Comments on: American Orders Up to 100 787s

By: mcpcshowcaseHD

mcpcshowcaseHD — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:58:23 +0000

I wouldn’t be surprised if American Airlines modify their livery when they get their 787′s.

By: CF

CF — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:00:31 +0000

Sorry I haven’t responded sooner, but I’ve been busy.

Dan Webb – Ugh, now I can’t find where it came from, but I believe it was released by Boeing.

Wes – I would be very surprised to see the 787 on the A300 routes unless it’s just a tag to get more utilization out of the aircraft. This bird is meant for long haul, and I’ll bet that’s what we’ll primarily see. The 757 is actually pretty decent bird for those Caribbean routes, and I imagine we’ll still see that on the most heavily traveled routes.

I also don’t think that it matters if DL/NW has an all-Boeing fleet. I would have to assume that the gentleman’s agreement between Boeing and Delta would not be violated if Delta acquires an airline with Airbus aircraft. The Airbus and the MD-80s serve different market types anyway. MD-80s are for short to medium stages while the Airbus is great on longer haul routes. The A319 in particular is good for long thin routes. So, which airplanes go will be driven by where Delta wants the route map to go.

By: Wes

Wes — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:42:47 +0000

To the contrary, Delta has been looking to increase their MD-90 fleet due to the used birds in China being available for very cheap. Haven’t heard anything about this since the DL/NW deal though.

I can see AA using the 787-9 for routes that the A300 currently flies, which will be underserved with the 757 until 2012. AA will then pull the 757 fleet solely back into domestic flying, retiring more MD-80s. By 2013-2014 a majority of the domestic flying will be 737/757. Estimated counts are 150 737, 120 757, 100 MD80.

For Delta, I doubt they will get rid of the MD-80s so quickly. It’s a great plane for what they need, and their oldest MD-88 variant is just 15 years old. They would get rid of some of the Airbus first, because Boeing considers the legacy MD product a Boeing, and this move would put DL/NW back to a full Boeing fleet.

By: Million Miler

Million Miler — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:56:57 +0000

Cranky, you are not alone, the first thing I noticed was the color of the fuselage. First on the Aviation Week web site and then on videos running on local Dallas news. On the video it even appears to be reflective. Maybe they will wrap it in aluminum foil! The stipulation for pilot agreement is also getting a fair amount of press locally.

By: Dan Webb

Dan Webb — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:43:37 +0000

Cranky…where did you find the rendering of the 787? I couldn’t find it anywhere…which much mean it is somewhere obvious. :)

By: CF

CF — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:02:30 +0000

A – Thanks for refreshing the memory. Good background stuff. But I wouldn’t be so sure we’ll see those Airbus aircraft go away. There are 130 of them flying, and they aren’t going to get rid of all of them. The DC-9s will be gone soon enough – they’re already being phased out. After that, I would think the MD-80s would be next though it’s possible that a small subfleet like the 16 MD-90s would go. (I absolutely love that airplane, by the way.) That is, of course, assuming they want to keep reducing the fleet. The DC-9s take a good chunk out.

Buster – This won’t touch the 762s. Those are used solely for domestic flying, mostly transcontinental work. The 787s definitely won’t be used for that.

By: Buster

Buster — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:55:58 +0000

Please, please tell me that AA’s first order of business will be to retire their decrepit 767-200′s. Those planes make the 763′s look modern!

By: A

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:47:45 +0000

Cranky – the Boeing only deal for 20 years was signed but later retracted under pressure from Airbus after Boeing gobbled up McDonnel Douglas. (Wishing there was still a 3rd major player in the business.) Anyway, none have strayed and why it’s today called the ‘gentlemans’ agreement.

And yes, NWA will get the first domestic 787′s, although it’ll probably be Delta by then. As for Delta taking over NW’s airbus fleet, to my knowledge NW leases their airbus planes. Their DC-9′s are wholly owned and a big reason they are still in the air. My guess is if Delta needs capacity reduction they’ll nix the Airbus leases…maybe even ahead of retiring their MD-80′s. Only because having known a few airline mechanics a streamlined fleet of one aircraft is a big savings.

By: Steven Frischling

Steven Frischling — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:17:55 +0000

Delta will be receiving the Boeing 787 ahead of American Airlines and Continental Airlines for one simple reason. This reason is that Northwest Airlines is first in line to receive the 787 from Boeing.

Delta originally announced it would purchase up to 125 Boeing 787 in mid-2007, however Delta has recentlt revised this number to purchasing 42 787s.

Delta has not stated however if these 42 787s are in addition to the 68 787s Northwest Airlines had lined up, or if this is the total number they plan to receive as a combined airline.

As for a gentleman’s agreement to fly Boeing only, this should be interesting when Northwest’s fleet gets painted over in Delta colours. The A319/A320/A330 are comfortable and efficient aircraft. Delta may eliminate them from the fleet to maintain an all Boeing fleet, however they may choose to retain the A330 within the fleet.

……as for colours? AA will most likely chose the colour scheme originally chosen by NWA. This is to pain the aircraft grey.

Maybe AA will pain them while and toss an ‘eagle’on the tail:0)

Steven Frischling
Founder
The Travel Strategist
Web: http://www.thetravelstrategist.com
Blog: http://www.flyingwithfish.com

By: CF

CF — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:45:58 +0000

A – I know that American and Continental signed, but I think you’re right about Delta as well. I seem to remember them being struck down as illegal for some reason at the time, but nobody has strayed from it.