MD-80, MD-90 et B717

Delta chief executive touts MD-80 cost advantage
By Lori Ranson









Delta chief executive Richard Anderson has reiterated his bullish view that the carrier's large fleet of ageing Boeing MD-80s retain a cost advantage over newer Boeing 737-800s that is largely driven by lower ownership costs.
Anderson has been bullish on the former McDonnell Douglas twinjet for some time, and previously the Delta boss said the airline was planning to add two MD-90s in the last quarter of 2009.
Flightglobal's ACAS database shows Delta operates 113 MD-80s and 17 MD-90s. Its 737-800 fleet comprises 71 aircraft.
"MD-80s still even at pretty high fuel prices start the month out at no debt," said Anderson at Delta's recent investor day. "A 737-800 costs about $350,000 to $375,000 a month. So on the first day of the month it is $375,000 behind just on ownership."


The carrier's chief also claims that the maintenance costs on the MD-80 are lower than the 737-800 and crew costs are not quite as high. "So the economics on the MD-80 are still good at $90 fuel prices because of basic economics, and we are regularly sort of looking at that side by side," he says.
Delta and Northwest Airlines merged in 2008 and unlike some of its US counterparts, the combined entity does not have plans to dedicate a huge capital outlay for aircraft in the near term. Executives believe that Delta's fleet of 1,400 aircraft, which includes the Northwest fleet and all the regional jets operating under Delta Connection contracts, meet the needs of its network.
Plans are under way to phase out the older McDonnell Douglas DC-9s still in operation at Northwest. Anderson says they will leave the fleet as they approach heavy maintenance checks. The ACAS database shows Northwest operates 69 DC-9-30/40/50s.

The MD-80 reached its tipping point where the aircraft acquisition cost is low enough to make it a cargo conversion candidate. Aeronautical Engineers thinks there’s market potential for about 100 MD-80 conversions because the aircraft purchase price dipped below $1 million.

The Miami-based company launched a passenger-to-freighter conversion program that should receive certification from the FAA, EASA and CAAC in mid-2011, according to Robert Convey, Aeronautical Engineers VP sales and marketing. He says the conversion will cost $2.2 million so operators can get the complete asset for $3.5 million, and it will carry more weight and volume than the more expensive 737-300 or -400.

Because the price is so low, Convey says the company has signed a letter of intent with a customer and has received interest from others in Canada, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and the U.S. It’s in the process of setting up authorized conversion centers in China, Europe, and South America to accommodate operator interest.

Aeroanutical Engineers is in the process of purchasing the first MD-80 for the program and expects Commercial Jet, also based in Miami, to start converting it in March. The conversion, which is scheduled for 75 days, includes a design featuring up to 47,000 lb. of upper deck cargo and up to 4,400 cubic ft. of main deck volume.

Convey expects the MD-80 conversion program to be similar to the 727, which didn’t become a popular freighter until it fell out of favor with passengers and the price dropped—conditions facing the MD-80 now.

Boeing plans to repatriate 19 of 25 former Mexicana leased 717s by year-end as part of renewed efforts to find operators for the fleet following the airline’s collapse in August.

In addition to a series of planned customer visits, the manufacturer reactivated one of six 717s currently stored in Victorville, Calif., on Nov. 15 and flew it to Boeing Field for display to Boeing Commercial and Boeing Capital Corp. (BCC) employees.

BCC was still in the midst of delivering the former Midwest Airlines 717s to Mexicana’s low-cost Click unit when the carrier declared bankruptcy. About 20 had been flown to Mexico to replace Click’s Fokker 100s, with a further five still to be handed over. “We now have 19 aircraft in Mexico and are beginning the return process in the very near future,” says BCC Aircraft Financial Services VP and General Manager Tim Myers. The aircraft will join the remaining aircraft in store at Victorville prior to leasing and refurbishment.

Although only 156 717s were built before production ceased in 2006, all aircraft with the exception of the Mexicana fleet and the prototype are in service, says Boeing. Operated by a handful of airlines around the world, more than half the total (86) are in service with AirTran, now in the process of merging with Southwest Airlines. Backed by Boeing-provided spares, flight training and original engineering support, BCC is optimistic of leasing the 717s in substantial groups. “We are looking to place them in large blocks, and we’re not interested in placing two aircraft in Africa or anywhere else on a stand-alone basis,” says Myers. Although he adds that Southwest has “toyed” with the idea of 100-seaters in the past, the leasing arm does not expect the carrier to decide on the final disposition of its recently acquired 717 fleet, or whether to add additional leased aircraft, for up to two years. “We’re guessing, but as complexities of mergers go, it will probably take another year or so for Southwest to make an assessment of how the aircraft works within its system,” says Boeing 717 Chief Design Engineer Gary Bartz.

drag-reducing upgrade kit developed for Boeing MD-80 operators has received supplemental type certification from the FAA.

Developed by Long Beach, Calif.-based engineering company Super98, the first part of the kit is initially designed to reduce fuel burn by 2.5% or more, with a further 1% benefit available from a more extensive upgrade. Fuel savings were verified in flight tests of an instrumented MD-83 in late 2010 and early 2011.

Fuel savings from the Phase 1 kit are estimated at more than $236,000 per aircraft per year based on a $3/gallon oil price, says Super98. The Phase 1 kit is divided into two sub-kits, the first of which includes flap hinge fairings forward and aft, aileron and elevator tab hinge covers, wing-body sealing and wing trailing edge seals. The second sub-kit includes flap segment seals, a windshield fairing, rudder lower gap seal, aileron edge seal, a main landing gear door skid, refaired tail skid and a horizontal stabilizer tip seal.

The additional modifications that will deliver a further 1% drag reduction require more time to install than overnight maintenance stops. They include slat lower trailing edge seals, slat segment gap seals and spoiler trailing edge extensions.

“We’ve got the first parts assembled and they’re ready to go,” says VP-Sales and Marketing Rolf Sellge. Production plans are currently based on providing up to six shipsets per month. Although MD-80s are being replaced throughout the type’s main operating arenas in the U.S. and Europe, Sellge says the wait list for newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 models means many will remain in service well into the decade and beyond. Breakeven for the drag kits comes in a year for Phase 1 and a year-and-a-half for the full kit, he adds.

Super98 expects to have the first kits installed around year-end and the first customer for the full package to be on contract in the first quarter of 2012. Overall, more than 700 MD-80s remain in service.