Originally Posted by
Ladloy
The language used during some of their announcements is exactly that. They expected the Saab operation to continue to spin a profit even when they took their eye off it. The reality is they have spent the last decade spending tomorrow's capex and now they say its a drag on their financials.
10 years ago, Saab came to Rex and said they had the idea for an updated 340. Better engines, avionics and an APU. LKH essentially laughed in their faces. Now who's laughing? No support from GE, minimal support from Saab, federal government money all dried up. No pilots, no engines. But hey, it's Qantas' fault!
You may be talking about the Stillborn SAAB 340C. This was a project from the nineties where the 34 seat airframe was upgraded to all the nice engines/avionics of the SAAB 2000. This would have resulted in a common endorsement and similar performance and operating efficiencies. Operators could trade in their old A and B models for the flexibility of a mixed fleet of 34/50 seaters that all crew could then operate. Think Dash 8 200/300 but with better gear and performance. Great stuff! Unfortunately, the SAAB 2000 was a commercial failure for a whole other reason, and SAAB decided not to go ahead with the 340C.
I had a conversation with a senior REX manager about this some 15 or so years ago. He told me that they (REX) had actually approached SAAB with a view to producing the 340C and recommencing the production of the 2000, for the vey reasons I have stated above. According to this senior manager, SAAB comprehensively ruled out that ever happening?
So if SAAB had indeed reconsidered, I'm a little perplexed as to why REX didn't at least entertain the idea?