Originally Posted by
ROC10
I’d agree but unless they acquire lots of aircraft or massively cut their programme (both unlikely I’d say), there’s simply no other way they can operate it. Unless you know anything we don’t?
But they don’t need the aircraft until late May, which is four months away.
I don’t dispute the fact that another Summer without the Max may require wet leases/subcharters, but if they were planning that to cover the expansion they wouldn’t have hired 100 pilots.
Aircraft leasing is a bit more complicated than just saying “we would like to keep it longer”. Maintenance programs are set out months in advance, the 757s would’ve been booked in for cargo conversion and the 737s that have left the fleet would’ve been allocated to new operators before the expansion was announced. The one owned 757, AW, would’ve needed expensive system upgrades to keep it in service, not least the installation of GPS.
There are a large number of 737NGs available around the world, granted some in varying states of disrepair, there would’ve been a plan in place prior to the announcement of expansion. TUI very rarely make their exact fleet plans known to the public or staff.