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Given the thresholds and margins at which airlines operate, I'm quite sure that it's a huge problem. A counterexample is Air Canada abandoning their financial

Given the thresholds and margins at which airlines operate, I'm quite sure that it's a huge problem. A counterexample is Air Canada abandoning their financial guidance for the year as a result of the 737 Max issues: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-15/air-canada-s-guidance-suspension-leaves-analysts-unconcerned https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-15/air-canad...

tyingq 8y ago
That's a different problem. They are a bigger percentage of Air Canada's fleet. Also Air Canada's fleet is widely varied. With other aircraft that are notably larger or smaller. And crews can only work aircraft they are qualified on. This wiped out basically a whole subset of their operation. Southwest can more easily substitute any of their other aircraft, lease more non-max models, defer non-essential maintenance activities, and use any other crew to fill the holes. They fly all 737s.
- alex_anglin 8y ago
  Sure, but having to do all those things on very short notice is probably a huge problem for a couple of folks at Southwest.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  It's a much bigger deal for Westjet: They don't have much transoceanic capacity that the 737MAX was used for. I don't think their 737 non-MAX fleet can even make the trip from Halifax to Paris like the MAX fleet can. And transoceanic birds need other safety features not required for standard continental fleets, like life jackets.
PopeDotNinja 8y ago
I met a maintenance supervisors/leader type for United Airlines last weekend. He said that the grounding of the 737 Max was annoying, but manageable. Their are all sorts of tricks companies can use to keep up with hiccups in aircraft availability. For example, not all of an airlines planes are flying at once. An plane sidelined for maintenance can be serviced more quickly, and returned to operating status faster than it was initially scheduled to be back in the air.
- kerng 8y ago
  I'm worried that quicker maintenance will in the end lead to less secure air travel.

tyingq 8y ago

That's a different problem. They are a bigger percentage of Air Canada's fleet. Also Air Canada's fleet is widely varied. With other aircraft that are notably larger or smaller. And crews can only work aircraft they are qualified on. This wiped out basically a whole subset of their operation. Southwest can more easily substitute any of their other aircraft, lease more non-max models, defer non-essential maintenance activities, and use any other crew to fill the holes. They fly all 737s.

alex_anglin 8y ago
Sure, but having to do all those things on very short notice is probably a huge problem for a couple of folks at Southwest.
Scoundreller 8y ago
It's a much bigger deal for Westjet: They don't have much transoceanic capacity that the 737MAX was used for. I don't think their 737 non-MAX fleet can even make the trip from Halifax to Paris like the MAX fleet can. And transoceanic birds need other safety features not required for standard continental fleets, like life jackets.

PopeDotNinja 8y ago

I met a maintenance supervisors/leader type for United Airlines last weekend. He said that the grounding of the 737 Max was annoying, but manageable. Their are all sorts of tricks companies can use to keep up with hiccups in aircraft availability. For example, not all of an airlines planes are flying at once. An plane sidelined for maintenance can be serviced more quickly, and returned to operating status faster than it was initially scheduled to be back in the air.

kerng 8y ago
I'm worried that quicker maintenance will in the end lead to less secure air travel.