The plan is very fluid but the latest is 6 to be removed from scheduled service. 2 of the aircraft will be kept on property for charters. The remainder will be shuffled through paint and then swapped for non-painted aircraft. This pulls over 3000 seats daily out of the system for short term.

Plan is minimal displacement due to the anticipated short duration of the planes out of scheduled service. As for the -200 the timeframe for retirement is up in the air. RA is aware and concerned over one side absorbing all of these displaced senior pilots.

Yes, there are about 110 90's out there that we can get for about 8 mil a piece. A great deal.

Two deals are in the works. The one with China just needs their governments approval and they are hoping that is the case by the end of the year.

We will all feel the pain of those jets leaving. They do not want to do short term displacements that will just lead to more people being displaced after SOC.
It is going to be quite a mess as they reconfigure this fleet. Pack a suitcase and get ready to commute.

In seemingly unrelated news, there has been a significant uptick in freighter tonnage out of ANC, to the point where the the forgone conclusion of the -200s going away is now back in doubt.

Nu

I hope that you are correct Nu. Loads are strong and we have seen some gain in our revenue strength. I was out in LAS this last week. I was talking to one of contractors out there and he echoed the same thing. Said that about two months ago it was dead, and all of the construction had stopped. About a month ago, they say the construction start up again, and tourist levels pick up again. Vegas seems to be doing better, and that is a good sign.

DAL is not sure that this uptick is us just bumping along the bottom or that we are in a true recovery. I guess you could say cautiously optimistic.

The big hurdle is the Chinese who own them. No one wants to be the leader in a deal. The airline's management is looking to the government and the government is looking to the airline to do the deal. DAL wants it, but is having a hard time dealing with the Chinese who are not used to doing used deals. That was from Bastian last week.

So where do you think the junior bases, specifically 757, are going to be? I'm considering pulling the plug and buying a house to take advantage of the tax deals but really want to stay on the 757. Of course, beggars can't be choosers.

I am sure we can stay here, but it might be on the 73N or 88. Might get the 320 but I am sure that if they displace out of the 765 we are goners. I know there are a bunch of 765 guys that are going back domestic anyway. They did not sign up for international and do not want it. Now with HNL gone there is no reason to stay. I bet we see a mass exit off of it either way.

Did I read earlier that the 765 category may open up in NYC? I wonder how many will chase it up there, or wether the drawdown of the NYC ER will make it basically a wash (moving from the NYC ER to the NYC 765). Any SA on how big the 765 category in NYC will be?

No but we have 21 aircraft. So not bigger than that ;)