Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Delta and Ryanair may buy Sukhoi SuperJet 100

On the upside, the interior was designed by Pininfarina.

Skip to 1:23.
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5 comments:

Pete Dushenski said...

I’m not one to worry about the reliability of airplanes, but after seeing delay after delay with the A380 and 787, I can’t help but wonder if this is being rushed to market at the expense of safety and durability.

August 31, 2011 at 8:48 PM
Maxichamp said...

@Peter: Good point. I think Delta (and other American carriers) will take a wait and see approach. Their fleet does not need updating anytime soon anyway, right?

August 31, 2011 at 9:07 PM
MattC said...

I worked for America West Airlines (out of BWI) when they acquired on of the first A319's for a BWI to PHX route. These looked great on paper and would technically be more fuel efficient than the aging 737's. These were going to replace the Boeing 737-300 series in rotation. All went well until the Summer, when excessive heat limits lift and we couldn't load a full plane and theirrespective baggage without overloading the gross cargo weight of the aircraft. So we were stuck with an aircraft that couldn't fly a full passenger load and their baggage to their destination (something that never happened with the Boeing 737). The A319's were relegated to shorter hops and never replaced the 737 in a large capacity.

Th lesson learned is that America West and other US carriers like to play a wait and see approach to new aircraft.

September 1, 2011 at 3:23 PM
Maxichamp said...

@MattC: Was it the Arizona heat? That's incredible that they didn't test them under extreme conditions first.

September 1, 2011 at 4:07 PM
MattC said...

Actually both ways( PHX and BWI), gross weight during takeoff is limited by heat regardless of location.

As an aside,it is interesting to watch planes land at Ski Harbor in PHX in the middle of the Summer. The pilots have to compensate for loss of lift in high heat temperature by landing "hot". They will land at a faster speed than usual to maintain lift. The pilots know what they are doing, but the landings look rough.

September 1, 2011 at 5:22 PM

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