Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Without the numbers in front of me, I can not be sure, but it seems the 747-400 is around 30% more expensive per RSM than the 777-200. The 777-300 is the answer for what Delta needs, but those require Cap Ex.
Back when we ran the merger numbers it was obvious which airplanes would go away in which order. The surprise has been that the strength of our network supported them as long as they did.
While NRT is not being talked about much, I'm sure that mess tanked the justification for keeping the 747's on the short term.
It would take digging into the cargo numbers to figure out if the 747 is a keeper. (It would seem Japan needs a Berlin Airlift, but that has not materialized)
In really crazy coincidences which mean nothing, Virgin has a dozen 747-400's. Now that BA/AA is tied up and Virgin's got the "Office of Fair Trading" up their butt, they need friends sooner rather than later.
I personally want the 744s to hang around a long time. In fact, I hope every airplane hangs around. Now the 773 might be the winner, just look at the Boeing order book and notice 773 for passenger airlines and 748s for cargo but not vice versa. But fuel efficiency is not the #1 issue imho. The DC-9 can hang around a long time given it's overall cost plus the cost to replace it and it always makes me wonder if the 733 could've had a longer life here had we not parked them.
I mean even SWA is upgrading their 733 cockpits and keeping those pop tops flying.