We are fans of the upcoming Dreamliner, but found it interesting that Japan's budget carrier Skymark Airlines (TSE:9204) is finding that Boeing's 737 is the most efficient choice to use currently.
Skymark Airlines Co., Japan's largest low-fare carrier, said switching to only Boeing Co. 737- 800 airplanes will almost triple its profit margins by the year ending March 2011 by lowering operating and fuel costs.
And it seems that most cost savings come from simply operating only one type of plane.
``Using just one type of aircraft is the biggest cost- reduction plan we are working on,'' Nishikubo said in an interview in Tokyo on June 12. Using smaller aircraft ``will reduce capacities and revenue, but the cost reduction will be much bigger.''
Since Southwest has been doing the exact same thing since the 70s it really begs the question of why it isn't obvious for any short-haul carrier to use a similar model?
The quote in the article makes it sound like they *just* discovered that only having 1 type of plane reduces maintenance costs. Imagine that!
Posted by: awardtour | June 13, 2006 at 01:24 PM
They "just" discovered Deming?
Posted by: Fred | June 18, 2006 at 12:32 PM
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