“Pretty smart wouldn’t you say?”
I don’t know much about the leasing of big airplanes but . . . I am doubtful the Russians are going to be able to keep the planes flying for long without western repairs and replacement parts.
Those things will be hard to come by I’m guessing.
I am doubtful the Russians are going to be able to keep the planes flying for long without western repairs and replacement parts.
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They will acquire parts through international markets ( Turkey, India for example- both have announced they will no longer use the dollar and are sympathetic “ partners” with Russia) and already have been trained in the maintenance. I spent three years training Aeroflot in Moscow on Boeing equipment. Lufthansa trained them on the Airbus. Aeroflot has operated Airbus for years, and the only Boeing products they fly are the B737 ( that I know of- they returned their B767s years ago and went primarily with Airbus).
Russia has about 1300 civil aircraft, about 800 are Boeing and Airbus. Russia does not use many Boeing aircraft. The rest are Russian made IL 96 and Sukoi , been flying for years, reliable, built like tanks.
On that note, Airbus has been very quiet about “ sanctions”. The Covid downturn has severely hurt Airbus, they are very hungry for business. On top of that, Airbus is in a panic as they sourced 90 percent of their titanium, Nickel, stainless steel , and other exotic metal from Russia. It will not surprise me to see Russia acquire parts through Turkey, India, OR have to “ barter”- Russian raw metals traded for finished parts OR disregard sanctioning Russia at all, which is the most likely.
Demented Joe shot the west in the foot- again…..and Vlad, once again, says CHECKMATE.
The west doesn’t make anything. I’m sure there are plenty of plants in friendly nations. Ahhh, globalization.
“I am doubtful the Russians are going to be able to keep the planes flying for long without western repairs and replacement parts.”
It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a way for the rightful owners to disable the avionics remotely.