Heard through a source that the Airbus will not be getting a new panel or FMS. So maybe they will decided to accelerate the retirement of those aircraft now. Is it better to bid off the jet or wait for an excess bid?

I have no idea if that is valid rumor or not, but take a breath and think about your question practically. If you've been here for one day, you know that we're in a training backlog on most fleets and the 75/76 in particular. Between the backlog and payload issues it's not even clear that the 767 will in fact replace the MD10 on the official schedule. Historically none of our fleets have seemed to turn over when expected and it's usually later not sooner. I think we have something like 55-65 Airbus' on paper, hard to see us replacing that lift in short order in addition to the other stuff. I can't tell you what to bid, but imo this a potential issue that's far from ripe.

I think the bus is going to be around for a while... avg fleet age is slightly younger than the 75, and I'm not sure we're getting 76's fast enough to replace them and the (much older) 10's. The question is will the bidpack be worth sticking around for?

Can it legally even stay operating past 2020 without the FMS upgrade? Is it NextGen compatible?

Could be wrong but I thought the 2020 mandate was for ADS-B Out transponders only

Maybe this is why we're hearing 737 rumors again....(I've been hearing them for 15 years....)

Airbus avionics upgrade is dead.

Tried to add too much unnecessary equipment to upgrade which tripled the cost, ultimately killing the proposal.

Back to topic...wasnt junior WB guy on last bid a 2011 hire? That will be a 6-7 year WB upgrade.

We were told by TL during an Indy hub turn around November(?) about the Airbus upgrade proposal. He said that if an upgrade agreement was not reached between UPS and the FMS industry, the Airbuses would be gone "very fast". And he said something to the effect of "and when I say fast, I mean very fast". This is also when he dispelled the rumor that we have new 767s going to the desert to be parked. He clarified that rumor and said it was true that 767s aren't being fully utilized because we can't fill the cockpits fast enough and it may get worse with the accelerated deliveries -- but none of them are parked. He also said he expects the 767 to replace the Airbus EUR SIBA.

Don't shoot the messenger. It was 2am on a hub turn so I might have taken something out of context or misheard him. But I don't think I did.

Yep, I was one of them.