Happy 4th to you young max.

 

Jets AND Rock'n'roll........nice

 

No Van Halen audio, but high def video:

resolution good enough for "full screen"

 

In normal times measures to increase production rates are possible. However, EADS and Boeing have pushed production levels up repeatedly to their maximum capacity and beyond by one a month. Boeing is up to 42 737's and EADS 42 A3XX a month. A back log of close to a decade is not desired by any manufacturer. Competitors come up with new ideas and customers cancel orders when orders can not be filled quickly enough. While there might be a white tail BBJ in the mix here and there, absent a market implosion there are nothing like 300 white tails planned. ... and just like a teenager standing outside Target for the latest X Box game at midnight, expect to pay full price when you NEED something and can't wait.

Sailing and Alpha's concept that Boeing can do an "I dream of Jeanie" head nod and make delivery spots appear is similar to a Elvis sighting. Component manufacturers require an 18 month lead time to supply large assemblies like landing gear and engines. The outsourcing of large lots of work means less flexibility. The negotiation of contracts really pushes the realistic time line up to 24 months.

If it were possible to cough up large numbers of jets on short notice then a delivery slot would not be a marketable commodity. As we know, Delta has made millions selling delivery slots (which means someone else paid millions more than the prevailing market rate) to get airplanes when they were needed.

All I posted is that Delta has effectively been locked out of fleet renewal with a narrow body Boeing or EADS product for the rest of this decade. The C Series probably will be available as will the E170 platform derivatives. Of course there will be an active used market, which appears to be where we will shop while waiting for our balance sheet to improve and a truly next gen product to become available.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility that EADS or Boeing will build new factories to meet demand. Of course this is a very expensive option and would likely be tied to a next gen product and would still have lag from the already maxed out component suppliers ... which pretty much means the end of the decade, so I'll stand by my original post. (further, many are writing that production of 960'ish narrow body jets a year is going to more than saturate the market, if this is a bubble then suppliers don't want to spend billions spooling up to jump in just to get clobbered when it pops)

My other point is that the market spoke clearly at Paris. Airlines demand the most fuel efficient product. Nothing in the Delta fleet fits that description and our Douglas fleet (including MD88's not a N-S issue) are real outliers. Our local ALPA likes to talk about the death of profligate 50 seaters ... next time you hear that story ask for the statistics on the DC9, MD88 and 747. Then ask, if the numbers are nearly the same, then why are our airplanes different? The truth is, they aren't in management's eyes. We offer larger units of capacity, but the numbers on our jets make the E170, CRJ900 and Alaska's fleet attractive. Republic's upcoming fleet is going to look pretty good also.

 

Scambo,

You are correct Sir! I actually enjoyed the A-4 show a lot better than the Hornet show and thought the follow on video was pretty lame.

The editing and music work on this video were and still are phenomenal.
Of course Robert Palmer and his "Babes" ain't too bad either!

Scoop

 

CSeries flight deck

Bombardier

 

Question for swap with pot or PCS. I'm trying to do my first swap ever, so don't know the rules too well... I've got a 2-5 Jul trip worth 27.6 hours getting in at 2300ish, and want to pick up a 6 Jul trip from someone, and swap a 4-day 8-11 Jul trip to them. My goal is to not have to commute back home on the the 6th only to return on the 7th...

When I looked at a trip in open time, it says "30 in 7 violation"... does this mean that I can only do 2.4 more hours based on the first trip? And on what day can I add another trip, that is, how is the 30 in 7 calculated, running days every day?

Is what I'm trying to do not possible (string together a 6 or 7 day 73n trip?). I don't have to swap 1 for 1, even a 1 day trip would be ok, just don't want to drop a 4-day completely without any replacement.

Thanks! Reading the guides on PCS and swap, but can't find the answer...

 

Alfa is correct.

When we were negotiating to fly the EMB up north, the company said "Nope, no way, they're sold out for 4 years".

When Compass was created, 36 "sold out" airplanes magically appeared virtually overnight.

When they were studying the replacement frieghter "nope, nothing out there that is remotely cost effective and lease rates are too high". Then, magically, a whole bunch of cargo outfits found very cost effective frieghters...virtually overnight.

When they were studying the DC-9 replacement "nope, nothing out there is what we are looking for...too large, too small, not enough cargo, too much cargo, not enough wing, too much wing, won't fit the jetway, too expensive...blah blah blah"

When we let them have more 76 seaters, the EMBs and CRJ900s magically filled the gates where our DC-9s, 737s and 319s parked...virtually overnight.

They want the airplanes....what they don't want is us.

Nu

 

Almost as sexy as underboob. It also makes climbing in the Mad Dog depressing

 

If the Rules Monitor section of Swap with the Pot says you're not legal, you're dead in the water. Even if it says there are no rules violations, you then may get shot down by capped reserve days.