Originally Posted by
Hagbard Viking
SAS operates almost every other type of aircraft available, except the 717. If they are anyway changing out their fleet, why not go for something where they can co-ordinate maintenance with SAS?
My guess is that the lower fuel burn of the 717 justifies the lessened fleet commonality compared to going MD80.
A320s and 737... SK doesn't have enough to unify their their fleets in CPH, ARN and OSL, so bringing them to HEL would have meant either delaying the unifying process in main hubs or having the 717 there, which obviously is even worse, as HEL has its own daily maintenance anyway.
Also, both 737 and A320s are bigger than 717, and it could be that they were considered too big, keeping in mind that the MD90 didn't work that great for KF.
CRJ was perhaps too small, and would have meant acquiring additional aircraft.
Out of the aircraft SK had available, the 717 makes sense for me at least as an interim solution until they unify the SK fleet... expecially considering that the 717 it replaces both the Avros and the MD90:s, so it does add up to fleet commonality.
And finally... after all we are talking about SK (subsidiary) here... its a long standing policy to have "one of each"
. Anyway, I take the 717 over the same ol' booring 737s and A320:s any day, it's a nice jet.
BTW, has anybody gotten re-booked yet? I wonder if they re-book KF Premium to business or Economy extra on SK (I guess they have to go business if they book you to another airline, otherwise it would be ridiculous)