Yes the LCAL fleet was very old, which is why the merger really helped CAL because all the new guppies that were delivered post merger (2010) wouldn't have happened without UALs cash on hand.

Plus parking all of CALs old 767s and getting new scabliners made the overall fleet newer.

UAL had those "old' 747's delivered as recently as 2001 and those "old" Airbus delivered as recently as 2005.

So the myth that one airline had an "old" fleet was a SLI slight of hand and it was shown that it didn't matter.

 

Yeah, I am math challenged......

But the growth in ASM this year is due mostly to the unplanned bigger reduction in ASM's last year. When Sparky got parked, our ASM's shrank more than planned. That makes this year look like growth, which it is not other than the aforementioned increase from last year.

We are still shrinking. The other reason for an increase in ASM's the next year or two will be adding more seats in the Guppy's by making the seats thinner. That way a 900ER can leave even more seats empty flying to HNL. But hey, our ASM's are growing, right?

 

I would suggest reading John Raineys quarterly update on UPFRONT and it is probably the best source of info on the rationale of the various route changes and parking jets etc. His latest update focused primarily on one of the phases of cost cutting ( Smizek announced) through parking less fuel efficient jets for newer ones...( hence the parking of some 757s and replacement with 737-900ERs)...and addition of more 787 and Max in the future. There is a huge difference in fuel and maintenace cost between the older less fuel efficient 757s and the 900ER...something like $3.5M to the plus side to the bottom line by utilizing a 900ER. According to Rainey, WE are not cost competetive flying the older jets ( hence the 737-500s are gone and the older 757s are leaving). Not a slam...against any legacy group or equipment but its time for us to get beyond this pettiness of the minority few....because we are all United now...

 

Well said. Unfortunately, there are those from both legacies who never will.

 

What is epically idiotic, is that the 757's were flying FULL and generating tons of revenue, irrespective of their costs or efficiency. Look at the UA financial stats two years prior to the merger.

They could be used on all the city pairs which require the thrust and the brakes which only that plane has. The shiny new guppies could be used for expansion or reclamation of routes now being sullied by the GD RJs. We could be growing and competing with DAL.

 

I was not trying to take a cheap shot. If it was taken that way I apologize. My point was simply that when two airlines merge, there are going to be aircraft that get sent to the desert. Odds are it's going to be the older aircraft and that's why the UAL 757s are going away. The 757 was a great airplane but so were our DC10's. When they get old, and yours are old, it's natural to replace them. Given they don't make 757's anymore it was going to either be 737's or Buses. In our case it's the 737 that's replacing them.

I'm not sure where all the sensitivity comes from someone calling your airplanes old. When I climb into the 777 each month I don't give a rip whether it was the first one off the line or the last. CAL's 777 #1, the Gordon Bethune, is now old. Call it what it is, old.

 

Since I play for both teams, I really don't consider myself parochial. There are good and bad from both former companies. 757's, like Toddnel said, are being parked for a reason. Oldest ones first. They are not being produced anymore because nobody ordered them. They are at the end of their life. Many pilots that have flown many aircraft will mourn their loss, including me.

737 700's and 800's are good aircraft, even if I hate flying them. The 800 has some minor performance issues, but is a great all round aircraft. I think the 900 is an abortion. It might make money on certain routes, but is so restricted performance wise (TO and landing) that I think the fleet should never get very big. For some routes it is the killer app. But for many routes that UCH flies it cannot do the job.

I hate flying guppies, but if UCH wants to fly 700's and 800's, so be it. IF they want long skinny airplanes, the 321 has far less performance issues than a 900ER. Same fuel burn and similar range, but the 321 can actually get off a runway shorter than the Shuttle landing facility.

Now, back to the toilet seat issues on the Guppy..........

 

Quick Question? Where are these figures coming from? Been on the plane 15 yrs and have never been wt restricted? Just flew EWR-SFO -900, full boat, +1 J/S, 6+14 flt time(right into the jetstream). It did just fine. Flew at FL340 till Nebraska then went up to 360! Where the heck are you going wt. restricted?

 

I was not slamming your fleet, simply stating a fact about the age of the fleet. I am very much aware of all the delivery dates and the true facts about them. The 757's are very old, the 747's old and the Airbus's are not that old. Doesn't mean they aren't good airplanes, it just means that it is no surprise that the older fleet is being replaced,

The oldest 767-200 CAL had was delivered in 2000. They were retired because they were useless aircraft profitability wise, just like the 737-500's. There simply were not enough seats to sell to justify the size of these aircraft.

By the way the last 747 was delivered on 12-5-2000. The rest were delivered as far back as 1990 with an average age of about 18 years.

The last Airbus flying today was delivered on 10-17-2002.

I wasn't arguing the ISL nor trying to say you were less of an airline.

 

There is a lot of misconception going around about the next gen 737s and their weight restriction issues. I flew the airplane as an FO for four years and as a Captain for just over two. I used to take the -800 from Newark to Guayaquil, Ecuador. While this was the very edge if it's range, that's a darn long flight. I never saw the weight restriction issues spoke about on here and never stopped for gas on a transcon nor left anyone behind. That said I hated the -900's high approach speeds and puny brakes.