The spot light will be on Jet2's reliability this summer, they work crews and aircraft very hard in Summer
You're spot on! Aircraft and crew are worked very hard in the summer, and not so in the winter. The new summer routes serve to highlight Jet2's seasonal nature - it works for them, they're quite like the Low Cost Charter, the foundations of a LCC, with the structure of a leisure airline. This makes the Airbus order very unlikely for Jet2 - imagine the costs of keeping 15 brand new leased aircraft parked up over the winter period... It's illogical to say the least.
The 757 is unique, as is Jet2's winter breaks to New York. The airline was the first, and still the only Low Cost airline to travel Transatlantic from the North. As much as I understand the 757's will go sooner or later, there's still some life in them yet. If Jet2 were to buy some young 757's, (10-15 year old) they'd get another 15 or so years out of the beautiful bird, until a viable replacement, in the form of a 757MAX (though highly unlikely), were to be manufactured.
Realistically, the most logical replacement (though there will never be a true one) would be the 767;
- It is still in production
- It shares a common TR with the 757
- It can fly a varied range of missons, from seasonal New York, to 'packed to the rafters' bucket and spade flights
- Is common with the rest of the fleet
As the 757 and 767 were manufactured in unison, it means that transition between the two aircraft would be seamless. It means little retraining for crews and engineers, as opposed to lots of expensive retraining on a new type. As mentioned, the 767 can do the vast majority of what the 757 can do, and more. It would give for greater capacity on the 'bucket and spades', as well as greater flexibility for Jet2 operations. Maybe a 2-3 aircraft order would be suitable to start with. The aircraft, would be very busy in the summer, but not so in the winter. However, because of their wide range of missions, the 767's could be chartered during the winter for many airlines, and in turn, this would cover the costs of being parked up on the ground.
If, in the event no new aircraft order is made, maybe a few second hand 767's bought outright would suit the business model of Jet2 a little better.
Traditionally, LCC's do not operate a mixed fleet, mainly due to it costing more than a common fleet does. It then begs the question: Are Jet2 not negotiating a deal with Airbus, in order to drive a better deal with Boeing?...
...Time will tell...
