From Avtel at Mojave,
Now comes the case of N404US. It arrived here, we
pulled the engines and shipped them back to PIT, per
the USAW instructions. After the engines arrived in
PIT, they turned them around and are shipping them
back here (some trucker is making a killing!), and
when they arrive, we''ll reinstall them, then the plane
will fly back to PIT. A lot of money wasted by a
bankrupt airline!
Reportedly the same thing happened with a/c 334.
The discussion has beeen that this is due to negotiations with the lessor...but does anyone know the cost of ferrying an a/c PIT-MHV r/t, then shipping the engines back, R/T! I''m willing to bet it will take quite a few months of the negotiated ''reduced'' payments to make this up.
I might not know everything, but to an outsider, this seems like a stupid waste of $.
If this was the intention, why not just tape up the a/c at PIT for a week?