Old airliners scrapped due to economics, not age

Source: Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Airbus 310 that crashed Tuesday was 19 years old, yet experts say older planes can keep going strong for years as long as companies are willing to invest what it takes to keep them sky-worthy.

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Stephane Salord, the Comoros' honorary consul in Marseilles, on Tuesday called the company's aircraft "flying cattle trucks." Former passenger Mohamed Ali, a Comoran who went to Yemenia's headquarters in Paris to try to get more information on the crash, said sometimes passengers stand all the way from Yemen to the Comoros on the flights.

Still, analysts have cautioned against equating the condition of the passenger cabin on any airline with the aircraft's maintenance records. One problem that does crop up with older aircraft, particularly when a certain model has been discontinued, is the issue of fake replacement parts.

Airline companies sometimes unwittingly purchase fake parts, which are then put into aircraft by their maintenance crews. Despite rigorous international efforts to root out fake spares in the past decade, they are still believed to be in circulation.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izR6XolQGaJCGMBJ77APv-_RNFVAD9955GV00

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The last A300 built was delivered in 2007 and Airbus has guaranteed full OEM support until 2025.

NWA has shown with their DC-9 fleet that old aircraft can be perfectly safe if one has a decent maintenance program. Now if the A310 involved had bad parts or faulty maintenance, that is a fault of the airline and not the age of the aircraft.

... the only approved answer to any question, opinion or smear that
mentions the word "Airbus" has to include "heap of crap", "unsafe",
"scary" or "un-American" and you are definitely *not* allowed to
point out that it is the maintenance that is more important than the
brand on the label - that'll really wind up the DU Anti-Airbus League!

:spank: