Originally Posted by
parishiltons
Agree. JetBlue is the only US operator of E190s who have 30 or more of them in their fleet. Noting that they were the launch customer for the type and all are due to be retired by 2026. Hope Alliance does a thorough refurb - mechanically and the cabin fit out - before we start paying Qantas prices to fly in them! Why do we seem to end up with other peoples' castoffs - lack of airline competition in Australia?
Simple economics - the ownership costs are low compared to new build, and that means you don't need to work them as hard as the new jets, ie A220s. Alliance perfected the model by buying Fokkers for very little money, and although they need some looking after, for most of their flying to and from minesites once, or perhaps twice, a day, it works. They also now have a stack of potential spares to harvest from and the sim, both of which support the in-service fleet and are a trading/services opportunity down the track. There is a decent market for greentime CF34 engines, so good luck to them.
The only downside I can see is that the JBLU frames come with a pretty bad reputation, but other sources tell me that the E190s aren't that well suited to intense airline operations like a 737 or A320, so maybe it will be just fine in Alliance/QLink colours?