Hi guys.
Been reading through some of the posts and having a chuckle.
A few things.
You cannot just walk into a shop with a fat cheque book and buy a plane.
It took Comair nealry 5 years to negotiate the finance to get the 8 737-800's they have purchased.
If 1time were to decide to re-place their fleet today the first plane would be delivered in 5 - 7 years. so sorry that boat has sailed.
SAA are going on a fleet upgrade plan 6 billion (lol) that will only materialise somewhere around 2020 if theyre lucky.
Sure you can lease old planes very quickly, but in the current econimic climate and fuel price there is just nothing worth renting on the market.
Also you cannot just park your plane at a airport radio control and fly whatever wherever you like. Slots at all airports(worldwide) are auctioned and a 80-20 rule applies. If a flight has the use of the slot for the last 80% of the time it has the right to use that slot for the next year. there are little to no slots availabe.
If a airline discontinues a flight then those slots go up for auction and a airline can bid on getting them.
It is the best to have your fleet of the same make and guage, this makes the whole airline simpler to manage for a hundred different reasons. having a mish mash of aircrafts is a nightmare to manage.
Comair has taken the long term strategy to uniform the fleet across both brands to produce cost savings and ease of management.
the 200's were disposed of nearly 2 years ago, the 300's will largely be gone by end of year and then the 400 will be de-fleeted over the next 2 years as the 800's get delivered.
The whole Boeing vs Airbus stuff reminds me of plasma vs LCD debates in other forums

they both have pro's and con's it depends what your airline model is and what you want to achieve.
It is a common misconception that smaller planes are cheaper. Ideally you want a plane that seats 120 - 180 pax. for the LCC model.
Due to nesting and other revenue management Voodoo (time demand curves and lots of maths) that works out the best.
Remember that alot of costs are fixed whether you have 1 pax or 150 pax your going to pay for your staff, fees ect.
there is a load factor and yield (for the person who wanted the terms) that makes the flight profitable. If a flight is not profitable then it will likley get cancelled and combined with a similar flight. Most airlines do this and I'm sure some of you have been subject to schedule changes.
OTP - on time performance is another topic and really it's one of those stats thats often thrown around but is so easy to jipo by the airlines (well some of them)
Anyway I just want to say, I called it! my post about 1Time runnign out of money.... and then they apply for BR the next day
To try to put a end to the debates about what plane the airlines shoudl go for well the 737-800 new model is competitive with the airbus equivilent A340, but the point is the newer planes are hugely more fuel efficient and at the end of the day, mood lighting and all those fancy things. It's the fuel burn that will drive the decision as it's the biggest cost.