LufthansaFlyer

I spoke with LTCS this morning regarding this. The reason that they fly them here for processing is that it actually winds up being the most cost effective way to harvest the engines and landing gear which are almost always put back into use on other 737s. Their facility is also set up to be a Boeing speciality shop as far as certification and refurbishment of avionics and other hardware coming from Boeing craft. They do re-sell a lot of the components to other 737 operators and there are more of them in the US than Europe, making sense for them to have a presence in the USA. Recently they have been doing some rework on GE engine components on behalf of GE after their recent engine issues.

When I was there a couple of weeks ago, the head of the operation explained that LH and AA had originally planned to do this kind of business jointly years ago when others led the companies and LH had bought the facility at TUL to be near AA who's MRO also was at TUL. American decided to go off on its own, so LH decided to stay and be 'friendly' competition. Actually, I met a lot of ex-AA people who moved over to LH TUL.

They also have a VERY robust unit that focuses on nothing but repair and overhaul of coffee makers. Some of them can cost $13,000 or more as new so its a popular repair item. They even had the chance to repair the coffeemaker from Air Force 1 recently.

LH technik is also the maintenance contractor for Virgin America with a base in SFO so that also adds to the need to have a component svcs division in the US.

BTW, if you (or anyone!) wants to be kept informed with what's happening at LTCS TUL, they have a new Twitter account that they are building, and will be sharing info on aircraft coming to the facility. Twitter handle is @LTCS_MRO

LufthansaFlyer

It was an Omni Air Int'l. A charter outfit based in TUL - not part of LH's program.

oliver2002

D-AIGF (A343) is on its way to become spares and aluminum foil in TUP as LH9928 today.

oliver2002

So LH increased the depreciation period to 20 years today. So instead steps of 12 and 8, its probably linear.

WiWO has this take on the situation:

http://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/diens...09010-all.html

The question is if LH will make money selling 748 and A380 in 20 years. The two types they will buy this year will probably have no resale value and have to fly with LH till the bitter end.@:-)

oliver2002

D-ABEW (733) left the fleet yesterday:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DLH9924

NewbieRunner

If flightradar24 is to be believed her first stop after FRA was KEF.

LufthansaFlyer

Interesting that TUL didn't need any more soda cans. Maybe Disney needs a prop or something

oliver2002

It looks like they actually managed to sell this 733. Its headed to SJO: KEF, YYR and MCO are just fuel/rest stops.

LufthansaFlyer

Thanks. I thought maybe LH was going to have a ride built at Epcot or something.

oliver2002

You mean something like this in Speyer? http://www.airliners.net/photo/Lufth...230BM/2325578/

I guess the layover in MCO was nice for the crew

N1003U

So please be careful with spills and scratches on the seats...they have to last a long time...

NewbieRunner

They can start selling C seats from the A380 soon.

FD1971

Not an expert on LH's fleet, but when did they sell an aircraft in recent times after 12 years at a price higher than the remaining RV?

Or, in other words, which aircraft did not fly until the bitter end? Some time ago, I ended up on a 744 from Logan, which was way beyond its best use date.

Depreciating an aircraft over 20 years is at this point more and more in line with the competition, but as pointed out in another thread recently, our friends in the US are closer to 25 and 30 years now. Considering the original idea behind depreciation and the age of fleets in the US, it is probably also making sense.

To answer your last question; I do not expect anyone to buy a twenty year old 380 aside from certain museums in New York, Dulles or Speyer. I fear Dresden does not have the space, but maybe they could park the bird in the cathedral next door.

LufthansaFlyer

Yes, please. I am already making preparations at LHFlyer HQ to get D-ABYA and modify it into yard art and man-cave.

LufthansaFlyer

Maybe there is an afterlife as an A380 Freighter??? MROs would be smart to start getting into the business and be ready when Emirates starts to dump them onto the market.