I do not understand this under the current paradigm. Is there a chance that some 787-9s may still come and hence Flight ops are hedging their bets until that possibility is known?
I've always maintained that there is a narrative at play here. Watch for the miraculous turn around of QF in 6 months time.
A few execs (well higher than FLT OPS) are on record as saying that QF can't afford to NOT take on the 787-9. They just needed an excuse to whittle away the engineering system (achieved that by reducing 744 irframes beyond what is economically viable to maintain in house and dispose of all 767s even if we do end up short of capacity because the orange cancer can make up difference even if our pax hate it and avoid it where possible), and keep the pressure on to achieve better (for them)T&Cs on the long haul fleets. They'll achieve that before mid next year and THAT is when the 787s will be announced.
They'll be geniuses. Bonuses all round.
