jetlaggy

I think thats all fleets now

MD11Simnerd

Reasonable information. The new 777x variant will have some real data, but the real player, passenger conversion 777-300 will will be a proven airframe by then (Knowing UPS, we will get P&W 777s). I'll wager that the A-300 with P&W, the MD with P&W, and all the other aircraft flying for other carriers with the same class P&W powerplant will fly until the company's accountants decide they are no longer viable.

Paid off airplanes that carry a lot and get decent gas mileage are hard to through away, no matter what the van driver says

Flybynight101

People saying you can’t replace the MD with a 76 clearly haven’t seen our domestic loads lately…

tnkrdrvr

That 76 replacement costs waaaay more than a paid off MD and can’t haul 190k of rubber dog**** out of Hong Kong (or Shenzhen).

Precontact

True but there are some advantages to a common fleet.

Flybynight101

I said domestic loads. Obviously an MD can carry more than a 76 but when we’re hauling 40k from CLT, a 76 can easily replace an MD.

tnkrdrvr

But at 40k a load it doesn’t save enough money to justify acquiring a new airplane. Unless the FAA mandates something that costs greater than $10 million a tail, I don’t see the company looking too hard at the 76 as a replacement.

Flybynight101

You’re missing the context of my post. I’m saying that when people say you can’t replace the MD one for one with the 76, you absolutely could with these domestic loads. Money has nothing to do with what I’m getting at. I hear time and time again that the 777 is the only plane that can replace the MD. Well not when we’re only taking 40k to CLT…

tnkrdrvr

Except that the MD is doing a lot more than 40k to CLT. The average domestic load for the MD that I have seen has been between 80-100k. I’ve seen as heavy as 120k and as light as zero. The MD also can haul far more volume (cubic feet) than the 76 which can also be useful. I used to think that a 76 and 74 airline made the most sense. However, the 74 production line is gone and the 76 will be in a few years. We don’t have enough “heavy” lift today (which is why the MD is in Asia) and we don’t have enough light twins, which is why we are ordering 19 more 76s. If the company wanted a simplified fleet it would have ordered more -8s (maybe 10-15 more?) and jumped on the factory 76f in a much bigger way earlier. We wouldn’t be upgrading the A300s. Management wasn’t sufficiently proactive and now we have lost the option to simplify the fleet.

Flybynight101

You have some valid points but agree to disagree on the volume/weight the domestic MDs are carrying. More often than not, a 76 would be able to take over a domestic MD. Look at RIC. The MD is being replaced by a 76 the second week of May…