's just over 100 MD-90's in the world, and we already own 49 of them according to CPO numbers. FedEx, UPS, and DHL are scarfing up all the low cycle 757's they can acquire on the used market and turning them into package freighters, making the used aircraft market pretty competitive.
I don't see how you make it to 2020 with just MD-90's. Pushing it out that far would make a huge CapEx hurdle during that decade as you tried to replace substantially all of our fleet over 10 years.
You can't and I have been saying that. DAL needs some jets but to buy a new fleet of jets may prove to be a mistake long term. Getting a re-engined used jet makes better sense.
Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
True, but the 787's technology has not been validated. The replacement of traditional systems with an all electric airplane might not be such a great idea. For starters, no one has built the perfect relay. At 235 volts, any increase in resistance will generate a lot of heat.
Boeing has repeatedly said the electric tech does not scale down in cost or size for a 737 sized jet.
Yes, they have. They said the technology will not be there until after 2017 at the earliest. Mid term fixes like a GTF make a lot of sense if you can get a great deal on the airframe, and or hang them on used jets, knowing that the clean sheet will be where you really want to spend your precious money.
Originally Posted by
Jack Bauer
Improvements on existing jets makes sense. Stretch out the life of the ones you own, buy a few to replace the ones that must be replaced, and wait and spend you money on the true clean sheet jets that will inevitably come. The industry is demanding them so it is only a matter of time.
I would replace the ones I must, and get the efficiencies I can on the other ones, repair the balance sheet and sign on to the clean sheets that will arrive in a few years.