Originally Posted by
oldchinahand
The BA fleet is 'very old' by any current standards and if its long-haul backbone is a fleet of forty plus B777s that are all over twenty years old with some twenty five then there are bound to be tech issues and flight cancelations. The A319 is also 'old' with most of these also being around for twenty years plus.
As the BA fleet is largely leased one wonders why not lease younger aircraft ?
A quick check on the US majors, plus Air France and Lufthansa shows that by current standards BA's fleet is very much of average age at 13.5 years. Even Ryanair has an average age of over 11 years now.
As to the leased aircraft, the big question is how long are the leases for, you can only hand a plane back early if you either pay in full or negotiate a deal. As A 319's are worth very little and not in demand the lease companies will demand the full rental to the end of term.