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Originally Posted by BearX220
I am told the 717 is the least efficient aircraft in the whole DL fleet from a cost-per-ASM standpoint. It's on a different mission from the A22X, though. The Airbus is efficient over medium-to-transcon stage lengths, the 717 is thirsty and costly over short stage lengths but there's no apples-for-apples replacement for it.
The 717 provided frequency on routes to drive yield. If business markets remain depressed then you can expect that niche to decrease with more focus on CASM rather than RASM. The A220 will still have high CASM because of the fact that it is still 2 pilots for only 110 seats regardless of the fact that it is 30% more fuel efficient than the 717. It will still be used mostly for short routes where - while fuel efficiency matters - costs are more driven by labor and other items than fuel. Fuel only becomes the biggest factor on long haul (especially ULH) which is why widebodies (outside of niche airplanes like the 767) have been - as a general rule - retired earlier by airlines even though they typically still have a lot of cycles and hours left. The 20% fuel efficiency increase makes a much bigger difference when your average stage length is 10 hours and not 75 minutes.
Jul 15, 2020, 2:29 pm
