View Full Version : Fedex 727 retirement
Does anyone know when Fedex plans to retire their 727 100/200 fleet. I can't believe they still operate them with the high fuel costs and associated cost due to their age.
I heard a rumour that the replacement aircraft would be the 737-900. It has more power,range and I think around the same fuselage length, of course this is only hearsay. Does anyone know if they are even looking. Thanks.
seacue
9th Jan 2005, 19:43
I'm probably wrong, but I recollect that FedEx re-engined some 727s. They only replaced the side engines since the center engine would have required redesign of the duct. IIRC, the work was done by Dee Howard at San Antonio.
WJman
10th Jan 2005, 01:14
Your right,
they did re-engine and put a semi glass cockpit in the 727-100's. They put RR tay's on 1 and 3, and zeroed the airframe.The airplane is very powerful, but the Tay's are a real pain. Even with that though they still have 1 JT-8 and 2 tays burning fuel when maybe 2 CFM-56's could do the same job. I was just curious if there were any crew or people in the know. Fedex usually puts in huge orders, I would love to see them fly the 737-900 freighter version.
spagiola
10th Jan 2005, 12:52
It was UPS that re-engined 727-100s with Tays, not FedEx.
FedEx did re-engine some 727-200s with JTD-200s replacing the older JT8Ds on the outboard stations.
The Dee Howard/Alenia conversion put three Tays on, not two. I don't believe there was any conversion that put only two Tays on.
There was however one which put two JT8D-200s on (Valsan, later Goodrich).
The FedEx programme involved extensive acoustic engineering on the original engines.
Quite a good summary here: www.macavsat.org/pdf_files/misc_reports/hushkit_report.pdf
PW2040
10th Jan 2005, 16:16
In a few years there will be a lot of free B757-200 on the market , would that not be a solution for Fedex instead of investing a lot of money in new B737-900.
By the way , I flew the reengined B727-100 ( TAY on all three pos ) for a couple of years........very nice airplane.
Greetings,
PW2040
WJman
10th Jan 2005, 16:58
Sorry, your totally right, it was UPS. I was at each in such close proximity and time and the same airport that I tend to jumble them.Thanks. I still think the 737-900 would be more fuel efficent than the 757. Who knows I guess.
Flightmech
12th Jan 2005, 22:22
PW2040
Fedex have looked at the 757-200F as a 727-200 replacement but its wingspan is too great for the Courtyard ramp in the hub at Memphis (the predominant ramp for the 727 fleet during the hub turn) The 737-300/400 fleets of United/Southwest were also looked at but some of the aircraft already had more cycles than the 727's they were replacing!! The search continues.......
Ignition Override
14th Jan 2005, 06:04
FEDEX still flies many 727s. I see many of them quite often.
Each old jet engine required hush kits to comply with US Stage 3 noise regulations, and most JT8Ds in the US were modified years ago.
There are so many "steam-gauge" planes flying for US major airlines that many thousands of us still fly the old-fashioned way, and at least a few thousand of us have no flight engineer to preflight and operate most of the systems (!) :uhoh: . What a shocking concept to many young 'cherries' out there.:oh: