sailingfun

Lets hope that the airframes are replaced on a 1 for 1 basis with 777's. If the aircraft can't make the far east from DTW then it wont work at all out of ATL. I suspect a big annoucement after the DCC. Since these were primarily replacement aircraft to allow retirements of 747's in NWA's business plan perhaps the whales will stick around a bit longer then some Delta flt ops personal are stating.



Delta Looks To 777 As Relief From 787 Woes
Aviation Daily
09/26/2008 , page 02

Darren Shannon


Delta is considering Boeing 777s as either a temporary or permanent replacement for the 787 order it will inherit when it finalizes its takeover of Northwest, sources tell The DAILY.

This revelation comes as All Nippon, the launch customer for the 787, says it will have to introduce nine 767-300ERs to its fleet in 2010 and 2011 to cover capacity shortfalls caused by the delay in its 787 delivery program.

Northwest is scheduled to be the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of Boeing’s new widebody. The first of 18 787s scheduled for delivery is Boeing’s third test aircraft, which is already under construction at the manufacturer’s Everett facility.

Northwest was the first carrier to publicly admonish Boeing when it announced the first delay in its 787 program (DAILY, Oct. 11, 2007), and although President and CEO Doug Steenland confirmed that a compensation package was being discussed, details for either the first delay or subsequent changes in the 787 delivery schedule have never been disclosed.

It is unclear if Delta’s talks with Boeing are for compensation or replacement for the 787s, however doubts have arisen about the viability of the widebody for the Atlanta-based carrier, which has opted as recently as August (DAILY, Aug. 8) to use the 777 to bolster its long-haul fleet.

Northwest executives in 2007 were also concerned about the 787, and in October of that year were aware the first batch of deliveries would not be capable of operating at full capacity on routes already assigned to the carrier, including nonstop flights from Detroit to China. Because of these concerns, plans were considered to either operate the 787s at less than full capacity or on shorter routes already established with the Northwest network.

Neither Delta nor Northwest was available for comment. Boeing says it will not discuss conversations it may or may nor be having with customers.

On Sept. 25 ANA, in addition to unveiling the 767-300ER plan, announced a new delivery schedule for its 50 787s that not only defers the first aircraft until August 2009 but also extends the delivery rate and delays completion of all 50 deliveries to 2017 from the 2015 deadline initially planned.

Earlier this month, reports also said Japan Airlines will add nine 767s and two 777s as part of a compensation package for delays in its firm order for 35 787s.

acl65pilot

From what I hear, Boeing would be happy to cancel or delay their orders until the 787-900 comes out. It takes some of the production slots away and thus frees them up for other customers. It would also give us a good deal on some 777's. Keep in mind DAL is also looking for some on the used market as this section grows with the introduction of the 787.

Hawaii50

We should see some additional 737-700s in short order as well. That will be a very good thing for those of us who think the DC-9 was hot back in the day but she's kind of a cougar now.

Winston Smith

In order to be a "cougar," even though she's old, she'd still have to be hot and desirable.

I don't think the DC-9 qualifies.

She's just old, wrinkled, and completely ugly now. She may have been the prom queen in 1966, but she's had 12 kids and 5 husbands since then (one of whom was her son's best friend).

No amount of Botox or spin can bring back her former beauty. Let's just put her out of her misery.

capncrunch

The deal with this cougar is that when you take her to bed, she does her job with flying colors and you didn't have to buy her dinner. I wouldn't count her out just yet.

Scoop

How about we keep em around and cut back on our RJ flying instead? BTW since the DC-9 spawned the '88 wouldn't the DC-9 be a MILF vice a Cougar?

Scoop

johnso29

That's funny, because last Sunday I helped ferry in a DC-9-30(built in 1968) to SDF so we could cover a E175 Compass flight to MSP. The E175 was hard broke and they had to fly the part in. Guess the DC9 can't get the job done anymore, huh?

Molon Labe

The DC-9 is still known as the root of all evil on the planet earth...... the root for short.

Bucking Bar

The problem is, she eats a lot, has high levels of flatulence, and is noisy about it. She also can't see very well and can't dance like the younger girls.

acl65pilot

True but she is paid for. Yes, I know the cost break down, but with the credit crunch that is plaguing everyone. Owning something will go along way in the near term.