Ask Captain Lim

Dear Capt Lim,

Currently, I am researching on the Airbus 340 and the Boeing 777. I was doing the website research and found your website really very well and help me understand very much. Would it be possible for you to please answer some questions?

What criteria do think the airline company may use when deciding which type of aircraft to purchase? Why did they want purchase the Airbus 340 and/or the Boeing 777? (It might depend on airline companies' preference, but what might be their major intension to purchasing certain type of aircraft?)

What criteria do you think airline company use to allocate a particular type of aircraft to a particular route?

Thank you for your time and help!

Winnie Chang

Hi Winnie,

Here are the brief answers to your questions.

The criteria an Airline will look for in deciding which type of aircraft to purchase are :-

a. Maintenance - more engines.. higher maintenance.
b. Fuel saving in operating the aircraft - what engines give the best range and efficiency?
c. Crew training - whether the Airline has an almost similar aircraft like
Boeing 747, 757 or 767 or Airbus 310, 320 or 330. It they are from the same family, then the cost of training may be less.
d. ETOPs requirement (please refer to my description on this topic in my Website.)
e. Aircraft comfort
f. Load factor for that particular route
g. The range for a particular route and if they use Boeing777, they have to consider whether there are suitable airports available in the event of diversion for ETOPS requirements.

Sometimes there are other factors that may prevail over a particular choice. This may be in the form of political influence that has no bearing on the real criteria for choosing a particular type of aircraft.

To allocate a particular aircraft for a particular route, the load factor, the yield (profitability), suitable diversion airports, ETOPS consideration are some of the factors taken into consideration.

Hope my brief information may be of use to you.