Kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 1, posted (7 years 6 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1915 times:
there was a recent interview with current SK CEO in Flight International - he said that they do not intend ( cannot afford ) to withdraw/replace them anytime soon . I can't remember his exact wording but it was quite funny - something along the lines of "I want to be remembered as the first CEO of SK to not commit us to yet another a/c type that we will realise in 5 years time we didn't want and couldn't afford" given SK's somewhat eclectic fleet mix I am sure a lot of people will agree this is a smart move even with high fuel prices .
MD-80's are typical Douglas* products - they are robust and will fly forever if well maintained .
* yeah , yeah , yeah - you can call them McDonnell Douglas all you like - but we know that the "build it to last" heritage came from Douglas - OT I know but there is a great poem called "The Gooney Bird" about the DC-3
Douglas built this ship to last but nobody expected
This crazy heap would fly & fly no matter how they wrecked it
While nations fall & men retire & jets get obsolete
The Gooney Bird flies on & on at 11,000 feet
They patch her up with masking tape, with paper clips & strings
& still she flies, she never dies Methusaleah with wings
[Edited 2005-11-25 09:43:54]
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As long as SK maintains their aircraft as well as they have, the MD's have lots and lots of years of safe flying ahead. NW's DC9's are much older, and still a very safe and reliable plane. Saftey is not directly related to age, as many tend to think.
Some have been sold, some have been leased to other airlines. As far as I know, no date have yet been set for retirement of the entire fleet. I guess 2010-2013.
Due to the large fleet of NG's, that would have been the natural replacement. Some bright head figured out that 32X would be a nice addition to the fleet, so now SK also have 8 321 flying, and 4 319 on order. NG would be the natural choice, with MD90/80's and 32X leaving the fleet, but I would not be surprised if SK starts flying more Airbus side by side with NG's.
Laxintl From United States of America, joined exactly 13 years ago today! , 22068 posts, RR: 51 Reply 3, posted (7 years 6 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1895 times:
"SAS to stick with thirsty MD-80s
Balance sheet deters group from replacing Boeing twins"
"The long-touted replacement of SAS Group’s fuel-guzzling Boeing MD-80s is staying firmly off the agenda as the airlines-to-hotels conglomerate battles to complete its financial turnaround this year in the face of soaring oil prices."
“We have nearly 100 MD-80s,” says SAS Group president and chief executive Jørgen Lindegaard. “[Replacement] is impossible. We cannot invest in the next few years in changing the fleet. We don’t have a balance sheet that would allow us to do so.”
“We have a very diversified fleet but there’s nothing I can do about it,” says Lindegaard. “I want to be the one chief executive of SAS that doesn’t introduce a new aircraft type that in five years’ time we don’t need any more.”
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
Kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 4, posted (7 years 6 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1893 times:
Quoting Laxintl (Reply 3): “We have a very diversified fleet but there’s nothing I can do about it,” says Lindegaard. “I want to be the one chief executive of SAS that doesn’t introduce a new aircraft type that in five years’ time we don’t need any more.”
thanks Laxintl - the original wording is much better than my clumsy attempt to drag it out of my ( rapidly failing ) memory
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