With respect to the rumour about more B737-700 aircraft; one is always glad to see growth and employment opportunities, so it would certainly be good if Astraeus did introduce more aircraft,… but would these really be ‘
more’, or are they just ‘
replacements’?
I.e. At some point (
later this year?) Astraeus’ new parent company(
NTH) is reported as wanting to start operating flights to North America, via Keflavik, apparently filled with passengers from Scandinavia & Iceland… no doubt influenced by the ‘
Open Skies’ agreement which commences at the end of March 2008. But therein these are likely, initially, to be ‘
thin’ routes.
So maybe it’s the case that 5x B737-700s could be introduced as part of a phased retirement of the B757’s (a fleet which, I believe, Astraeus’ original Chairman once described as “
Spectacularly unreliable!”). Nb. Astraeus presently has 5x B757… so the numbers do seem to fit.
And Astraeus already have 138 minutes ETOPS for their B737-700’s and therein a low cost operation across the Atlantic, via Keflavik, from / to the ‘smaller airports’ (e.g. Ryan Air style) in Scandinavia / North America might just be feasible?!
But, from where are they going to get the pilots (
especially Captains)?
Astraeus do have a handful of pilots on the B757 who are already type-rated on the B737; so these could go through an OCC.
Those who are not 737 rated could be put through a B737 type-rating course (i.e. just as Astraeus did when they got the B757, when they took some off the B737 and type-rated them on to the B757). So there is a precedent / they’ve done if before!
And then there’s always the option for ‘Mixed Fleet Flying’, i.e. some pilots being allowed to fly the B737 & B757 on alternate days (
so to speak).
Coupled with this, some may be aware that Astraeus recently ran an advertising campaign, on ‘
Aviation Job Search’, specifically pointed at trying to recruit more B737 pilots (of all ranks)… or maybe this is just a toe-in-the-water exercise to determine the response, i.e. to see what’s out there?
This is a rumour network after all.
