Airline Fleet Mix

[Cap. PiSkiS]

Hi guys, just want to know what are the pros and cons, and why some airlines have a Fleet of 2 or more aircraft from different manufacturers serving the same mission +/- range & seats, e.g. having A320 and B738, A321 and B739, CRJ200 and ERJ145, like China Eastern, Turkish Airlines and some other more, would't be more cost effective to have just one type if the difference from both planes are not that big??


Thanks and happy ldgs!


Rgds.

[oldchina]

The airlines you mention (like China Eastern, Turkish Airlines ....) are ones where politics play a big part in aircraft selection. That way you can please everyone.

Plus it keeps the manufacturers on their toes - if they don't provide good enough support their fleet can be phased out fairly painlessly.

[ChiefT]

That most airlines don't have different types of aircraft of the same size and for similar missions is based, as so often, on costs.

Different types means also spares and maintenance for the different types; if you have your own maintenance, you need accordingly engineers for the different types which you don't need if you operate only one type.

Crew training (costs) and thus also flexibility of rostering is a factor.

Only some picked points out of many more.

[Denti]

There are actually more cons than pros in my view to operate different brand aircraft for the same route structure. We do that with 737s and A320s and in the future probably with A330 and 787 (currently only A330). Crews are not interchangeable (well, cabin crew is), each family has different seat layouts which means an aircraft change can be a nightmare to accomplish with re-issuing of bordcards and seats etc. As the 737 is quite a bit more fuel efficient it is used more on longer routes, except where the passenger load of the A321 or even of an A333 is needed. Both 737-700 and A319 are pretty similar and used on thin routes.

The complexity of the whole operation is quite staggering though, especially if you have even more subcategories than only the different variants, for example on the boeing fleet we have aircraft with and without winglets (different range and fuel usage), with a fixed ELT or not (some countries require it), with short field performance kit (all new ones, different performance) or not etc.

[GlueBall]

Has more to do with airframe availability. Airframes are not stocked in dealer showrooms like cars, immediately ready, and available to be driven off when you want.

An airline with sudden increased traffic demand, or route expansion may settle for an airframe that's available soonest to be leased, or purchased.

[lederhosen]

There seems to be a good correlation between operating a single fleet over a long period of time and making money if one observes the long term performance of Southwest and Ryanair. The benefits of operating 737 and A320 in parallel (as Denti has pointed out) are a little less clear.