Early Retirement due to COVID-19
 

A large number of Airlines are reviewing their fleets and are retiring some aircraft types due to COVID-19.

Virgin Atlantic have retired (for scrapping) all their A340s

BA has started to reduce their B747 numbers

American has retired B752, B763, A333, E190 and CRJ200 types

Delta

MD Douglas MD88 49967 2037 N911DE Delta Air Lines ferried 29apr20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53266/1859 N979DL, + 53342/1939 N990DE, + 49536/1348 N905DL )
MD Douglas MD90-30 53462 2149 N934DN Delta Air Lines ferried 30apr20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap ( +53530/2222 N960DN, + 53532/2253 N962DN) ex HB-JIF
MD Douglas MD90-30 53584 2203 N922DX Delta Air Lines ferried 30apr20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53588/2248 N926DH) ex B-2258

Air Canada Sends 79 Planes Into Early Retirement

In the release of its first-quarter results on May 4th, Air Canada announced that it would be sending 79 planes into early retirement. Boeing 767s, Airbus A319s, and Embraer 190s will exit the fleet. This will see a drawdown of most of the Air Canada Rouge fleet.

https://simpleflying.com/air-canada-early-retirement/

Virgin Atlantic will retire (early) its remaining B747 aircraft.

Interestingly KLM have reactivated their 747 combis, which suddenly make a lot of sense.

Boeing 747 -41R 28757 1117 G-VAST Virgin Atlantic Airways ferried 01may20 LGW-MAN for storage (+ 30885/1268 G-VROS 05may20 LHR-MAN)

Boeing 747 -443 32340 1277 G-VROY Virgin Atlantic Airways ferried 07may20 LHR-GLA, last company 747 for storage

It's interesting seeing American and Air Canada removing E190s given they only have an average age of 12 years, I imagine smaller aircraft for thinner routes may be the norm for the near future - are the 190s not holding up as well as they enter their teenage years, or is it just a fleet commonality decision ?

It could be simply ROI (Return on Investment) based on operating costs.

There are more fuel efficient aircraft available with better "bangs for the buck".

Same as the move from A380 to A350.

Airbus A340 -313 260 F-GLZP Air France Joon cs, ferried 04may20 CDG-LDE, for part-out & scrap

In the case of AA they were orphans of the US Air marriage and only number 20. AA runs most of the RJs through subsidiary eagle ops where they have close to 200 175s. Air Canada is the same, an odd small number choice when the regional stuff is done by Jazz with pretty much a Canadian sourced fleet.

Air Canada took delivery of its first A220 in Feb or Mar, so it may be a pointed clearout, even though the leased aircraft were apparently out to 2023.

Some have indicated that the E190s weren't as efficient and were higher maintenace than expected as well.

Reactivated due to the high demand for freight ex-China for eight weeks

Embraer 190 AR 190.00118 C-FMZU Air Canada ferried 12may20 YRQ-TUS, for storage (+ 190.00124 C-FMZW) ex PT-SQM
Embraer 190 AR 190.00108 C-FMYV Air Canada ferried 12may20 YYZ-TUS, for storage (+ 190.00116 C-FMZR, + 190.00132 C-FNAJ) ex PT-SQC
Embraer 190 AR 190.00092 C-FLWE Air Canada ferried 12may20 YYZ-TUS, for storage (+ 190.00096 C-FLWK, 190.00101 C-FHOS) ex PT-SNL

Boeing 747 -481 29262 1199 TF-AAC Air Atlanta Icelandic ferried 07/11may20 JED-LGG-EGBP, for part-out & scrap ex N262SG
Boeing 747 -4H6 29901 1301 TF-AAH Air Atlanta Icelandic ferried 11-12may20 SUB-LGG-EGBP, for part-out & scrap ex D-APHD

Talk about out of left field...

Delta are retiring their 777 fleet by the end of 2020

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/coro...d-of-2020.html

That means no more SYD flights I presume

Extract from Delta's CEO's memo

An important tool to help us achieve these goals is retiring older aircraft and modernizing our fleet as we plan for the future. We’ve already accelerated the retirement plan for the MD-88s and MD-90s, and parked more than 650 jets total. With international travel expected to return slowly, we’ve also made the difficult decision to permanently retire our Boeing 777 fleet – 18 aircraft – by the end of the year. Our A330s and A350-900s, which are more fuel-efficient and cost-effective, will perform long-haul flying as international demand returns.

Retiring a fleet as iconic as the 777 is not an easy decision – I know it has a direct impact on many of you who fly, crew and service these jets. The 777 played an important role with Delta since 1999, allowing us to open new long-haul markets and grow our international network as we transformed into a global airline. I’ve flown on that plane often and I love the customer experience it has delivered over the years.

Don’t make any presumptions . We may get the A330Neo or their A350-900 on the route , we can only hope .

Dave C

I dont believe either can do the route, so its not a presumption, when you take into account alternate options. Max payload range is 10K on the A350 and the A330-900 is just under that distance as well. Both have steep declines in performance from there should load limits be imposed.

Forbes.com are now reporting that Delta are to operate the A350-900 on the LAX-SYD route as well as the ATL- JNB , which is Deltas longest flight . The A350-900 will carry 16 more pax than the 777 and carries 9% more volumetric cargo and is 21% cheaper / seat mile too .

Dave C

SAA has retired their fleet of A340's.

They were planning to sell them in January but Covid has speed up the retirement.

Delta is also picking up A350's

Airbus A350 -941 64 A7-AMB Qatar Airways ferried 22may20 DOH-CNF, for Delta Air Lines 3q20 ex PR-XTF
Airbus A350 -941 79 A7-AMA Qatar Airways ferried 25may20 DOH-CNF, for Delta Air Lines 3q20 ex PR-XTG

The Delta deal has been cancelled.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/n...to-continue-jv

thks, Max

Boeing 747 ‑406(SCD) 28195 1090 PH-BFS KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ferried 25-26may20 AMS-ORD-MHV, for part-out & scrap

MD Douglas MD88 53173 1811 N970DL Delta Air Lines ferried 28may20 CHS-BYH, for part-out & scrap
MD Douglas MD90-30 53393 2154 N913DN Delta Air Lines ferried 22may20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap

MD Douglas MD88 49543 1434 N912DL Delta Air Lines ferried 01jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 49544/1443 N913DL, + 49591/1448 N916DL)
MD Douglas MD88 53214 1823 N971DL Delta Air Lines ferried 01jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53215/1824 N972DL, + 53378/1980 N901DE)
MD Douglas MD88 53410 1992 N905DE Delta Air Lines ferried 01jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53415/2027 N906DE, + 53420/2050 N915DE)
MD Douglas MD90-30 53522 2163 N917DN Delta Air Lines ferried 28may20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53553/2165 N918DH 29may20, + 53588/2248 N926DH 01jun20)

MD Douglas MD88 53242 1833 N974DL Delta Air Lines ferried 02jun20 CMH-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53257/1845 N976DL PHL-BYH, + 53259/1849 N978DL ATL-BYH)
MD Douglas MD88 53362 1955 N995DL Delta Air Lines ferried 02jun20 SAT-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53379/1983 N902DE ATL-BYH, + 53380/1986 N903DE MCI-BYH)
MD Douglas MD88 53372 1970 N900DE Delta Air Lines ferried 02jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap, last MD88 in svc
MD Douglas MD88 53416 2029 N907DE Delta Air Lines ferried 02jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap (+ 53417/2032 N908DE MEM-BYH, + 53419/2036 N910DE ATL-BYH)
MD Douglas MD90‑30 53587 2240 N925DN Delta Air Lines ferried 02jun20 ATL-BYH, for part-out & scrap, last MD90 in svc ex B-2265

Boeing 767 -375 24575 311 C-FOCA Air Canada ferried 04jun20 YUL-MZJ for storage
Boeing 767 -316 26327 621 C-FMLV Air Canada Rouge ferried 05jun20 YYZ-SNN for storage (+ 27597/602 C-FMLZ) ex 9Y-LGW
Boeing 767 -375 30108 771 C-GEOU Air Canada Rouge ferried 05jun20 MLB-MZJ for storage (+ 30112/765 C-GEOQ)
Embraer 190 AR 190.00111 C-FMZB Air Canada ferried 04jun20 YYZ-MLB-TUS, for storage ex PT-SQF
Embraer 190 AR 190.00115 C-FMZD Air Canada ferried 04jun20 YYZ-TUS, for storage (+ 190.00136 C-FNAN, + 190.00142 C-FNAP, + 190.00149 C-FNAW) ex PT-SQJ

Embraer 190 AR 190.00134 C-FNAJ Air Canada ferried 12jun20 YYC-TUS, for storage, last E190 retired by airline ex PT-SYM