15th 737 for AirTran

[Citrus531]

Ship 314 came in today from BFI...the 15th 737-700 for us....80+ 717's and 15 73's now in the fleet....I was joking with my duty manager tonight....one more plane to hold out now during the 8:00/9:00 p.m. departure push here in ATL. I know the gate situation is being looked at...but I hope something will be done soon b/c every night it's a chore to find space on C concourse... not to mention the sharing of the D gates with the World/Omni charters, Air Canada, Frontier, and Vacation Express

 

[atldc9]

The next time you leave me hanging out there looking for a gate, I'm gonna....

 

[Jetjockey]

Wasn't there some talk by AirTran managment that they would consider delaying deliveries if fuel cost remained high?

 

[Citrus531]

The last thing I read was mgmt was looking at possible sub-leases for some future 737 deliveries.....to slow down some growth.....

one problem has been numerous airplanes that are scheduled to terminate for the night(scheduled A checks) coming in during the 8:00 pm push.....Mx is short on taxi crews....ramp is short staffed of course, and by the time these terminators are downloaded of bags and a move crew is put in place...another airplane is waiting for the gate to do a turn....hopefully the rumors of more D gates will happen

 

[Ty Webb]

The last thing I read was mgmt was looking at possible sub-leases for some future 737 deliveries.....to slow down some growth.....

I assumed the leases they were talking about 3-4 months ago were 737's, too, but the info I saw was that they were actually exploring a lease situation with a handful of 717 to a Chinese carrier . . . oddly enough. They would rather hold on to new 73NG's . . . same hourly operating cost, under warranty, and 20 more seats, plus more cargo capacity.

Maybe you have more recent info than me, but I haven;t heard squat about any leases or deferrals in at least a few months. Maybe we'll hear something during the earnings conference call on Tue.

 

[Citrus531]

Yeah, I'm running on 3-4 month old information....interesting about the possible 717 idea....very odd.

On another FL note, I'm glad to know their finally moving us in Ops from the "basement" to the D ramp tower....someone has finally pushed the issue about our dept budget and money is being put forth to upgrade us a little! Rumor has it anytime from next month to early fall....hate to be secluded...away from everyone but at least we can see you guys now when you land..LOL....apparently, the ops room is being turned into a lounge of some kind...maybe for Fa's?!?

 

[CatfishVT9]

I flew 314 three flights yesterday.


Nice fluffy seats, "new car" smell, no gunk on the floorboards.

sweeeeeeeet!!

 

[FLB717]

84 B-717
15 B-737

98 Total

106 at 05 year end. 85 B-717, 21 B-737

1300 Pilots at 05 year end, had 1010? on 1 Jan 05

 

[islandhoper]

84 B-717
15 B-737

98 Total ?????????????????


I knew that cessna I saw on the ramp belonged to us...



Talked to K. last week during recurrent. He said the plan to lease aircraft is no longer an alternative (for now). Things have been looking a little better and 7 years is to long to give up an airplane. (standard lease).
Look for cancun in december and San Juan as well as a focus on the caribbean next year...
(No slow down plan for now)

 

[Citrus531]

San Juan/Caribbean expansion is great....not that I could ever go standing by.....not even a JS...sucks I guess MLI or BMI is always available....LOL LOL...honestly, I'd love to see Seattle or Phoenix myself

Walked onto 314 yesterday as well....brand new hot rod!!!! Very sweet indeed!

 

[FLB717]

Leases......at hiring 30 a mo more or less indef......riiiiiighht. Could be wrong tho.

 

[Citrus531]

FYI: Read in the aviation daily news today that Joe Leonard said there was indeed a plan back in the spring at possibly sub-leasing some 737's to slow growth and put a possible lid on capacity due to the fact that the projected revenue forcasts looked a little off......now with such a summer boost and the recent posting of the 2nd quarter results the plan has been "put on the back burner for now" and the growth plan is still in full effect!

We will take delivery of 6 more 737-700's this year for a total of 21 at years end.

 

[SWA tech]

It's good to see that Air Tran is doing good also. I think we (SWA) need to keep our eye on you guys (Air Tran). Air Tran has new 717,737-700 nice people and a good product.

 

[fokkerjet]

If the rumor is true about short term leasing out some 717's, anyone working at AirTran willing to PM me a contact name and/or number so we can talk to someone about a couple of 717's?

 

[Ty Webb]

If the rumor is true about short term leasing out some 717's, anyone working at AirTran willing to PM me a contact name and/or number so we can talk to someone about a couple of 717's?

Ha-ha . . . fat chance of that happening!