Airtran 717s to fly for Delta?

[scoreboardII]

Ding Ding! Winner, no better way to force a hand during negotiations than to threaten to pull the job out from under your feet.

 

[Pilot Knob]

I've been flinching for 8 years. Lil' flinchy....yeah.

 

[On Your Six]

I never thought any AT or SWA pilots would lose jobs over some sort of aircraft swap. SWA wants one type of plane, and DL needs a DC9 replacement. Sounds like a winner. I also never thought all 88 717s would or could come over in 1 day. I do believe this will eventually happen, and rumors all around Mecca are saying the MD88s and MD90s are all going to get glass cockpits to make it easier to MAYBE integrate the 717 into one category.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[nwaf16dude]

Flew a trip with the LCA at Delta that is the project manager for the glass upgrades to the 88/90 and 75/76. He's been working on the program for about 5 years. His opinion was that we have a bout a 90% chance of getting the 88/90s upgraded, and about a 65% chance on the 75/76. He didn't really have anything to say about the 717.

 

[On Your Six]

Flew a trip with the LCA at Delta that is the project manager for the glass upgrades to the 88/90 and 75/76. He's been working on the program for about 5 years. His opinion was that we have a bout a 90% chance of getting the 88/90s upgraded, and about a 65% chance on the 75/76. He didn't really have anything to say about the 717.

Someone on another forum said some of our mecahnics have been in 717 school for about a month. No idea if that is true or not.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[scoreboardII]

Thats just not believable because mechanics don't go to school for a month to learn about a plane thats been out for 10 years.

New Tech like a 787 or A380, sure, they go to school.

The 717 training would be more of a handout or brochure.

 

[dougdrvr]

Thats just not believable because mechanics don't go to school for a month to learn about a plane thats been out for 10 years.

New Tech like a 787 or A380, sure, they go to school.

The 717 training would be more of a handout or brochure.

I don't know about the mechanics, but from a cockpit standpoint, there are only three things that are the same from the DC-9. The nose wheel steering tiller, the boost pump switches, and the windshield. Everything else has changed. Even the control yokes are a different shape. How McD got a common type out of this is one for the ages.

 

[Britpilot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keUDMw4i2HY

 

[humveedriver]

I don't know about the mechanics, but from a cockpit standpoint, there are only three things that are the same from the DC-9. The nose wheel steering tiller, the boost pump switches, and the windshield. Everything else has changed. Even the control yokes are a different shape. How McD got a common type out of this is one for the ages.

Common type in name only. We did not have pilots who could fly the -9 and the 717 when both airplanes were on property. My license says DC-9, even though I have never flown a DC -9 -30. I'm assuming it's the same for the MD-80 series.

 

[scoreboardII]

What I'm saying is, mechanics are not typed to a jet, they are A&P's able to work any jet. Training is only for the benefit of the company to ensure the guys know the in's and outs.

 

[On Your Six]

Thats just not believable because mechanics don't go to school for a month to learn about a plane thats been out for 10 years.

New Tech like a 787 or A380, sure, they go to school.

The 717 training would be more of a handout or brochure.

Delta has never had 717s, and maybe they want to be ready? Maybe a whole bunch of them went to 2 week schools? I don't know.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[scoreboardII]

I don't dispute 2 weeks, but it was mentioned "month" of school, thats far fetched.

 

[On Your Six]

What I'm saying is, mechanics are not typed to a jet, they are A&P's able to work any jet. Training is only for the benefit of the company to ensure the guys know the in's and outs.

Not true. MANY DL mecahnics had to get trained to work on the differences between Airbus and Boeing planes. They are NOT even close. I talked to a few in SLC the other day who were FDAL mechanics and they said it was not easy going to learn "fifi." The problem is even mechanics have bases, and they don't want to move, but the MD90s moved from SLC to MSP and a lot of Airbi moved into SLC. Those guys were old Western Airlines mechanics too, and they said it wasn't easy.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[On Your Six]

I don't dispute 2 weeks, but it was mentioned "month" of school, thats far fetched.

Maybe the school has been going on for a month? I just copied what I read off of another forum. Maybe multiple mechanics going through a school that has been going on for a month? How's that?


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[Flying the Line]

Getting rid of the classics is a priority not getting rid of the 717, everyone can chill now. Special shout out to general six for getting everyone worked up about a non-issue.

 

[On Your Six]

Getting rid of the classics is a priority not getting rid of the 717, everyone can chill now. Special shout out to general six for getting everyone worked up about a non-issue.

A non-issue....... Riiiight. I didn't come up with the rumor, that Holly lady did, and it also came out of that conference in AZ. We'll see how it turns out. Go back and read that original tweet again on page 1. Sounds definitive. Her "sources" at the conference say "they're gone.". You just never know...


Godspeed!


The OYSter

 

[Freebrd]

you're a hoot Oys/GL, have to give you that, but you're still a PUTZ!

 

[On Your Six]

This message is hidden because Freebrd is on your ignore list.


Godspeed!



The OYSter

 

[redflyer65]

Delta has never had 717s, and maybe they want to be ready? Maybe a whole bunch of them went to 2 week schools? I don't know.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

Good, and who cares. It is what it is...or isn't. What a waste of a thread.

 

[On Your Six]

Where's Flying the line? Opinion??

Gary Kelly won't discuss rumors that Delta will take its Boeing 717s


By

Terry Maxon/Reporter/aviationblog.dallasnews.com


5:11 PM on Wed., Mar. 21, 2012


Southwest Airlines picked up a fleet of 88 Boeing 717s when it acquired AirTran Airways last May. Chairman and chief executive officer Gary Kelly a few months later allowed that the 117-seat 717s didn't fit into Southwest's fleet type and that he'd rather fly only the bigger Boeing 737.
A rumor out of an industry meeting in Phoenix has Delta Air Lines as an interested acquirer of the AirTran aircraft. So we took the opportunity to ask Kelly during a media scrum Wednesday after Southwest's celebration of its first Boeing 737-800:

Us: Are you close to deal to send the Boeing 717s to Delta?
Kelly: "It's a rumor, so I don't comment on rumors."
Us: How about speculation?
Kelly: "I can't speculate, either."
Us: When do you think you might have closure on that rumor?
Kelly: "I can't comment. What I would say is that 717 is a fine airplane. We would be better suited with all 737s. If anything, we think our future is with bigger airplanes, not smaller. There's no secret that we're looking for a way to accelerate the retirement of the 717s out of our fleet. But in any event, we're going to operate the 717s for years. Otherwise, I'm aware of the rumors and I can't comment."

Last week at an investment conference, Delta president Ed Bastian carefully answered a question about Delta's possible interest in the AirTran 717s.

"We are looking at all arrangements, and we've taken note that Southwest has indicated a desire to exit the fleet," Bastian said at the J.P. Morgan conference. "I can't tell you whether that's going to be a decision Delta can take or not."





If you don't dump all of the 717s at once, I bet you will continue to fly them for YEARS, until they are handed over. It's called a phase out. This rumor still has legs...


Godspeed!


The OYSter