Fedex and the 757

[Flyingphil]

Hello Guys,

as most propably everyone has recognized, FedEx decied for the 757 instead of more A300/310s or B737-400(F) as replacement for the good old 727s.

Can anybody tell me propable reasons for this decision?

I do not see any carrier phasing out 90 757s within the next 8-10 Years but several airlines phasing out their last A306/310's as well as many Carriers still have B737-300/400s that will be replaced by 737NG/A320s or their successors.

Has anybody an idea or explananation out of his/her daily practize why Fedex decided the way they did?

Thanx for any hint

@Moderator
Pls do ot move this thread to the technical corner.
This thread is intended for rumours about the the base of the decision, not a technical question! Thank you

[Daysleeper]

Can anybody tell me probable reasons for this decision

Just some guesses:

Its a great machine. replacing 727s with 757s follows the same reasons pax airlines did in the 1980s. It burns less fuel, needs less crew, is more reliable and carries 20%+ more volume.

As to why the 757 ISO other types

A300 : too big and too old.
A310 : too long range optimised
737-3/4 : too small


Where to buy them >The market for used 757s has been improbably tight recently and Fedexs announcement goes a long way to explaining why.
Fedex say they have half already under some sort of option and I would suggest looking at the purchasers of the 787 series and expect to see trade ins of their 75s for the rest.


I think this will be off to freight dogs shortly where you may get some more ideas.

[Huck]

Cruise speed.

The hub sort in KMEM and KIND is based around the speed of the 727. If they were replaced with the 73 or Bus the outstation departures would have to be earlier. Therefore, the delivery trucks would have to finish their routes earlier - and that would cost money.

I used to do MEM - Boise, Idaho in the 727 at Mach .85, and when we'd land the outbound crew would be standing there waiting to take it back for the day sort. No time to waste.

As for the planes, I cannot believe they made this announcement without the aircraft already identified and on contract. Otherwise the price would go up. But I haven't heard where they are yet.

[haughtney1]

Huck, you probably know that the 757 will only really do .80 in anything like an economical cruise (.84-.86VMO depending on the kit onboard). I guess fed-ex will have factored that in with their scheduling:ok:

[Huck]

I know, nothing will truly replace the 727, a truly remarkable (if deafening) machine....

[Wino]

Haughtny,

It defends on how you DEFINE economical cruise.
economical cruise on a 727 is around 78-80, if fuel is your consideration. FEDEX (and Ryan international when we flew the mail) fly the 727 considerably faster (.84 - .90 depending on how much time needed to be made up) than that and very close to the barberpoll when time is of the essance.

Its a whole different animal than pax flying. Speed is life. If a package isn't there on time its FREE. If a passenger is late, who cares, they already paid.

Cheers
WIno

[6000PIC]

Someone correct me if I´m wrong , but doesn´t the FAA (ref. the 757\767 ) have the Vmo set at 0.86 Mach to cover both a\c and the CAA set the 757 at 0.84 and the 767 at 0.86 ?

[haughtney1]

6000....your not wrong..your right:ok:


Wino point taken:} Just out of interest, does anyone know what UPS cruise at in their 757's?

[BRISTOLRE]

Isnt there going to be a lot of competition to acquire these types? DHL and UPS like the type as well (not to mention Icelandair and other niche players) !!

[Buster Hyman]

Haughtney1...are you being xenophobic again???:=



:}:ouch::suspect:

[WHBM]

It's a good decision to have some tasty rumours about.

For a start what are the airlines hoped to be getting rid of the 757s going to replace them with ? I would guess most of the anticipated source will be the US trunk carriers. But the 787 is really too big a leap in size, while the 737 replacement is too far away in time. The A321 has been a favourite in Europe but not so much in North America. As there are many years left in the 757s currently around, and the bulk are not that old, I wouldn't expect too many of the larger US fleets would be sold off any time soon.

I believe many at BA regret selling off most of their 757s to DHL and wish they had kept more of them. Some some were old, but others not.

FedEx will presumably want to go for just one 757 engine type, wonder which one. The RR is the all-round favourite but that impacts on the secondhand price of them.

Why this rather than more A310s ? Well there aren't that many of them left, and they're scattered thinly across many fleets (and few on the US register) which will lead to all sorts of compatibility problems building up a large fleet. Plus it's a widebody which probably means FedEx would have to replace all their ground handling equipment whereas the 757 is the same as the 727 for fuselage cross-section etc.

[Ignition Override]

The cost index, somewhere in the FMC screen menu on a 757 can be changed from 55, to whatever, but I don't remember what this does to the climb or cruise speeds etc and the top of descent point or circle on the HSI's pink (magenta for the linguistically correct) line .

Only one pilot changed the index then a short while later, changed it back to 55.