ACA's DoJets going away?

[Beechnut]

Had an ACA jumpseater the other day say he thought the DoJets were on the way out. Anyone from ACA hear this also?

S.

 

[CRJ puppy]

Not in anyone's dreams. If product support was better, they would be purchasing more. Delta won't let them fly CRJ's due to ASA and Comair. The DO's fit the perfect niche for the routes Delta has ACA fly and don't forget, ACA has a 10 yr. contract with Delta to fly those a/c on those routes...in fact Delta is expanding the # of routes flown by ACA with DO's...not dramatically, but expanding slowly. Maybe your source was confused w/ Air Whiskey giving up their United Do's or ACA dumping the 2 United Do's?!?

 

[AFELLOWAVIATOR]

CRJ PUPPY,

I thought Fairchild went out of business and do not make airplanes any more. At least that is what I read a number of times. Is this not true? I bring this up because you said if support were better they would buy more.

On a side note, your operational numbers seem to be getting a alot better.

 

[JTrain]

AfellowAviator: Nice to finally hear some good words from you re us; the ACA/DCI/D328ers

Now here's my take on the future of the D328J in ACA/DCI colors

Initially we had an order for approx 60 airplanes, w/ 80 options. The 60 firm order broke down into 30 for DCI side, and 30 for the UAX side - to ultimately replace the J41s, since Fairchild-Dornier was giving us great terms on the deal.

When F-D went belly-up in March, it obviously threw a wrench in ACA's plans.
Of the 33 D328Js we have on the property, they break down as follows
-31 on the DCI side, with the schedule built on the premise of 29 airplanes, with 2 acting as spares (in theory).
-2 for the ACA Private Shuttle division. Incidentally, the 2 Private Shuttle a/c will be N451FJ, which was recently repainted in ACA Private Shuttle log, and N452FJ, which is supposed to go to paint shop on Dec 12th - it is currently flying in United Express colors, minus the United Express logo + lettering. I expect N500FJ to stay on the DCI side.
*Having 2 D328Js in Private Shuttle colors allows for rapid substitution of these a/c into the DCI route network if mx or other issues arise with the 31 DCI D328Js. Case in point, earlier this week at one point I believe there was as many as 4 D328Js down briefly for mx reasons, so some of you may have noticed N451FJ (normally a charter airplane) doing DCI work. N451FJs place in the charter rotation was taken by a CRJ, likely N701BR, since it also is in the United Express colors, minus logo + lettering.

ACA has experience operating "orphan" airplanes that don't get much support from the manufacturer (see also the J41) and in some ways F-D's bankruptcy has been a blessing in disguise, since it has forced the mx. department to work with many suppliers and subcontractors to fix many of the nagging mx. issues that plagued the D328J from the start. Expect to see many more innovative solutions like the recent "igniters on" start procedure.

F-D's bankruptcy has also forced many smaller operators of D328Js - ie those with only a handful of 'em- to reevaluate whether they want to continue operating the airplane. Let me categorically state that ACA is known worldwide as a major D328J operator, and periodically the company is offered the opportunity to buy airplanes on the used a/c market. As for the future, expect ACA to slowly increase their D328J fleet, in small increments of 2's and 3's as some operators like for example SkyWay, divest themselves of the airplane. It will never quite be the same growth that we saw on the DCI side from Aug of 2000 to approx April of 2002, but it will be a steady upward increase in our D328J fleet.

One more thing to add. The D328J definitely has a niche in the DCI fleet. It has cheaper operating costs than the CRJ, and fills a niche on the short, thin routes, ideally of <400 n.m. You Comair people are probably more grateful to us than anything for taking stuff like CVG-DAY or CVG-CRW, which is where the economies of the D328J really shine. Speaking from experience - those flights are nothing but nonstop work. The benefit to CMR in this case was that it allowed them to reallocate CRJs to more profitable/more efficient/longer stage lengths, while passing off the short up & down stuff to ACA.

So I wouldn't fret too much about what you heard thru the rumor mill. ACA has definitely turned the corner with the D328J operation on the DCI side, and I think in the process we'll have created more opportunities for ourselves

JTrain

 

[E120ASA]

Look I hate to say this but I just got out of a PC and the Ip's told us that Delta is piss at ACA about the doe- jets because they told them not to buy them in the first place and they did, now they break down too much for the Delta system. Now that they have got thier 49% scope, they will start moving ASA and Comair in to those routes. They told us as we get more aircraft, we will take over more of the outsourcing that they have wanted to do in the first place. I have no ill will towards any DCI pilot, I am just letting you know what I was told. Hopefully it was just BS>

 

[CRJ puppy]

You are correct.

What you heard is BS total and pure.

Read JTrain's post...it is intelligent, concise & above all...CORRECT!

Have a great day!!

Cheers!

 

[House_X]

I agree, ACA isn't stupid...if Delta wanted our beloved Dornier gone...it would be otta here. They like the airplane. We ran the numbers...it's a very profitable airplane

Dorniers are here to stay...as far as MX delays, I've been on time all month! I commuted on a CRJ-700 and was delayed 1 hour for MX....don't believe the hype....

On a final note, the demise of Dornier is a lesson in Economics 101 and why large marketing departments exist at successful Fortune 500 companies. In my view, Dornier designed, engineered and built the plane and Fairchild failed to market the plane the United States. The Dornier 728 is another promising airframe prototype rotting away in a hanger in Germany. It's sad to see excellence be unnoticed.

 

[d328pilot]

There is a Russian billionaire that is probably going to buy the Fairchild corportation. He said that Russia will have a huge market for the 70 seat rj and instead of designing and building their own, he is planning to buy the Dornier programs and send russian workers to Germany to learn the skills. I believe that it said that he and another invester were looking at buying the 328 program. There was an article about it maybe 2 weeks ago in Aviation Weekly or some magazine like that. I will try to find it online later but if I dont go now I am going to miss the hotel van.

 

[DarnNearaJet]

This is so immature: "My chief pilot told me my airline is getting all the DCI flying. So there!"

The "portfolio concept" is here to stay. Delta has no interest in just two regional affiliates. The DCI CEO was quoted as saying such right after the Comair strike. Get used to it.

 

[JTrain]

A couple follow-ups to my post of Sun evening.

I've heard from various internal ACA sources that there are at any given time +/- 20 D328Js on the used aircraft market worldwide. It is just a matter of the timing being right before ACA steps in and buys a few....again, I reiterate though, the situation would have to be *exactly* right.

Kerry Skeen & Tom Moore (ACA CEO & Prez respectively) drive hard bargains and I think they may be keeping their cards close to their chest in this case because of the pending auction of Fairchild-Dornier assets. There are also a number of "white tails" - nearly finishing aircraft - sitting at the factory in Germany available for purchase. ACA, among others, has had the opportunity to buy these aircraft after F-D's bankruptcy, but passed (as did most everybody else) on paying near full sticker price for them. Skeen & Moore likely will act when the opportunity presents itself on *their* terms.

BTW if anybody on this board has been around ACA long enough to remember Don Young, in the late summer the co. was actually extremely close to purchasing a D328J from him, but eventually declined due to Young's slimeball rep. I do however expect some sort of upwards adjustment in the F-D fleet within the first 6 months of 2003.

JT