Orix to scrap 14 year old A320s

[Oshkosh George]

Orix(leasing company) to scrap 2 ex America West A320s.
They are N645AW/N646AW c/n 238/271 and they are just 14 years old.

Is there some unusual reason for this,or is this now the way of the world?

[PPRuNe Pop]

The expected write off life was expected to be around 15 years so its not too far out. They gotta go sometime. ORIX will have had their worth out of them. I still have the figures I was negotiationg in '91.

There comes a time when the economics in keeping them in service is no longer viable.

[tristar500]

Wonder what the future holds for the BA A320s inherited from BCAL... Being withdrawn over the next 12 months - new A320/321s have been ordered to replace them.

[Buster the Bear]

Here is another almost as old:

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.asp...regmark=G-MONX

[IronWalt]

Well we need more beer cans

[Ranger 1]

Composite Beer Cans?

[PAXboy]

Is this really to scrap, or simply dispose of via sale or parking?

[AnEviltwinEr]

Im shure some other company will buy them, fix them, and send them out into service again.

[IronWalt]

Well they will have to buy them REALLY CHEAP as I understand the man hours and parts costs are sky high on these machine for D Checks.

[hapzim]

Ah the difference between Airbus (15 years scrap) and Boeing (20 years turn, convert to a freighter another 20 years left)

[qwertyuiop]

Could be something to do with the high cost of airbus spares. The a/c is worth more in bits.

[Oshkosh George]

Originally Posted by PAXboy

Is this really to scrap, or simply dispose of via sale or parking?

Yes,REALLY scrap!--------

http://www.airwaysnews.com/fleet/NAFU.htm

[Oshkosh George]

Originally Posted by hapzim

Ah the difference between Airbus (15 years scrap) and Boeing (20 years turn, convert to a freighter another 20 years left)

That may apply in some cases,but in the thread about the Cyprus A320 which went for scrap,I pointed out that there were 737-500s parked alongside it,which were also to be scrapped,but they were 3 years younger.

[PAXboy]

Here is an uninformed guess, based on observing manufaturing and production in a wide area of enterprise. If old Boeings currently can do further service as freighters, whereas Airbus may be too expesive or not suited etcetera, then Boeing will already be moving steadily into that same position. Within a decade, we will see all commercial a/c broken for spares at a VERY much earlier stage than has historically been the case.

[acbus1]

15 years is a shockingly short life, IMHO.

If maintenance becomes that expensive, then there's something wrong with the original design process, n'est ce pas?

Or is this just built in obsolescence gone mad?

[IronWalt]

Fact: Airplane and Financing companies make more money by building and selling more airplanes. As a result they want a shorter life span.