70+ 717's entering the fleet!
88 Boeing 717s will be integrated into Delta :wub: . The Board of Delta also approved the lease and/or purchase of a total of 80 MD-90s and Delta started to purchases used MD-80s as source for spare-parts.
Looking at raw numbers, Delta seems to be very successful with their policy to shape their fleet with newly factory-delivered planes and their decision to retain older types and to add additional MD-90s + Boeing 717s.
The F70 Will stay untill beyond 2018 into the KL fleet and reach an inservice age of about 25 years, while they often do 10 or more flights à day.
Right. Don´ t forget that the Foker 70/100 were designed for such hard work. Fantastic and well-suited planes for short haul work. ;)
88 Boeing 717s will be integrated into Delta :wub: . The Board of Delta also approved the lease and/or purchase of a total of 80 MD-90s and Delta started to purchases used MD-80s as source for spare-parts.
Looking at raw numbers, Delta seems to be very successful with their policy to shape their fleet with newly factory-delivered planes and their decision to retain older types and to add additional MD-90s + Boeing 717s.
Right. Don´ t forget that the Foker 70/100 were designed for such hard work. Fantastic and well-suited planes for short haul work. ;)
Yeah, i was just surfing and posting on A.net, when i stumbled on the 88 number... quite impressive if u also take into account that all planes have to be re-fitted with the new Delta product, and most of them are up for a D-check! Its also a big product upgrade, as they are intended to fly mainline, but replacing some smaller CRJ/EMB regional Comair etc ops...
As far as the MD-90 go's, i know the ex-Saudi planes have digital cockpits, and Ex-JAL/JAS still the classic lay-out. So i guess they will use the Ex-JAS as primary parts planes? As far as i know they now have 50+ in the fleet, with more to come.
And indeed, the Fokkers where designed to fly for a long time, so they could be upgraded with better specs every 5 or 10 years... sadly we all know how that ended.. The problem with KL is that there still isn't a good replacement, offering the same pro's such as the spacy cabin. Besides, its economics aren't that much worse compared to the Embraer's. The CRJ-900 does offer a significant improvement, but doesn't offer the same level of comfort KL wishes to provide.
Thanks Dutchaviation! ;) Southwest Airlines/Boeing and Delta agreed that all Boeing 717s will be re-fitted by Southwest and checked. You can imagine that all parties involved will be happy. Southwest will be able to get rid of this type, Boeing always wanted to place orphaned 717s at “one company” (not leasing them to many smaller airlines) and Delta saw the opportunity to enhance their product with a durable and known design (from their vast experience with DC-9/MD-80s and MD-90s). It will be a nice improvement for passengers at Delta and a streamlined sub-fleet will be the result. The remaining DC-9-50s will be retired at the end of 2013 and the MD-80/-90 and 717 will soldier on and Delta invest a nice amount of money to keep them in good shape. Structurally they are good enough to last for many years to come.
Here is a quotation of a message made by me my blog: “Thanks to confidentially supplied information I am pleased to share some additional information regarding future developments at Delta and their fleet of MD-88/-90s, the remaining DC-9s as well as the upcoming Boeing 717-fleet. Let us start with the Boeing 717 and the planned introduction by Delta into commercial service in September 2013. This deadline means that proper preparations are needed in anticipation for this new type and it seems that this program is on-track. Training for pilots will probably begin after the end of summer´s-peak and the necessity for enough 717-pilots could result in an earlier retirement of the remaining DC-9-50s still in service. Earlier plans called for a phase-out of the last DC-9s during mid-2014 but current information claim that the last DC-9 could be retired by “the end of 2013“. Nevertheless the chance to see a DC-9, MD-80, MD-90 and Boeing 717 at the same time in commercial service at one company will be remarkable and can´ t be ignored for future history books. The 717 will enable Delta to gradually shift capacity with the resulting replacement of 50-seat regional jets. The 717 “is gonna be a big workhorse for us” and Delta anticipates fuel-savings of “20 to 25%” compared to the DC-9-50. The next important information are about the MD-88s and MD-90s: The MD-88s and MD-90s are “more mature, older aircraft” and they are “extremely economical from an ownerships standpoint” and they are “very rugged aircraft”. The MD-88s and MD-90s can “fly for many more years” and they are “actually the way Douglas certified the aircraft” and “they´ve got more life left on them than anything else in the (entire mainline-) fleet, believe it or not”. The airline is also looking to put a program in place with an outside-vendor including STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) on “a new cockpit for the MD-88 and MD-90“. Such a Cockpit Refresh will enable Delta to comply with new requirements including GPS etc. by 2020. The upgrade will improve the capability of the MD-80/-90 to optimize future navigation procedures for example. The planned upgrade isn´t approved yet but a decision could be made within “the next months”.”
So i guess they will use the Ex-JAS as primary parts planes?
No, the JAS/JAL MD-90s will be used for active service rather than for parts. It is believed that ex-Lion Air MD-90s could be used for parts and a total of 65 MD-90s are confirmed as part of the active Delta-fleet. I am quiet sure that the MD-90-fleet of EVA/UNI Air will be part of Delta one day too.
I agree with you and I´ve heard some similar information that the difference between the Embraer and Fokker at KLM Cityhopper isn´ t that high . Officially there are “huge improvements” but this is a typical and nice way to show that the new aircraft is really a vast improvement. I would do the same. One CEO of a well-known European airlines once said (years ago) that European airlines tend to order aircraft because they want to, not because they need to. IMO Fokker really knew how to design aircraft for short haul missions. One of my subsidiaries operate Fokker 100s ;) My main airline Sparrow Air has no Fokker 100s because the MD-87 was selected in the interest of commonality with her bigger MD-80-sisters:wub: .
Sorry for using this thread for additional information about aging planes etc. but I think that such information is an improvement for a thread.
Happy Easter to all!