NWA to sell 9 Airbus Aircraft

Kev3188

Veteran
Oct 5, 2003
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Right in the middle.
Article is here. ***

This may require a login, so here are some excerpts:


The airline said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to sell nine of its 65 Airbus A319s, a staple of its domestic flights....

..."The process for closing each of these sales is underway," Northwest spokesman Darren Shannon said. He declined to identify a buyer or purchase price, but he linked the aircraft sale to Northwest's "successful debt and lease restructuring efforts while in Chapter 11."...


..."Northwest needs the revenue that could be gained by using these fuel-efficient aircraft," Monty Montgomery, a spokesman for the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said Tuesday. He added that the planes could still be flown "under our current contract with sufficient [pilot] staffing."...

...Northwest's decision to sell the planes was made well before the carrier canceled about 1,200 flights in late June and consequently elected to cut its domestic schedule by 3 percent in August....

...Pilots union leaders told their Twin Cities-area members Saturday that Tim Rainey, Northwest's senior vice president overseeing flight operations, notified the union in March that the nine A319s would be phased out this year. In addition, union leaders said in March that management intends to cut the aging DC-9 fleet from 115 last year to 93 this year....



...Northwest declined to say which cities would be affected by the A319 reduction....

...However, Bill Hochmuth, senior research analyst at Thrivent Investment Management, Minneapolis, said: "Passengers better get used to flying in regional jets."...

...In a bankruptcy court filing early this year, Northwest projected that it would reduce its domestic main fleet flying by an average of 2.7 percent a year through 2010. Flying done by regional partners is expected to grow rapidly -- by 16.9 percent a year, the carrier said....

...Mesaba and Compass airlines, both Northwest subsidiaries, will each operate 36 new 76-seat regional jets. Mesaba has begun flying jets manufactured by Bombardier in Canada. Later this year, Compass will start flying Embraer jets made in Brazil....

..."You are going to see movement from 100- to 130-seat jets down to the new 76-seat jets that they just started receiving," Hochmuth said....

...Northwest has yet to decide on a replacement aircraft for the DC-9....

Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709 • [email protected]





Thoughts? Rants? Conspiracy theories?
 
Might explain all the MELS etc...
Don't waste money fixing a plane you are eventually gonna sell.
 
Why would they sell 9 Airbus 319's that are obviously newer, rather than ditch 9 of those damn old DC9 they fly?
 
Why would they sell 9 Airbus 319's that are obviously newer, rather than ditch 9 of those damn old DC9 they fly?

Probably because the A319's are newer and still have value, that's why. The DC-9's will probably be sold for their value in scrap aluminum - who would want to buy an almost 40 year old aircraft that has been maintained by scabs for the past two years?

From reading this article, it seems to me that NW is slowly but surely attempting to shift their core business into flying transcontinental and international routes with widebody aircraft. Their domestic short-haul routes will be done by their commuters (Compass, Pinnacle, Mesaba).
 
Well, apparently you care enough to respond to the thread...

come on kev are you serious?? why would you start a thread like this anyway?? NWA owns the damn things they can do what they want. Once NWA won in court in concessions from the pilots to allow them to expand in the 70 seat range. Northwest ordered 70 planes. so they are getting rid of some other planes like Avros, DC-9 and some others. NWA is going the regional jet way. its no secret!!
 
like I said no excuse for stupid. :rolleyes:

Jenny you are about as fake as they get on this board. You and your puffy I hate NWA chest well i mean saggy. That little yellow stripe showed up on your back when things heated up for you F/A's. Just go be a good little FA and push that cart make sure you smile when you serve your next coffee and tell the paying customers "thanks for flying NWA"
 
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come on kev are you serious?? why would you start a thread like this anyway??

Because people (employees past & present, and customers) read this board and might find it interesting



NWA owns the damn things they can do what they want

No revelation there.



Once NWA won in court in concessions from the pilots to allow them to expand in the 70 seat range.

Also not a news flash.


Northwest ordered 70 planes.

72 to be specific (36 CRJ900's & 36 Embraers).


so they are getting rid of some other planes like Avros, DC-9 and some others.

Avros have been gone for some time now, and it wasn't a minute too soon. Nice to fly on, but a reliability nightmare.


NWA is going the regional jet way. its no secret!!

No, it isn't.

Still, I find it interesting that they're getting rid of some of the newest aircraft in the fleet.

Now that you've gotten your "rant" out of the way on this thread, any other thoughts on this to contribute?
 
Probably because the A319's are newer and still have value, that's why. The DC-9's will probably be sold for their value in scrap aluminum - who would want to buy an almost 40 year old aircraft that has been maintained by scabs for the past two years?

From reading this article, it seems to me that NW is slowly but surely attempting to shift their core business into flying transcontinental and international routes with widebody aircraft. Their domestic short-haul routes will be done by their commuters (Compass, Pinnacle, Mesaba).
After the sick-out by NWA ALPA during June, which was confined to the narrow-body operation, how can you blame NWA for moving the flying to a more reliable operation that the regionals can provide. The regional pilots don't have such a cushy contract when it comes to sick usage, and they don't have nearly as much sick time built up to burn. ALPA may have shot themselves in the foot with this stunt of theirs. NWA is now going to move as much flying away from these guys as they possibly can, because the NWA pilots have proven that they are willing to run the airline into the ground, and thus don't deserve the jobs that go along with keeping this flying mainline.
 
After the sick-out by NWA ALPA during June, which was confined to the narrow-body operation, how can you blame NWA for moving the flying to a more reliable operation that the regionals can provide. The regional pilots don't have such a cushy contract when it comes to sick usage, and they don't have nearly as much sick time built up to burn. ALPA may have shot themselves in the foot with this stunt of theirs. NWA is now going to move as much flying away from these guys as they possibly can, because the NWA pilots have proven that they are willing to run the airline into the ground, and thus don't deserve the jobs that go along with keeping this flying mainline.
Ya..ok finny,
you think because of the sick-out stunt, that NW is going to now punish the pilots by going regional?
Which came first the chicken or the egg?
 
Ya..ok finny,
you think because of the sick-out stunt, that NW is going to now punish the pilots by going regional?
Which came first the chicken or the egg?
It will certainly expedite and likely increase the magnitude of the originally planned shift. It's not punishment, it's risk management.
 
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... how can you blame NWA for moving the flying to a more reliable operation that the regionals can provide.....

I'm not sure I'd call Mesaba "reliable." It's been my experience that they're the least reliable, at least when it comes to operational performance. Just as a "tea in the ocean" example, we've had the new -900 for three days now. it's been ontime once. Both delays had maintenance as the root cause (on the first, the plane itself was broken. On the second, the pilot supposed to be flying our trip was stuck with another broken plane upline. It was like this with the ARJ's before them, and for the brief period when XJ flew CRJ's (before the recent bringing back of the couple they have).

I know all new fleet types have breaking in periods, but the passenger doesn't care; they just know their flight was very late.

Pinnacle isn't much better, though their main problem is scheduling turns/crews so tightly that crew rest is the rule and not the exception. I have no idea about Compass.

Also, I know it doesn't mean squat at the corporate finance/strategic planning level, but when compared directly with an A319, it takes double the manpower to turn a CRJ.



NWA is now going to move as much flying away from these guys as they possibly can...

Uhhhh, hasn't that been the plan all along? Remember the graphic showing all the cities that the EMB170 would be "perfect" for?
 

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