At 06:56 PM 1/21/2003 -0800, you wrote: >AIRLINE: > >Is there any bad luck in being a launch customer for a new plane? Is it >anything like buying the first model of a new line of cars? I can't help >but recall the new GE engines that overheated recently on a "United" flight?? The last plane United launched was the 777; its first revenue flight was almost eight years ago. I doubt any problems they're having now are related to having been the launch customer on the 777. :-) Being a launch customer is a bit risky; there's always a chance that the product simply won't perform as well as expected. On the other hand, the launch customer probably has the full attention of the vendor. And, as AC and VS are learning with these A340NG launches, sometimes a new model is late from the vendor. There are lots of aircraft launches. Continental and Delta just launched the 767-400 two and a half years ago. Northwest launched the P&W-engined variant of the 757-300 last year, three years after Condor launched the 757-300 in general. Did Continental, Delta, or Northwest get bad luck for doing so? Did Airtran suffer for being the 717-200 launch customer? Arguably, they have reaped great benefits for doing so, even if the plane turns out to be an orphan and a white elephant. How much credibility did Airtran gain for so visibly buying new planes? "We're not ValuJet; we've got brand new planes, planes so new almost no one else has them!" I have no idea if Airtran is getting the performance they expected from the MD-95, but I doubt it matters nearly as much as the prestige they got for being a launch customer. >Mike Burris >Cambridge, Massachusetts Nick