Aviation experts discuss evolution of fleets amid Covid-19

As the world remains grounded, carriers have sped up the retirement of older aircraft to bring in newer planes that are greener and go further, faster.

 

In the latest edition of CNN’s Business Traveller, host Richard Quest examines how aviation fleets have been reimagined during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

The rollout of several new aircrafts, including the Boeing 777X, has been delayed by the pandemic, but the opaque nature of the industry’s recovery has made purchasing new models an even more challenging negotiation.

 

Quest speaks to Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways, who says he prides himself on getting the best from aircraft manufacturers: “If you ask both Airbus and Boeing, they will tell you that Qatar Airways tortures them before we sign an agreement with them. We are very meticulous, we make sure that we protect the interests of the airline but at the same time, we play very fair with our suppliers both Airbus and Boeing. It's a two-way street.”

 

In the era of more fuel-efficient planes, CNN hears that changing aircrafts of different routes can make a huge difference to profitability. Business Traveller examines which is the pivotal factor in this equation: the route or the aircraft?

 

To understand how airlines decide which plane to purchase, CNN speaks to aviation industry analyst Henry Harteveldt: “If you take a look at the performance specifications: range, passenger and cargo capacity, you'll often see the in the proverbial Venn diagram. If you cross the two aircraft, there's a lot of commonality in terms of what they can do. They want an airplane that can operate multiple missions. They don't want aircraft to be specialists if they can avoid it.”

 

Before the pandemic, airlines had been able to open new routes that previously had been too expensive to run, such as Perth-London and Singapore-New York. Now, with routes closed and fewer passengers flying, airlines are still trying to keep as many jets in operation with a greater emphasis on cargo capacity.

 

Finnairs’s Traffic Analysis Manager, Aaron McGarvey, explains to Quest how the airline is managing their fleet in response to the pandemic: “We've actually kind of simplified it. The strategy has been keeping the smallest, most cost-efficient aircraft in Helsinki and park the rest. We have a very sophisticated origin and destination forecasting system from our revenue management colleagues, which kind of tries to forecast how many passengers will be on any given plane at one point in time. It solves that 3D jigsaw puzzle.”