Acft 702

Note:


5 of the 10 Airbus aircraft are do their "S" checks this year. The other 5 are do after the 1st of the year.



---The New Lorenzo has to go.
 
Well, for what it is worth, here is my theory. Pending the courts final ruling and all appeals, the 9 remaining airbus will stack up like cord wood. During bankruptcy we rejected the leases on 7 aircraft (6-319's and 1-320....I believe that is correct). The next rush of airplanes are due to come up for checks in Sept. I believe we will see the return of the 6 parked airplanes once the judges ruling on the appeals is final. A/C 701 will ferry from BFM to GYR for storage with her sister ship 702. Given that we are not prepared to do the check in house yet - pending recall of mechanics, tooling and preparing the facilities, a/c's 703, 704, 705 and 706 will end up in GYR for storage as well. That accounts for the 6 airbuses that are parked in the GYR that will be brought back to maintain fleet count of 279. A/C 101 was the first scheduled A320 for overhaul and is currently parked and returned to it's lessor. I have a feeling that since it is not considered our airplane, the check will be done by the lease holder and the airplane will miraculously reappear in our fleet with a newly negotiated lease rate. That means that a/c 707 is the first airplane we will work in house and should be due to be inducted somewhere around the 1st of February if my calculations are correct. So 707 and 708 are the last 2 of the 10 that need would need to be worked in order to maintain the fleet count of 279. If we are still not ready to work these airplanes, or Dave is not ready for us to work the airplane, then I have a feeling that 707 and 708 will go to GYR too, and a couple of 733's or 734's will return to service. This gives us until Sept for the next airplanes to come due.

That said, You could see the original 10 returned to PIT or CLT to have the S check completed anytime during the summer, just in time for a one for one swap with the next batch. Would Dave have the ability to reject the leases on these 10 airplanes? If so, then you could possibly see them retunred to the lease holders and the S check farmed out that way. Would this be a loophole that you could drive an airbus through?

Lastly my concern now turns to our Caribbean operation. The first 10 airplanes are overwater A319's. If we park these airplanes, what provisions are we making to ensure that we have ample OW airplanes to operate the routes they are needed for? With additional service from BOS to the islands, additional PHL and CLT service, etc....we may be shy a few capable airplanes. I know we are not equipping any additional airplanes to make up for those that are parked, so what will we do when we are down 10 OW airplanes?

Just the theory that I cooked up in my head that buys the company quite a bit of time before the 1st mechanic will get recalled to work the S check in house.
 
If the company is willing to spend a bit more block time and burn more fuel, it doesn't need overwater A/C to serve most of the islands. By following the coastline and island chain, the Caribbean destinations can be served with non-EOW A/C. It would take adjustments in the schedule, and a fairly hefty increase in fuel burn, but it could be done. I think the only island destination that absolutely must have EOW A/C is BDA.