DETROIT - Northwest Airlines operates the world's oldest commercial airline fleet, according to a study.
At the end of 2003, Northwest's 432 jets averaged 18.1 years, compared with 7 to 10 years for other large carriers.
But travelers flying Northwest shouldn't be alarmed. Age does not make a plane less safe, said George Hamlin, director at MergeGlobal Inc., an Arlington, Va., airline and logistics consulting firm.
"With proper maintenance, aircraft can be made to go" for a long time, he said.
There is no consensus on how long a commercial plane can fly. But planes such as DC9s, the oldest in Northwest's fleet, can fly for about 45 years, Hamlin said.
Experts say Northwest, which has flights to and from Philadelphia International Airport daily, tries to save money by flying the old DC9s that are cheaper to own but less fuel-efficient than newer planes, and slightly more expensive to maintain.
Most airlines have a regular replacement schedule, and they keep their fleet's average age at about 12 years, Hamlin said.
"In this type of economic environment, it is a good plane to have, because it is fully paid for," Douglas Steenland, president of Northwest Airlines, said.
The skewed figures on Northwest's fleet can be attributed to its 165 DC9s, according to Back Aviation Solutions Inc., of New Haven, Conn., which did the study and provided data for the top 50 airlines in the world. The study excluded small regional jets.
If the DC9s were not counted, Northwest's average fleet age would be 9.7 years. The average age of its DC9s was about 33 years.
In 1994, Northwest began upgrading its DC9 fleet rather than spend on a new generation of planes. Northwest flies seven types of jets including the DC9s.
Because of the low cost of ownership, Northwest was one of the most profitable large airlines through most of the mid- to late 1990s.
Even during the last two years, when the economic slump drove United Airlines and US Airways to Bankruptcy Court, Northwest has done better than some of its competition.
The airline has lost about $1 billion since 2001, compared with about $4.4 billion lost by US Airways and more than $6.4 billion lost by American Airlines.
Still, DC9s are more expensive to fly than some of the newer types of planes from Boeing and Airbus.
It costs Northwest 7.2 cents in operating expenditures to fly 1 mile per passenger on a 100-seat DC9-30, according to Eclat Consulting, an airline consultancy. That compares with the average of 6.5 cents that U.S. carriers spend on flying 108-seat Boeing 737-500s, Eclat Consulting said.
Since 2002, Northwest has been replacing some of its older planes with newer ones. The average age of its fleet has declined from 20.1 years on Dec. 31, 2001, to 18.1 years on Dec. 31, 2003.
A few older planes were retired last year, including two DC9s in the last six months. Northwest bought 30 new large jets in 2003 and 38 in 2002.
Steenland, Northwest's president, said the airline would keep flying DC9s for some time, and begin replacing them in the next decade.
Under Federal Aviation Administration rules, commercial jets go through regular maintenance checks, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
"The DC9s are still the most efficient airplane operated by any airline in the United States," Bernard Han, chief financial officer of Northwest, said in a third-quarter conference call with analysts and journalists in October.
At the end of 2003, Northwest's 432 jets averaged 18.1 years, compared with 7 to 10 years for other large carriers.
But travelers flying Northwest shouldn't be alarmed. Age does not make a plane less safe, said George Hamlin, director at MergeGlobal Inc., an Arlington, Va., airline and logistics consulting firm.
"With proper maintenance, aircraft can be made to go" for a long time, he said.
There is no consensus on how long a commercial plane can fly. But planes such as DC9s, the oldest in Northwest's fleet, can fly for about 45 years, Hamlin said.
Experts say Northwest, which has flights to and from Philadelphia International Airport daily, tries to save money by flying the old DC9s that are cheaper to own but less fuel-efficient than newer planes, and slightly more expensive to maintain.
Most airlines have a regular replacement schedule, and they keep their fleet's average age at about 12 years, Hamlin said.
"In this type of economic environment, it is a good plane to have, because it is fully paid for," Douglas Steenland, president of Northwest Airlines, said.
The skewed figures on Northwest's fleet can be attributed to its 165 DC9s, according to Back Aviation Solutions Inc., of New Haven, Conn., which did the study and provided data for the top 50 airlines in the world. The study excluded small regional jets.
If the DC9s were not counted, Northwest's average fleet age would be 9.7 years. The average age of its DC9s was about 33 years.
In 1994, Northwest began upgrading its DC9 fleet rather than spend on a new generation of planes. Northwest flies seven types of jets including the DC9s.
Because of the low cost of ownership, Northwest was one of the most profitable large airlines through most of the mid- to late 1990s.
Even during the last two years, when the economic slump drove United Airlines and US Airways to Bankruptcy Court, Northwest has done better than some of its competition.
The airline has lost about $1 billion since 2001, compared with about $4.4 billion lost by US Airways and more than $6.4 billion lost by American Airlines.
Still, DC9s are more expensive to fly than some of the newer types of planes from Boeing and Airbus.
It costs Northwest 7.2 cents in operating expenditures to fly 1 mile per passenger on a 100-seat DC9-30, according to Eclat Consulting, an airline consultancy. That compares with the average of 6.5 cents that U.S. carriers spend on flying 108-seat Boeing 737-500s, Eclat Consulting said.
Since 2002, Northwest has been replacing some of its older planes with newer ones. The average age of its fleet has declined from 20.1 years on Dec. 31, 2001, to 18.1 years on Dec. 31, 2003.
A few older planes were retired last year, including two DC9s in the last six months. Northwest bought 30 new large jets in 2003 and 38 in 2002.
Steenland, Northwest's president, said the airline would keep flying DC9s for some time, and begin replacing them in the next decade.
Under Federal Aviation Administration rules, commercial jets go through regular maintenance checks, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
"The DC9s are still the most efficient airplane operated by any airline in the United States," Bernard Han, chief financial officer of Northwest, said in a third-quarter conference call with analysts and journalists in October.
