So what aircraft would you select for a low utilisation business model then?
Nobody can afford to park new aircraft overnight AND on weekends AND on low utilisation days.

How did SFP 737's with ACARS become more fuel efficient, exactly?

Some un-named airline or lease co just ordered 14 x A330 NEO at the Singapore show..... with VA running 11 widebodies in two types, would 14 NEO in about 4 - 5 years make sense?

By that I was pointing out the new SFP aircraft in the fleet are more fuel efficient than the older NG's with performance degradation over time. Obviously acars does not make them more fuel efficient, but offers efficiencies in other ways.

Spare a thought for the e-Jet drivers during this. Only last week being assured e-Jet isn't leaving.

No base protection in the EBA - union not wanting to get involved and the most senior of them only being high enough to bid for a MEL/SYD 737 command.

Pilots - who'd want to be one :D:=

If I was them, I'd wait it out for a while, more to come to this story I'd suspect.

But they (the F100s) aren't just being used on the mining charter flights now. RPT routes to places like BME/KTA/PHE where people book on VA or QF and end up with an inferior product - no IFE, slower and lower aircraft, poor reliability.

But whack a VA or QF flight number on it and as long as the paint job on the tail is correct, make the uniforms the same then the bean counters are happy!

How is an SFP more fuel efficient? Because they use less fuel for takeoff generally, and coinciding with the entering into the fleet of the SFP, there was also a tech insertion engine wise that also lowered fuel burn. You can see same by looking at the turbine outlet. You'll also find they start about 100 degrees hotter than the old, indicating a leaner start schedule.

Expected to be Garuda.

Future widebodies will probably come from Singapore or Etihad's current fleet or order book. I'd say Singapore they seem to dictate all major decisions behind closed doors.

Alliance these days seem to buy/sell/lease frames and make good money out of it. They are also masters of the FIFO. Their pilot group whilst lower paid than others seem to enjoy working there. It's an interesting tie up.

I flew on a F100 for the first time the other day - fly a lot as a platinum member. I was quite surprised about how comfortable they were for passengers. Good on ALLIANCE. I think that they will be around until 2022 at least. Many more miles in them, and cheap to operate. Not every passenger needs new aircraft, just comfort and great service.

With low fuel prices they are pretty unbeatable. Dare say however their presence in the west is set to diminish with the end of mining. Ghost town rings a bell.

Yep it's worth balancing the lack of IFE (just bring your own tablet, most people do anyway) with the unbeatable seat pitch. I know I'll always choose 34" of space in Y over whatever Virgin thinks will keep me entertained.

The punters couldn't even take a guess at the age of the frame they're riding in so as long as they have space to stretch out they won't be bothered in the slightest. The modern-day 737, while a venerable workhorse, has lowered the standard for personal space in economy class.

E2
 

http://http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pl...-regional-jet/

The revised version.

They don't muck about...

Two E190s already gone. ZPD is now on the East Coast USA, ZPG is currently inbound to HNL as I type. Apia-Honolulu-Van Nuys-Nashville. Exit of Service Maintenance.

As SLF, inferior to what--apart from lack of IFE. Try and find an equivalent seat pitch anywhere else on oz's domestic fleet. I'll take one over ANY 737 I've flown on, any day.

I've done a lot of airmiles in the F100, Platinium also, always happy with the "old" Fokker--just don't go aft of the overwing exit rows.. E 190 next preference.

The 34" pitch in the F100s is a good 3-4" more than QF/VA give in Y on their 737s, and with only 5 abreast seating in the Fokker there's less middle seats too.
And 34" is only 3-4" less than you get in the expensive Business class cabins of the 737s.

Expect to see lots more F100s and F70s in our skies now that Alliance and Pixie have hoovered up most of the remaining F100 and F70 fleets of Austrian and KLM.

We all thought TBM was taking drugs when he made this statement...

Porch Monkey,

The tech insertion engine came out well before the SFP packaged NG. There is no way to tell a tech insertion engine by looking at the 4th stage LPT outlet. The changes are all internal.

So the F50 fleet has been retired, the EMB fleet is prob next for the chopping block so what's next.........
Hardly worth keeping small fleets of A330's or B777's. Maybe back to a sole B737 operator in a few years?

No probably about it. 5 already sold and will be gone in the next few months. 2 more reach the end of their lease in March next year. Present buyer may have options on more. Best case will be down from 18 to 11 by early next year. Only one more 'deal' needed after that and they'll all be gone or the remainder will be parked awaiting sub-lease.

747's to Hong Kong??

So...BAE146 Virgin Cargo ops are happening and no one on pprune blinks an eye lid. Very disappointed in you lot.

Making cut backs everywhere but throwing big dollars to get this pipe dream up and running. Hope a big customer or two are about to help pay the bills.

Ah FTS I dare say they already have a big customer paying for it otherwise they wouldnt be doing it?!

Remember when Freight was first announced they were pretty adamant they wouldnt be adding dedicated freighters unless the business case stacked up and someone approached them.

What makes you say that it is a pipe dream? Whether it is profitable or not is another matter. VA as a whole is only barely profitable.

One thing is certain. There is money to be made in freight operations.

Where is this talk of 146's coming from?

I should have clarified. The $150 million by mid 2017 pipe dream.

2 X 146's on the way, recruitment under way at the moment.

I assume 200 spare engines coming also but not sure :)

So the old BAE-146 night freighter, that should lure the applicants in.

Quadrapuff time is a must for the CV.

It's not a rumour, applications are now being accepted for captains and FOs on the gas chamber.

Not the April 1 joke I expected.

Where is this this advertised? It's not on the Virgin Careers web site.

It's on the internal one.

Gold,think AN where changing around one per week when the first got them.

A contract of sorts was being shopped around last year regarding Virgin's freight aspirations.
Then this gem is published "Virgin signed a heads of agreement with TNT to finalise a five-year deal to take effect from July".

So lets join the dots, Toll takes the underbelly to QF, underbelly space is fine on the VA fleet. Virgin needs an underwriter, TNT needs an operator.

Next gem.....Feb 5 TNT Express will sell its airline operations to ASL Aviation Group to comply with European Union rules if the Dutch logistics company's sale to larger rival FedEx goes ahead, the company said on Friday

ASL is a 737 operator and does not need the 146's that TNT have had since Ables tried to buy out the production line forever....

So TNT have got 146's parked and a few in service, Virgin has an AOC and a 737 wont get through SYD during curfew.

Now we have joined the dots, the 146's will be donated to the cause, VA will kick off VA Freight with a CNS-BNE-SYD-MEL-ADL cross over a-la the AN Wombat 146's, supported by plenty of underbelly space on the 330's to/from the west.

Good luck with the gas chamber, 5 oil leaks connected by and electrical fault, thankfully its only 4 nights a week......:}

:ok:

There are 2 146F's sitting in a hangar just around from my hangar at Bankstown. Apparently they are being prepped soon for painting into virgin freight colours.

outsource
 

After chopping the E jets and the F50's why would they take on one or two 146 aircraft ? - Cant see it making economic sense to crew , engineer , provision and acquire something that flies 4 nights a week ( or breaks down 4 nights a week ) for an entity like V .
I cant see anyone being able to make a sensible case for it - not forgetting the implication in the half year results that reducing the number of types in the fleet was good for them. Outsource is my bet . Let someone else go broke .

The devil is in the detail. It's entirely possible that JB has stitched up a contract which guarantees a certain amount of income, in which case the economics become much easier.

Think bigger.

Embraer's getting sold more revenue

Fokker 50's removed from service as a result of downturn in mining and loss of RPT. Alliance to buy a few and operate the remainder on VA's behalf with their new partnership

146's to operate freight underwritten by a major player

Just goes to show how bad things have got. If they think they struggled with a 4th Generation airframe like the Embraer how are the engineers going to deal with these old clunkers. Not to mention the well documented oil fumes problems. Engine TBOs around the 5500 hrs and 2300kg/hr as long as there is no icing. Hope they can find a few blacksmiths to deal with the known mainspar corrosion issues as well.

Since when were '747' and 'Virgin' (Australia) in the same sentence?

One could imagine VA A330s going to HK, though...

146 maintenance to be contracted out to a 3rd party. Expect the advertisements to come out very soon ;)