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Delta Air Lines' entire business model is buying older jets for pennies, investing in their operations department to keep them flying for longer, and then hedgi
by selectodude 5y ago
Delta Air Lines' entire business model is buying older jets for pennies, investing in their operations department to keep them flying for longer, and then hedging their fuel costs by buying long-dated options and operating their own refinery.
It's worked for them.
- raverbashing 5y agoYes, it's worked for them with all the caveats you mention. And their planes are not that old (I think they have focused on the 717) but are migrating to the A220 (previously C-Series). Also you can pick and choose which routes support each plane best. You don't need the latest flashy thing to have a good service, at the same time, planes that are too old have worse reliability (just ask AA about their cancellations).
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoHigher fuel costs and/or more efficient jet development don't do anything to that business model other than make planes go obsolete faster and make the older planes you buy for pennies younger in terms of actual years.
- mrosett 5y agoOne small component of that is aggressively updating interiors. As a passenger I wouldn't have guessed that Delta's planes are on the older side.
- selectodude 5y agoDelta Tech Ops is, for my money, the best in the world at what they do.
- dragonwriter 5y ago> Delta Air Lines' entire business model is [...] It's worked for them. In the last 20 years, they’ve gotten two government bailouts and gone bankrupt in between, so “worked” must be being used very loosely when referring to any but the shortest-term business tactic besides maintaining (with the rest of the industry) political pull in Washington.