Seems there are a lot of fleet rumors going around. So far, these all fall in the rumor department. We just had a bid increasing the MD-11 staffing which is probably related to rumors of getting more MD-11’s. One possible source I’ve heard is Varig Log, which makes good sense as they have the 2 P&W powered sister ships to the two ex-Korean airplanes we already have. Those would fit well in our fleet. <\/p>\n
Another potential source is Gemini, who is in Chapter 11. Those airplanes (3 or 4 of them) are GE powered. We have never operated GE powered MD-11’s and have, I believe, passed up airplanes in the past based on them having GE engines. This would be a change in strategy as far as that goes. Those airplanes may come with contracts and crews, too. So far no ‘official’ word on that but it could get exciting.<\/p>\n
And then, the rumors about more DC-10’s are flying, too (pardon the pun). The sequence of events is convoluted. ATA Holdings purchased 9 DC-10’s from Northwest. Subsequently, ATA Holdings leased 3 of those DC-10’s to World Airways. Shortly thereafter, ATA Holdings changed its name to Global Aero Logistics and bought World Air Holdings using money from Matlin Patterson (equity) and JP Morgan \/ Chase (debt). I’ll spare the labor issues involved here because they add to the confusion and probably aren’t relevant anymore. Sometime after, ATA filed for Chapter 11 and ceased operating. By that time, ATA was operating 2 or 3 of their ex-NWA DC-10’s and World had begun operating ours. We now have all three of ours online (the third one is out of the paint shop and expected to begin revenue service shortly). <\/p>\n
With that backdrop, the rumors have varied but it sounds relatively certain that we’ll get at least three of the ex-ATA (ex-NWA) DC-10’s, and maybe all 5 or 6 of them (however many there are). I just flew a trip to Marana, AZ where there are many parked airliners as well as a heavy maintenance facility. There were 4 shiny painted up ATA DC-10’s there, which suggests to me that those may well all be flyable (after a ‘lil TLC). <\/p>\n
I also saw, for the first time in person, our 747-400 in Marana (doing some maintenance). I parked one of those three ‘new to us’ DC-10’s right next to it. The second airplane is going through conversion now (I think in Tel Aviv). I keep hearing rumors of possibly one or two 747-400 passenger airplanes (likely for Sonair), but those rumors have been going around for a long time and are probably less likely to be true. As far as I know, though, they are looking for more conversion candidates to expand the 747-400 freighter fleet. <\/p>\n
All that to say, if the rumors are true, hiring and expansion at World is going to keep going for at least a year or two to come.<\/p>\n
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Seems there are a lot of fleet rumors going around. So far, these all fall in the rumor department. We just had a bid increasing the MD-11 staffing which is probably related to rumors of getting more MD-11’s. One possible source I’ve heard is Varig Log, which makes good sense \u2026 Continue reading