Tigerair fleet change to B737.
 

The other threads centered around the Bali debacle appear to have been removed. I thought the fleet change warranted a new thread of its own.

Can anyone shed any light on where the recruited guys are at? Are they doing type ratings, going to the A320, being let go?

Basically what is happening with regard to the change to 737? If in fact it is still happening.

Tigerair Australia to switch from A320 to 737 over next three years | Australian Aviation

Tigerair Australia to add fourth 737 to fleet in December | Australian Aviation

Still going ahead, just at a slower pace due to no DPS flying.

Tiger Air certainly did recruit onto the 737 externally.

Yes they recruited - or went through a process.

The Q is: has anyone been offered, and signed, a contract??
Oh - and a fixed, confirmed start date??

Cheers.

Yes, quite a few contractors have been recruited onto the 737 and have been thru the type rating and started. They just aren't doing much ATM.......

OK - just to clarify Captains or F/O's or both?

Cheers.

Just F/O's.....

I know it's a rumour network but is it possible to refrain from posting if you are guessing WHEELS DOWN.

So type rated FOs but no flying at present? Not being seconded over to VA?

I guess there should be progress getting the B737 on the AOC then?

Seems like the timing is off if they are sitting around doing nothing.

The timing is off due to no DPS flying, as DPS was to be the first B737 Destination.

Expect the B737 flying to spool up at the end of this month or early May.

They apparently recruited one of CASA's top managers to help them get it all done. Started a few months ago so they should be getting close.

Oh spare me

If he started a few months ago he has probably just finished sorting out the pens on his desk!

Latest I heard was tiger staying Airbus and the 737s going back to white with red writing....

Only one 737 has returned to VA and it will be heading back to Tiger in May, hence it's flying around (all white) with no markings on it.

The removal of the Tiger A320's is part of the group fleet simplification plan.

There's a plan BPA?

So, grab a Virgin 737, paint it into Tiger colours for a few months until things go pear shaped then paint it back into a Virgin for a while until it's time to repaint it back into a Tiger again?!
What a blast for the paint companies :}
Would love to know how much money and downtime has been spent on paint!
How much does it cost to paint a 737 anyway? Anyone?
Presumably the old paint has to be removed first to maintain payloads? I'm assuming it's hundreds of kilos of paint involved? No idea...

It wasn't been painted back into VA colours, it's all white ie they have just removed the Tiger livery.

Ah, a bit of paint stripper? Not so expensive then. Apologies..

Not getting why fleet simplification is such a big when you have a 1 type fleet of A320s ?

Across the Virgin group. Think of the big picture.

That clown exemplifies everything that is bad about CASA. I highly doubt that the operation will be better off having him there but it does serve to highlight the absolute vaccum of quality aviation managers in Australia.

Totally get "across the Virgin group"
But just how much is shared
VA won't even fly a 737 in Tiger colours for a couple of months and VA are running a couple of 320s in WA

Separate admin, crew and attendants but I get that there would be savings for ground staff and maintenance

Likely more to do with finding homes for all the shiny new 737s they have committed to

VA seem to have no issue with going out and ordering new planes every few years and flogging of 5-6 year old frames in a buyers market
Maybe this is why QF is doing so much better with a fleet age of nearly 11 years versus VA at less than 7 years and less than 2 years away from a single isle fleet replacement

Why they don't buy their frames at the end of lease and run them up to 10-15 years old is just ludicrous
REX and Alliance both have fleets of over 20 year old frames and with the exception of the occasional prop falling off, they are both making better profits than VA
Alliance picked up their F70s and F100s for under $1 million each...or the 30 or so that they bought would still be less than 1 of VAs new 737s
Yes they drink more, but still....

Question, how does virgin have enough 737s to release to tiger when the are taking over the flying from the 18 odd Ejets being retired and also delaying the Max until at least late 2019?

Yes they do, with each aircraft flying more hours per day, rather than parked up for 2-4 hours a day. Remember not all Ejet flying will be replaced by 737 flying with Alliance picking up some of the flying as well.

Which of course is a direct contravention to every communication from VA management regarding this issue...'All E-jet flying will be replaced with the 737..."

Alliance will replace the 737 routes that don't have frames on them because the 737s are covering the E-jets ;)

They also have at least 6 NG's coming and are holding onto B737's that were going to be lease returns from memory. All adds up to more pilots required.

250kg of paint on a 737

The answer is because VA are not a 'real' airline, they have very little expertise with anything, constantly demonstrate through the actions of their management that they have no idea about the industry or any wider knowledge beyond recognizing that an aeroplane has wings and engines. For example, who but WHO buys 777s and opts out the large rear Cargo Door so that no pallets can be loaded in the rear... a long range aircraft that can only accommodate pallets in the forward compartment(s). This is stupidity on a gross scale and it was done to 'save money'. Well, good, because no one is going to want to 'waste' money buying those aircraft second hand. Ansett did the same thing by buying 767s (the initial batch) without the wide cargo door at the front - none was available for the rear - so those aircraft couldn't be used economically or easily turned around compared to QF because every damn freight shipment had to be broken up across DPEs instead of put on a pallet so took longer to load and unload. AN did the same thing by opting to pay to remove the in hold systems on their A320s to save money on GSE, but ended up paying out probably 10 x that in WorkCover costs due to injuries manually loading such a large aircraft compared to the 737s, etc. VA also has magic-carpet in some of its 737s but only at one end so when they took the Foxtel Antennas off, it affected the ability to trim (it had to) because of the weight imbalance. I mean, what's the point of doing it at just one end??? QF don't do these things. All their 737s have magic carpet, all their aircraft are configured the same in terms of equipment, etc. from the 767s when they were flying (except for the BA ones) through to the A330s, etc. QF don't do stupid things like buying an aeroplane and removing stuff that makes it less saleable and they also - as you suggest - keep their aircraft until optimum financial benefit can be had from them. When you have experienced people in an airline - even one that has been gutted somewhat - that have in built corporate knowledge of basics like this, these sort of stupid mistakes don't happen.

I think they had been progressively reducing flying and had several aircraft 'parked' which were positioned strategically in MEL and BNE I believe as operational 'spares' which were for some time on a 'for sale' list. I think this is where the 'slack' in terms of being able to lose some of them came from - that and the fact they would be replacing most of the fleet with 737-MAX-8 anyway.

That can't be right... I thought there was only about 400-450kg on a 747.

Not even that much, about 250Kg on a 747.

Roughly 85Kg and a 737.

Painting versus Polishing of Airplane Exterior Surfaces

What is the go with VH-VOR? looks like is has recently been based in AKL, and painted all white after its short stint with TT.

Has it had an VA cabin re-installed, or are the J passengers up for an nice surprise when they arrive at the Airport.

Assuming its being crewed by VA (AKL Crew) or is it operated by TT still.

It's been handed back to VAI(NZ) temporarily to cover another 73 in heavy maintenance. Cabin is VA fitted and crew is VAI(NZ). It will go back to TT within the next few months.

Why is Alliance operating F100 for Tiger?

Out of curiosity what would the cost of the internal fit out cost? Externally I don't think would be all that much as tiger and VA only have tail and engine cowl differences. Just seems like more wasted money by our top managers.

This has got to be costing an absolute bomb to chop and change like this.

From this photo taken in March, looks like they have recovered the headrests out of TT Yellow.

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8541146

Who is Tegos ? ? ?
 

Hey AerialPerspective Guru / in the know & No Crap Master :ok:

Who is running under the Callsign TEGOS pls :confused:

Is it of any fact, AQZ are running TT flts ex MML :confused:

DutyofCare is right on the money. Actually, Alliance is on the money!

Mate of mine reckons Virgin is the best thing that ever happened to them. Going gang busters.

Basically Skywest, Tiger and Alliance are loving the "Game Change"...