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Thread: MD 80s and 90s
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Old Nov 11, 2011 | 6:27 am
  #59  
3Cforme
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
With DL's very low nonfuel costs per ASM (including industry-leading low labor costs per ASM), DL can afford to buy the extra fuel for the DC-9 variants even at this year's average price of $3/gal.

When NW proudly said about 16 years ago that it would fix up its DC-9s instead of buying new fuel efficient aircraft, jetA was selling for about $0.60/gal. Fuel is now nearly five times more costly, and those MD-80s burn nearly 1,000 gal per hour.
When oil prices bottomed out in 1998 (at about $10/barrel) NW's DC-9 reburbishment decision looked brilliant. (The 3Q2011 earnings statement put DL's average fuel cost at $3.29/gallon, BTW.)
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