Airline fleets get younger after Sept. 11 By Donna Rosato, USA TODAY Sharp cutbacks in air travel since Sept. 11 are speeding a shift to younger= =20 planes =97 a trend that airlines say is reducing flight delays. The 10=20 largest passenger airlines have grounded nearly 300 planes because of the=20 drop in travel, according to a study for USA TODAY by Back Aviation=20 Solutions. Many fleets are smaller but younger Dozens of the parked jets=20 are airlines' oldest ones, some dating to the Nixon administration. More=20 than three-quarters are single-aisle jets used for domestic flights. Some=20 may be recalled, but airlines plan to retire many to reduce maintenance and= =20 fuel costs. "9/11 was a huge wake-up call to the airline industry. Airlines= =20 went from losing money to hemorrhaging, so they sped up plans to get rid of= =20 their most inefficient aircraft," says Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group,= =20 an aerospace research firm. Some changes are dramatic: =B7 United Airlines retired nearly 100 Boeing 727s and 737-200s, some= =20 almost 25 years old, cutting the average age of its single-aisle jets to=20 8.6 years from 11.3 years. =B7 American Trans Air jets' average age fell from nearly 15 years to= =20 10 after retiring some nearly 30-year old Lockheed L-1011s and getting new= =20 Boeing 737s. =B7 Continental Airlines stopped flying DC-10s, cutting the age of its= =20 double-aisle jets to 2.7 years, down from 8.5 years before Sept. 11. "One of the opportunities we had post 9/11 was to get rid of some fleet=20 types. There are so many benefits to having younger fleets," says Glen=20 Hauenstein, Continental's senior vice president of scheduling. Two of those benefits are: =B7 Fewer cancellations and delays. Airlines say the increased=20 reliability of younger fleets =97 along with fewer flights =97 has helped=20 improve on-time flight records this year. Younger planes require less=20 maintenance, and when problems do arise, they're easier to pinpoint because= =20 the jets have more sophisticated computer diagnostics. Continental says it= =20 operated 15 days in May with no cancellations. "That was unheard of a few=20 years ago," Hauenstein says. United's domestic flights arrived within 15=20 minutes of schedule 83% of the time in April vs. 72% a year ago. It says=20 maintenance spending fell to $145 million in the first quarter, from $200=20 million a year ago. =B7 More onboard amenities. Newer planes are quieter and have more=20 comforts, such as larger overhead bins and better-cushioned seats. On American Trans Air, 85% of planes have leather seats. And starting this= =20 weekend, every plane in scheduled service offers in-flight movies and=20 videos for the first time. Contributing: Barbara Hansen The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Robbie Greenidge) http://www.steeldrumband.net/greenidge/ (Robert Greenidge - Pan Arranger/Composer/Player) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************