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Cost Comparison - MD87 B737200 CL65

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Was doing some research for a client and picked up a copy of Conklin & deDecker's Aircraft Cost Evaluator. While these numbers reflect use in a corporate environment, I changed the crew costs to match the current DAL contract (8 years) and the Comair contract (5 years average seniority). These are direct operating costs:

MD87
Cost per hour $1,907.37
B737-200
Cost per hour $1,648.37
CL65 - 100
Cost per hour $877.80

MD87
Cost per st. mile $4.43
B737-200
Cost per st. mile $4.17
CL65-100
Cost per st. mile $2.15

I do not remember how many seats each aircraft has but guessing a rough direct seat mile cost is as follows:

MD87 (142 seats?) $.0311
B737-200 (110 seats?) $.0379
CL65-100 (50 seats) $.0430

It was interesting that the maintenance & overhaul costs are quite similar for the MD87 and the CRJ, less on the 737. Depreciation (which I did not include in the figures) above is actually a good bit higher on the CRJ, making the expenses higher on paper.
 
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As you refine your research and get closer to the actual CASM remember to continue to the analysis of RASM. Look at the break even load factors, the actual load factors, and you'll begin to see why, even with its higher cost, the CRJ is best on some routes and the point at which the larger aircraft becomes practical in the particular application.

I think you'll find that RJs are not going to replace the larger mainline aircraft any time soon or , IMO, ever. Wherever it is possible to make more money with the larger aircraft, they will be used. That winds up being most places.

The RJs fill a niche that the larger aircraft can't serve at a profit or a greater profit. When that niche is filled, RJ proliferation will stop.
 
surplus1 said:
I think you'll find that RJs are not going to replace the larger mainline aircraft any time soon or , IMO, ever. Wherever it is possible to make more money with the larger aircraft, they will be used. That winds up being most places.

The RJs fill a niche that the larger aircraft can't serve at a profit or a greater profit. When that niche is filled, RJ proliferation will stop.

Yep, that is what Aviation week is reporting also. Here is a quote from the Continental's management.

Kellner said regional jets operations were expanding but he foresaw the day when the small aircraft will not be as evident in the larger markets. “Natural forces will take that out,” he said, as demand returns and larger-capacity aircraft will be required to use valuable airport slots.
 
MD87

You will see an even larger economy of scale in favor of the Douglas when you consider that the 87 is approximately 30 seats short of the capacity of a long bodied MD83. The 87 was built for hot and high and other type routes that limit performance. It has fewer seats yet costs exactly the same to operate as the long body aircraft.
regards
 
Lets make this comparison even more accurate. The CRJ has a max seating capacity of 50 seats while the 732 has a max capacity of 130 (instead of the 2-class 110 seats as previously mentioned). This brings the per seat mile cost of the 732 down to $0.0321. Even an aircraft as grossly inefficent as the 737-200, complete with the pay scales of major airline flight crews, is 25.4% cheaper to operate per seat mile than the CRJ.
 
Didn't know that you could fit 142 seats in a '87. I think we had something like 112 seats in the ones that we inherited from Reno.
 
THe DAL MD-88 has 142 seats, the MD-90 has 150. You might also look at the 737-700 instead of the -200. The -200's are kept around because they are paid for. The -700 is a much more efficient new-generation aircraft. I believe they have the same capacity.
 
Using the Flt Ops web site I came up with an average crew cost of $404 an hour. Using that figure with all the other variables held constant with with the aboved cited examples, here are the numbers for the 737-700. (The program does not list the 800, only the BBJ)

Direct cost per hour: $ 1,598.46
Direct cost per mile: $ 4.09
Cost per seat mile: $ 0.0265 (based on 154 Pax)

The RJ and the 737NG are not at all competitive from a pure numbers perspective. The aircraft can only be successful in different markets, even with the differences in crew cost.

This clearly demonstrates how ALPA just does not understand how to effectively provide mainline job security through scope. The ratios that ALPA wastes their bargaining captial to achieve has a lot more to do with maintaining the current ALPA national power structure than it does protecting the jobs of mainline pilots.

Effective scope is bringing pilots together and only allowing seniority list pilots to perform (pick the Major) brand flying.

Restricting aircraft that are not cost sompetitive with mainline aircraft only reduces the opportunity the company has to feed the mainline and promote the route structure.
 
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