NWA Poolies and news

[Schwanker]

By the end of the year, there will only be 19 DC-10-30s. The retirement of the -40s is not a huge setback from previous expectations. As said before, they have a terrible mx record and are expensive to operate. Because of this, they have a very low utilization rate compared to the rest of the fleet. This results in a lot of aircraft sitting around (spares) and also results in significantly lower crew ratios. The utilization rates on the -30s are higher and will increase as other DC-10s retire. Most of the -40 flying will be replaced by the 757-300 which will have a very high utilization rate. The net result of the early retirement of the -40s is an early displacement of 15 to 20 crews (45 to 60 pilots). The flying won't be lost, just done by 2 man crews. After ranting and raving here, I guess my main point is that the early retirement should not cause a real significant delay in recalls. Maybe a month only due to reduced training capacity at NATCO.

On another note, no one really knows at what rate the furloughees will return. It may be at normal new hire rates (40 per month) but could be much faster. I've been told that Jeff Carlson (VP Operations) has said it should only be 14-17 days from the time a pilot is recalled to have him flying the line. Obviously, this would require the pilot to return to the same equipment (can you say DC-9). If this is the case, they could easily bring back 100 a month but that's only if NWA wants them back that quickly. Remember, this is a very conservative company.
The flying will only pick up when the demand ($$$) is there.

Schwanker

 

[johno]

I think its also important to note that even with the early retirements of the -40's we will still have a net increase of mainline equiptment. I'm hoping that our industry leading load factor and RASM translates to faster recalls. Good luck to everyone on furlough and those in the pool