aerosmith
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I heard from a somewhat reliable source earlier this evening that FEDEX is negotiating w/ U to aquire 85 737-300's.
Fedex Aquiring 737-300's
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I think your rumor is bogus
US has 38 737-300s and 32 737-300LRs for a total of 70 planes.
Plus all labor contracts say the company has to keep the fleet at 279, oh wait, contract language means nothing to this company, gee what am I thinking?
US has 38 737-300s and 32 737-300LRs for a total of 70 planes.
Plus all labor contracts say the company has to keep the fleet at 279, oh wait, contract language means nothing to this company, gee what am I thinking?
BoeingBoy
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FWIW, I wouldn't put much faith in this rumor.
1) FedEx wouldn't be getting them for passenger operations - they looked at that back in the late 70's and rejected it.
2) For their freight operation bulk is usually the problem, not weight - they want cabin volumn. That's why they have signed up for the A-380. Now if you said 737-400's, that would be a better 727 replacement volumn-wise.
Jim
1) FedEx wouldn't be getting them for passenger operations - they looked at that back in the late 70's and rejected it.
2) For their freight operation bulk is usually the problem, not weight - they want cabin volumn. That's why they have signed up for the A-380. Now if you said 737-400's, that would be a better 727 replacement volumn-wise.
Jim
aerosmith
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Like I said it's just a rumor. Wanted to know if anybody else was hearing the same.
johnny gearpin
Member
I did hear the rumor this evening. The rumor mill churned out the taking of USAir fleet of 737-3/-4s. They are taking bid on freighter conversion.
Obviously pending a liquidation of sorts ( i believe from mahogany row, doesn't come out of the blue).
Regards,
Johnny Gearpin
Obviously pending a liquidation of sorts ( i believe from mahogany row, doesn't come out of the blue).
Regards,
Johnny Gearpin
It is not entirely difficult to believe. The only thing that can slow the growth of the freighters is total saturation. that is, no where else to fly. Why does it not make sense then, that they get smaller aircraft to serve smaller markets that don't draw as much cargo as the big cities?
It could lead to something.
To put our a/c into this subject. We are going to have to do a final repair to the lap joint issue. We probably don't want to do it. If they aquire our aircraft, they will convert them into freighters which will mean a total gut-out of the interior and a cargo door mod. At the same time they could do the final repair.
Doesn't sound to far fetched to me. :huh:
It could lead to something.
To put our a/c into this subject. We are going to have to do a final repair to the lap joint issue. We probably don't want to do it. If they aquire our aircraft, they will convert them into freighters which will mean a total gut-out of the interior and a cargo door mod. At the same time they could do the final repair.
Doesn't sound to far fetched to me. :huh:
Another thing that makes the rumor believable is that their large 727 fleet is slowly dwindling. You don't want just one flight from most spokes because then the hub gets blown out for sorting by a sudden wave of package volume. In many case you need 2-3 flights each evening to make the system work. Everything else in the fleet is significantly bigger (A310s are next up), so it is no surprise that they would be looking at narrowbodies similar in size to their 727-100s and -200s. Old US Airways aircraft make economic sense -- there is such a glut of airframes that the economics of conversion are better than buying newer build aircraft. There are also plenty of -300s in the desert too and FedEx has been happy to piece together other people's fleets in the past (A310s from DL and SR - maybe SQ?, DC-10s from UA and AA, ATRs from CO and AA etc etc). 737s will work better than MDs or ABs because the containers used for the 727s will work for the 737s (same fuselage section)
FedEx is constantly looking for deals though, so even if the rumor is true, the may decide to hold off an do nothing for a while.
FedEx is constantly looking for deals though, so even if the rumor is true, the may decide to hold off an do nothing for a while.
ITRADE
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Assuming this is true, are we to assume that an equal number of A320 family craft will come on to the property - especially in light of the 279 threshold?
BoeingBoy
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ITrade,
I can definitely see management arguing that the E-170's count toward the 279 limit - after all, they're on the mainline certificate (for now, anyway). The F28-4000's were the same size, after all.
And as I said earlier, I can see FedEx wanting 737's to replace the aging 727 fleet - I would guess the -400's would be better for them than -300's since the cabin volumn is a closer match.
Jim
I can definitely see management arguing that the E-170's count toward the 279 limit - after all, they're on the mainline certificate (for now, anyway). The F28-4000's were the same size, after all.
And as I said earlier, I can see FedEx wanting 737's to replace the aging 727 fleet - I would guess the -400's would be better for them than -300's since the cabin volumn is a closer match.
Jim
ITRADE
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Maybe, maybe not. There are a LOT of 737s sitting out there in the desert that can be had for a song and a dance.cavalier said:
Clearly, it makes sense for folks like UPS to get rid of their gas guzzling 727s. BTW, were the 72s converted to a 2-crew cockpit or is it still 3-crew?
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