kflyer2:
As for the 773ER/772L not needing an engine change .. Don't ever believe what you read on the net. Not every airline wants to go around bleating about their AOG, and the cost of chartering an AN124 to fly in a new fully assembled engine is not something everybody wants to boast about, never mind the cost of getting a half disassembled engine using an Il-76 or 747, and re-assembling it back. AOG-> Money Lost-> Bad for business. Let's say .. only the popular IFSDs get reported, and while the GE-90 is reliable, with a twin, one engine missing is half your power missing, while on a quad, an engine missing is only 25% missing, and the rest can spool up to get your behind-side to terra firma. And if you have many copies of the same aircraft, nobody notices you replaced plane A with another copy of plane A, and when you have fewer of the identical planes, then it not only becomes a mess, it is costly, bad for
PR, and more than often, passengers become vile and blood-thirsty.
And only the cargo boys know which carrier is running helter skelter to ship in a new power-plant, or borrow from their 'partners' .. And again, for the engine being rarely in need of a change .. unless there is a 100% reliable engine, does not matter .. even one engine failure is good to ruin your pleasant day ..
For the long term stuff .. let me say, another semi-private non-Indian Asian Airline with close to 30 plus air-craft, and backed by enough liquid cash, could not find enough money for even placing a financial commitment for fleet of 773ERs, though they were more than interested in the so-called statistics, and instead are fully using their quads and adding more quads. Life is not so rosy as everybody would like it to be .. and considering UL's cash reserves, we got to live with what we can afford, and dream of a Rolls Royce .. but in the meantime, get around in a fairly decent Japanese car ..
Now where does that place UL, and what kind of Line of Credit do we have ? And in today's world, how many financial institutions are going to back a 'national' carrier ? Even AI has more than enough problem trying to find financing .. now don't tell Sri Lanka is much bigger than India, though that is what we like to believe, but, with 1 billion people, and more than enough cash, if AI struggles .. If you have been to India, and watched the number of aircraft flying in and out of airline like BLR, you will know what I mean ..
1) When leasing, it does not matter what the declining value of the aircraft it. The bird belongs to the lessor .. And, more than enough carriers have had the pleasure of flying gas-guzzling aircraft, to fill in capacity, and never regret about it.
3) As for the 'statistics' driven by arm-chair critics, well 772Ls brawn has .... let's not digress .... And numbers are numbers, and for the near future, CMB's sole runway will not be extended, atleast for the next few years, and unless somebody can perform a minor miracle and get a 'fly in runway - fully assembled and ready to use .. ', if such a thing exists ..
And again, as for migrating to a newer type, well, it is not a open and shut case. Best case, it will be painful, and with zero experience in maintaining, I will easily guess atleast a 2 to 3 year gestation period, if we are still making money .. And, if we still get through that, well, it would be a miracle. Large airlines have taken almost one year plus to introduce newer types, even with their experience and funding. Where does UL sit in this equation ?
PS: As for the trip report .. I didn't get to read it fully, but the UL bashing guy needs to get his head examined. Airlines are to make money, and while most passengers never make noise about having to pay for more than 10-15 kg on LCCs, and the nett fare becoming more than a regular carrier, they will whine like nobody, when a regular carrier checks on weights, after the generous allowance.. There have been more than a few incidents of aircraft departing a south asian country, where lot of things went wrong to the extent of near tail strikes, because, 300 pax X 15 KG of hand luggage = equates to a lot of drama for the flight crew up in the pointy end of the pressurised flying canisters .. Those guys who 'sneak' in a more than few extra kilos are not only endangering the lives of themselves, they are also trying to murder the fellow passengers ..