Hawaiian leased Mexicana's 717s, leaving only 2.

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Hawaiian Airlines announced this week it is acquiring 15 Boeing 717 twin jets its has been leasing from Boeing's leasing arm, Boeing Capital Corp. and leasing three more of the jets from Boeing.

The 717 is the last in the line of descendants of McDonnell Douglas's popular DC-9 airliner. The aircraft was renamed the 717 after Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997.

Boeing kept the 717 production line open for several years in Long Beach, Calif., but shut it down five years ago when 717 sales dwindled.

Along with AirTran Airways and Midwest Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines was one of the few big customers for the 717. Midwest returned its leased 717s to Boeing when it was acquired by Republic Airlines and renamed Frontier.

Boeing subsequently re-leased those aircraft to Mexicana's Click subsidiary. But Mexicana itself shut down operations last year because of financial problems leaving Boeing once again with an orphaned fleet of 717.

As of today Boeing only has 2 717s available for lease, serial number 55166 and 55168. All the Mexicana's 717's have been leased.

 

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No more jets in the desert then.

Chief executive officer Gary Kelly said yesterday that "we don't see a reason to keep the 717s longer than we have to, or find a unique replacement for the 717 that is anything other than the 737".

 

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Gary has also been heard saying, no SWA pilot will fly a 717.

 

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Available aircraft for lease from Boeing:

http://active.boeing.com/commercial/am/index.cfm?content=include/reports.cfm&type=all&pageid=m38072