Taking Off- Take a Peek inside the new 757-200

[chucky]

http://takingoff.delta.com/post/57423437462/inside-delta-take-a-peek-inside-the-new-757-200

 

[WorldTraveler]

So glad to see DL affirming older aircraft like the 757 that still have years of great service left in them and which just need new interiors and upgrades to key technical systems.

There is nothing like the 757 to carry 170 passengers from coast to coast or across the Atlantic or to Hawaii or deep into S. America .... no other aircraft will be able to replace it and DL is wise to hold onto as many as possible.

The 199 (or 200) seat versions will ensure the economics continue to work for the 757 on the non-Business Elite 75s

 

[737823]

The funny thing is at least in the transcontinental JFK-LAX/SFO market AA/DL/UA will all have a common C seat made by the same manufacturer-BE Aerospace. The seats are appointed differently but it's the same seat design. DL recently ended complimentary Medallion upgrades in that market, although you can use the new confirmed upgrade certificates but it's no longer unlimited complimentary.

Josh

 

[WorldTraveler]

which goes to show that the average customer won't even know what airplane he is on.... just that DL will have spent a whole lot less to have a fleet of transcon capable aircraft - which also includes the 767ERs which also carry the cargo market which no other US carrier appears interested in serving any more.

I didn't know about the end of the complimentary medallion upgrades but it once again shows that DL has grown to a strong enough position in key markets like the JFK transcons where it no longer needs to provide the incentives that it once did - and DL is operating a relatively small number of premium seats so they don't have to give away as many upgrades.

 

[737823]

See here, the changes were effective March 1.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/about-skymiles/medallion-program/medallion-benefits/unlimited-complimentary-medallion-upgrades.html

This is consistent with UA who has not given UDU since they launched p.s. from JFK in 2004 although the product has been cut back considerably since then it's still not an upgrade market although BOS/EWR/IAD and other transcontinental routes do still receive UDU.

I wonder what changes AA will make, IMO they have the best product but since Gold and Platinum elites use stickers who knows what changes are in store for AAdvantage once the programs are combined.

WT I thought the 763s were only an interim solution, no? Is there really much of a cargo market these days?

Josh

 

[WorldTraveler]

DL has 5 763s in the JFK-LAX schedule by this summer and DOT data shows that DL is carrying tens of thousands of pounds of cargo per day on JFK-LAX, most of which was carried by AA - part of why the 762s made some sense. Given that the passenger airlines fly frequent schedules thruout the day, they have an advantage over the cargo carriers. And the NE-California cargo market is huge. DL doesn't even intend right now to use 767s to SFO.

DL's execs on the latest earnings call noted that DL is the number one carrier by seats in the JFK transcon market and that likely couldn't be sustained just with 757s. The 767s are also used to connect cargo to/from DL's Asian and Australian flights.

The irony is that AA also flies 763s but somehow the idea of converting some of them to the same configuration so they could continue to carry the cargo market apparently wasn't an option they wanted to presume - likely because the 767s that DL uses have 200 economy seats - a market in which AA says it is dramatically reducing its presence because it doesn't want to compete against B6 and VX' low fares.

As I have said so many other times, DL is not afraid of taking on low fare carriers and DL's ability to limit B6' growth in NYC is directly linked to adding seats in markets like JFK-west coast and the Caribbean that AA has left or has reduced its presence.

You can't selectively serve markets and then be surprised when one day you are relegated to 2nd or 3rd tier status in that market.

 

[robbedagain]

did dl send the plane to Singapore for the refurb?    it does look nice
 
wt  you do not know if most of the cargo was from aa or not   stop acting like you know everything

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, actually, the size of the market is known. It's public data you know.

If a carrier stops serving the market and another carrier starts it, it isn't hard to know how the market moved.

 

[robbedagain]

Except that aa does jfk-lax utilizing the A321Ts 

 

[WorldTraveler]

which carry virtually no cargo

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Robbed is right: the seats look almost exactly like the AA A321T offering, only without a F class above it to capture the corporate contracts
 

 

 
#hollywood
#thelegendisback

 

[WorldTraveler]

I'm sure they did... but DL which stepped into the game decades later and well after both AA and UA has managed to grow its revenues in the transcon markets such that just in the combined JFK-LAX/SFO Market, DL is now #2 in revenues. AA and UA may have invented nonstop transcon travel but DL has embraced a full service product that serves all segments of the Market - including cargo - which AA says is no longer wanted since AA wants to selectively serve the coach Market with significantly less coach capacity than it has operated for decades.

And that idea was UA's, not AA's.

AA and UA have decided to become niche carriers in the JFK transcon markets while DL will become the revenue leader with average fares in line with AA and UA in LAX and SFO resp.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

It's far too early for any of your prognostications about who is going to remain the revenue leader, Miss Cleo.

 

[737823]

If cargo was really was lucrative AA wouldn't be exiting the market.

Josh

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Exactly: cargo is the last refuge for the carrier that can't attract the premium passengers.