Another US B-747 Freighter Fleet Gone
Delta to Ground 14 Freighters
JOC Staff | Apr 21, 2009 5:13PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story
Former Northwest 747 fleet falls victim to rising costs, falling Asia trade
Delta Air Lines will ground its entire fleet of 14 747 freighters as it addresses big losses and a steep decline in cargo business, the airline said Tuesday.
The aircraft, long operated by Northwest Airlines before Northwest merged with Delta late last year, had been a backbone of trans-Pacific shipping and the last substantial freighter operation mounted by any American passenger airline.
Delta said in a report on the first quarter that included a $794 million net loss that it will ground the freighters “due to the fleet’s age and inefficiency.”
The 747-200s had made Northwest the United States’ largest freight carrier among passenger airlines for years, but Delta said in its first quarter report that cargo revenue declined 44 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Delta and Northwest combined counted $331 million in cargo revenue in the first quarter of 2008 and just $185 million this year.
The 747-200s are markedly less fuel efficient and more costly to operate than the newer 747-400s that fill Pacific trade lanes, but Northwest had put off decisions on whether to modernize or scale back the fleet for several years because it was picking up business to and from Asia.
With Asia exports retreating sharply over the past year, however, the diminished demand threw the aircraft into a far harsher operating light.
Cargo traffic at Northwest reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation this year was down 48 percent on Pacific lanes, the heart of the freighter operation.
Delta did not give a timetable for when it will pull the freighters from service.