QANTAS ORDERS ADDITIONAL B737-800's

[Jet_A_Knight]

BOEING PRESS RELEASE
SEATTLE, Dec. 20, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Qantas Airways today announced a final agreement for the order of 31 Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 jetliners. The order is valued at US$2.3 billion at Boeing list prices.
This is the largest single 737 order placed by Qantas for the Next-Generation 737. The airline previously ordered 38 737-800s in increments over the past six years.
Today's order brings the airline's order total with Boeing to 51 airplanes during 2007, including an order posted last month in which Qantas contracted for 20 787-9 Dreamliners, which the airline initially announced in July.
The chief executive officer of Qantas, Geoff Dixon, said the 737-800s would have the latest in-flight entertainment technology.
"This further investment in the latest aircraft technology will also underpin our efficiency drive by lowering operating costs, while at the same time minimizing our environmental impact as we grow," he said. "The 737-800 has a 25 percent lower fuel burn per seat and 30 percent lower maintenance cost compared with older equivalent aircraft."
"Qantas is a key 737 customer, and the Australian geography is one where the airplane really proves its value," said Stan Deal, vice president, Asia Pacific Sales - Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The 737 will continue to provide excellent economics, reliability and passenger comfort to one of the world's great airlines."
The Boeing Next-Generation 737 family is the world's most popular and reliable single-aisle airplane family. As of Nov. 30, Boeing had logged orders for more than 4,300 Next-Generation 737s, and has unfilled orders for nearly 1,900 airplanes worth more than $135 billion at current list prices.
With the November order for 787s, Qantas is now the second largest customer (and holds the most orders by an airline) for the 787 family, with 50 787-9s and 15 787-8s on order. The airline will operate its 787 fleet with GE Aircraft Engines' GEnx power plants.
The 787s are expected to be used by the Qantas Group's two major brands, Qantas and Jetstar, for both domestic and international operations.

[Aussie Insider]

Do they come with pilots aswell?

[Aussie]

Dont worry, there is no problems with pilots in the industry... Just ask Dixon!

Hes got it figured out!

[aulglarse]

So how many commands will be generated by this order? How many airframes are they replacing? This must be something positive for mainliners-surely!

[Going Boeing]

Yes aulglarse, it is positive news. The previous thread that discussed this had a concensus of about 20 additional airframes which would mean 110 new Captains and 220 First Officers. When coupled with the massive numbers of B787's and 12 A332's it means significant movement.

[Taildragger67]

Isn't this news item simply to announce finalisation of the terms of the Boeing part of the big single-aisle order which was announced (http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2007/nov07/3687) on 14 November (and so not a new additional order)?

[Sonny Hammond]

How many narrow bodies can the australian market fill? QF domestic, Virgin, Tiger, Jetstar, Skywest, all for a tiny population?
The market has never justified this type of capacity and unless the airfares are all $20, I doubt it ever will.
I guess we'll see where the actually go, Vietnam anybody?

Maybe the 767's are on the way out, which means this may not be so positive a thing for promotions.

[Going Boeing]

Sonny, plans to retire the first four B763's have been put on hold (due to developments in the domestic market) which means that the A332's being delivered are additional aircraft (which is why they had to start recruiting a few months earlier than originally planned).

In the long term, the B767's will be replaced by B787-8's & -9's -again an increase in hull numbers despite some going to J*.

[Not Again]

GB, I think 20 additional 737 airframes are still in order. Thats assuming all the 734s go, and thats not happening yet. So lots of additional 737 slots coming.:)

Sonny , there is lots of capacity potential on mainline domestic ops.
Load factors are high already and there is growth for full service operations all over the country. PER KTA MCY ASP AYE , trans Tasman, regional WA , not to mention International ops. Marketed properly, we could fill 20 additional 737s easy.

With Tiger VB and JQ all competing, I don't think there is as much slack to take up on the LCC end of the market.

[OhForSure]

I was under the impression that the 330s were to (eventually) be replaced by the latter 787s... I spose this will be subject to capacity requirements? I ask this because the 787 order as it stands doesn't look so crash hot if it replaces all 29 767s and all 22 330s. Some rough and quick maths shows a growth of 1 aircraft!

Having said that, I know QF have numerous options and purchase rights on additional 787s and that these are likely to be firmed up. :ok:

[Not Again]

Qantas plans to keep all A330s , with all to end up back in mainline, eventually.

[nomorecatering]

We have not even begun to scratch the surface as far as the domestic travel market is concerned. Recent surveys, and anecdotal evidence indicates that still over half the population of the major capital cities have never even been on a plane.

WEith the traditional once a year traveller starting to travel at ever increasing frequencies, and the increasing numkber of first timers( and subsequent repeat trips), I think the ultimate size of the market is somewhere in the 4 to 8 times the size of the current numbers.

[Going Boeing]

There is very significant growth yet to be experienced in the domestic market and there has been much discussion about the shortages of ground staff and pilots but another problem is the terminals. QF domestic terminals are bursting at the seams and this has been made worse by allocating some of the bays for Jetstar's use. The lead time to design and construct extensions to the terminals is lengthy and management need to be doing something about it now.

OhForSure
I was under the impression that the 330s were to (eventually) be replaced by the latter 787s... I spose this will be subject to capacity requirements? I ask this because the 787 order as it stands doesn't look so crash hot if it replaces all 29 767s and all 22 330s. Some rough and quick maths shows a growth of 1 aircraft!

You can count the 20 B787 options as firm orders ie 15 B787-8's and 70 B787-9's (minus 15 to 20 for Jetstar) replacing 29 B763's. I understand that "Not Again" is correct in that the A330's will be staying on a bit longer as they are a young fleet. I suspect that the further 30 commitments for the B787 will be the -10 variant which will be used on some of the current B744 routes as well as new destinations. I don't expect many more A380's past the current 20 on order and they will replace the 4 B743's and a number of the older B744's. From 2011 through to 2015 the B744 fleet will reduce from the current 30 aircraft down to just 9 (OJS/T/U and the 6 ER's). The current plan for the B737 fleet has just one B734 aircraft leaving mainline (for Jet Connect) in the near future so with the 5 + 31 B738's on order, there will be a huge increase in the number of pilots required for mainline - career progression is finally restored and I expect that there will be rapid progression to command for current F/O's and S/O's. Providing QF can actually recruit enough pilots then I believe that many will be in the RHS within two years. If they can't recruit enough then it will slow the expansion down as, for example, they would not release B744 S/O's for B737 F/O training until sufficient new recruits are endorsed on the B744.

[OhForSure]

GB:

There is very significant growth yet to be experienced in the domestic market and there has been much discussion about the shortages of ground staff and pilots but another problem is the terminals. QF domestic terminals are bursting at the seams and this has been made worse by allocating some of the bays for Jetstar's use. The lead time to design and construct extensions to the terminals is lengthy and management need to be doing something about it now.

YES!

I have LONG wondered how the airports are going to cope with the planned growth of domestic operations. One example is the QF SYD Domestic terminal. Most mornings you can easily see 5 or 6 767s lined up on gates 1-7 with more around on bays 14-16 etc, yet these same bays will not be able to handle the new 787s, which have a wingspan roughly the same as the A330. So as is, SYD Domestic can only handle what, 4 787s at a time on widebody bays? A similar scenario exists at BNE and to a lesser extent MEL. The master plans of these airports don't show any significant changes before the introduction of the 787. Lets not forget Jetstar at all of its ports and Virgin too. So whats the plan, or indeed is there even one?

[airbusthreetwenty]

You're right ohforsure, the capacity at our local domestic airports is crap.

Why have JQ launched the A321 on routes in and out of Melbourne with no mention of Sydney? That very same reason. They don't have the capacity to handle them out of Sydney.

Second airport for Sydney??! Wasn't someone talking about that a a while back??! :ugh::confused::uhoh:

[flyagain1day]

Ths is great news for all concerned.
For those that dont like it or try to come up with some weak excuse go and get some other job.

Have a great xmas to those that still enjoy a bit of fun.:D:D:rolleyes: