Technically a challenge.
Not impossible.

Pretty much any country you’d like to name it’s impossible to go for a walk and not see a perfectly serviceable A330 sitting in the dirt . Why repair a broken one ?

The fact they know exactly what's wrong and the potential for further damage...

What’s going on over at VA? Many stand downs with the reduced schedule?

Surprisingly no, even for Sydney base. MoU extension being discussed with no lower than 75% pay for the next few months.

Was going for another 'walk' this morning...

Virgin have just announced the acquisition of an additional 9 B737 taking the total fleet to 77 by end of Feb.

Very positive news….for when state borders eventually open. Whenever that happens to be. Looks like Virgin is banking pretty heavily that things will be pretty open come Summer time

Add in the MAX order and they will be a 100+ 737 operation in a few years.

Rex are going to have problems getting scale to go up against this. Don’t forget Rex doesn’t have any Sydney slots sort of firmed up in the medium term, they are using gaps in the schedule at the moment. They want the Tiger slots but it appears Jayne does also.

How many additional crew would this represent on conservative numbers?

I think Rex's Boeing 737s will be long gone by the time Virgin's first 737 MAX arrives.

Don’t typical domestic carriers run at approximately 5 crew per aircraft, give or take?

“Real “airlines use to operate at 6 crews per aircraft plus checkers.So I guess in these lean and mean times 5 crews would be pretty close to the numbers.With 9 more aircraft coming and 88 “inactive” pilots being recalled the numbers look correct.

Id say you right there. No additional crew required after the 88 as of yet. Takes the total number close to 880. Management have been hell bent on the training of the returning crew, to the detriment of current crew as they are “taking” sectors for line flying. Which means greater number of stand down days for crew. More bodies with f all flying on at the moment. Management have a grand plan and it’s certainly being kept a closely guarded secret. Looking forward to next year to see how it all plays out.

It’s a ploy by Qantas, they know there is nothing going on next year ,but they are playing a game , VA will spend all their cash on retraining and extra aircraft to compete with Qantas ,which will not get used they will fall close to the brink and so may Qantas who would get a government Bail out !

Probably rule out VH-VOS apparently suffering from corrosion being parked for so long. This aircraft was not owned by VA.

Some talk that VH-VUI and VH-VUJ in which are in the US are preparing a return to Australia soon.

VH-VOL and VH-VOO currently at Seletar Singapore.

VH-VOQ is stored at Alice Springs.

737s look like they will come from SilkAir. Mid last decade age wise.

Pretty close comparable config.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the 88 were for previous aircraft. These 9 will require more.



QUOTE=PoppaJo;11102478]737s look like

they will come from SilkAir. Mid last decade age wise.

Pretty close comparable config.[/QUOTE]

Regional & Short-haul ~ 6 pair min.
Medium Haul ~ 9-12
Long Haul / ULH ~ 13-16
Much of this depends heavily on whether the company runs an efficiency / optimisation / bidding program... such as Kronos which works well... unless its Alerts are constantly overridden :ugh:

Silkair machines. Due from this week. MSNs 44222, 44223, 44224, 44225, 44226, 44232 and 44233

Any plans for Virgin L/H to start up anytime in the future?