Originally Posted by
goeasy
Exactly.... new aircraft doesn’t always mean bigger fleet. Rollover of old airframes is very important in a healthy airline
That depends. Most large western airlines, with enough maintenance facilities, tend to use their aircraft until end of life.
If increased maintenance and down time is an issue, then a young fleet makes some sense, but only if the old airframes have enough residual value. That last thing is very much in doubt now. Even if you lease aircraft, you can probably negotiate a really good deal in the near future if you keep them compared to buying new ones.
Increased fuel burn, especially with fuel prices now, does not matter much on shorter routes and for freighters with limited flight hours per day.