A little off topic but I was on a flight sitting next to a guy in a pilots uniform, but not that of an airline. He was a pilot for private jets taking a commercial flight home. He told me it would be cheaper for anyone to buy and refurbish their own 737 than any of the small business jets - the parts, maintenance, labor, skill set to fly them are all in abundance. He said a new windshield on a Leer Jet is tens of thousands of dollars but for a 737 just a small fraction of the cost.
There is a reason that Southwest only flies 737s. It’s not just the costs I mentioned but also lower costs all around - everyone gets the same exact training. No need for special crews trained in different jets etc... So something is amiss to have 100 jets grounded.
Now that I mention it, even Trump flew around in a 757 - not the 737 but also not a luxury business jet.
There were 100 flights cancelled.
seems a bit odd. Did a little background and the airline has been in ‘contract talks’ with the mechanics union for 6 years, unions allegedly told mechanics to refuse overtime to pressure SW into talks 2017, SW sued, all supposed to have been settled 2018 but mechanics rejected Sep 2018 SW offer ( whatever that was). The good news is, there may be some mechanic positions open at several maintenance hubs.
He got that thing for a song and the way the modular tracks where created , it was future proof, ensuring it could always be updated and maintained at a predictable cost...
“Now that I mention it, even Trump flew around in a 757 - not the 737 but also not a luxury business jet.”
A 757 can hold more gold fixtures.
Hourly operations of a 737 dwarf any small jet.