United Airlines expects to open talks soon with its three United Express operators, Air Wisconsin, Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) and Skywest Airlines, to plan for the induction of the next batch of regional jets (RJs) in 2004 as the carrier moves towards phasing out the remainder of its turboprop fleet.
The airline is close to concluding a deal with Air Wisconsin to add another 51 Bombardier CRJ200s to its fleet by the end of 2003, which will conclude the current round of "RJ rights" allocation. United has already reached deals for ACA and Skywest to expand their respective fleets to 128 and 55 jets over the same period. This along with Air Wisconsin's nine current CRJ200s provides for a total Express fleet of 243 RJs.
"Some time this summer we're going to look at our needs and the economic situation in 2004. We will go to the three operators and say, assuming your costs are in line, and your performance has been good, go ahead and bid on as many RJs as you can possibly get delivery on in 2004," says Chris Rado, United's vice president.
Under the scope clause agreement reached with its pilots last year, United is permitted a pro-rata expansion of five RJs for every new widebody aircraft and three for each new narrowbody jet added. The airline is also allowed to replace up to 150 turboprops with a like number of RJs on top of the 65 jets already in the Express fleet under the previous agreement. RJ size is capped at 50-seats. "Today we have around 608 mainline jets, which gives us the ability to fly 279 RJs. By 2003 we're expecting to have 633 wide and narrowbodies, though we could always retire aircraft early in a recession. If we get that mix of narrow and wide right, we'll have the right to operate 358 RJs, assuming we eat up the budget of 150 turboprop replacements," says Rado.
United's three regional partners already hold a large number of provisional orders and options. ACA Holdings has options on 83 Fairchild Dornier 328JETS and 80 CRJ200s, which can be allocated to either its United Express or Delta Connection operations. Skywest's recent order for 35 CRJs includes 29 provisional orders and 80 options, while Air Wisconsin is in the final stages of wrapping up a deal for 75 CRJ200 plus 75 options.
Source: Flight International
