Originally Posted by
skipness1E
They flew 2nd hand TriStar 500s from Air Lanka after they sold their own to the RAF. The G-TTO* A320s came from easyJet/GB Airways. They also flew numerous leased B747s back in the day, two from MEA and one from Aer Lingus as well as buying an ex SAS machine for British Airtours. There was also a MAN based fleet of 10 B737-500s that were acquired on the used market as well as the 10 A320s bought for LGW.
Apart from the GATx series, which is widely considered sub-par cheapskatism, these were a billion years ago and I don’t see it happening now. Refit costs would be astronomical unless taking an entire sub-fleet (which would need 12 or 18 frames to be viable).
The other factor not mentioned in the CWL investment discussion above is the massive change it will need to operating procedures there. There has to be
full separation of parts between Airbus and Boeing maintenance, and as the site was exclusively Boeing previously, this will be a big difference they’ll need to get used to. Storage space will almost double.