How old is the aircraft that you are flying?

The recent emergency landing of a Southwest Airlines 737 due to a fuselage rupture has once again brought the issue of aging aircraft to the public attention. The NTSB investigation into the Southwest incident has pointed to unexpected and unseen metal fatigue on some models of the 737 as a potential safety issue, and the FAA, along with Boeing, have developed procedures to address the problem.

When you fly, you may not know in advance how old your aircraft is, but you can get an idea of how old the airline's fleet is. Using data from a number of sources, AirSafe.com has upgraded its page Average Fleet Age for Selected Airlines to include links to detailed aircraft aging information for dozens of large airlines around the world. The data, based on research performed by the site AirFleets.net, provides the average age of an airline's fleet, as well as the average age for particular aircraft models within that airline's fleet.

For example, for Southwest Airlines, which flies several models of the 737, the average fleet age is 15 years, with their older 737 models (737-300 and 737-500) averaging 19.2 years and the newer models (737-700) averaging 12.6 years.

Below are some average fleet ages in years for selected US airlines:

airTran - 7.3
Alaska Airlines 8.0
American Airlines - 15.0
American Eagle - 9.7
Continental Airlines - 9.5
Delta Airlines - 14.5
JetBlue Airways - 5.4
Southwest Airlines 14.3
United Airlines - 14.3
US Airways - 12.3

Compare those figures with selected airlines from outside the US:

Aeromexico.htm - 7.0
AirAsia - 3.4
Air China - 7.6
Air Canada - 10.5
Air France - 9.1
British Airways - 11.9
Ethiopian Airlines 9.9
Japan Airlines - 10.8
KLM - 10.7
Lufthansa - 13.2
Qantas - 11.9

For a more complete list, including information for different models within those fleets, please visit AirSafe.com.

Los Angeles Times Story of Overworked and Underpaid Pilots

Pay and working conditions for pilots have been an ongoing concern, especially in the last few years as airlines have eliminated benefits and lowered pay in order to remain competitive. Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times published an article about pay and working conditions at regional airlines in the US, focusing on one pilot from regional carrier Pinnacle airlines, painted a picture of long workdays and a lifestyle that forces many pilots to commute hundreds or even thousands of miles from their homes to their airline, sometimes sleeping in their airline's crew lounge before performing their duties.

Pilot pay is a subject previously covered by AirSafeNews.com, and the LA Times illustrated the current economic reality by describing how the pilot in the story started as a first officer making $1,650 per month plus benefits, and now makes $28,000 per year, which turns out to be less than a Los Angeles bus driver.

Pinnacle, the airline featured in the LA Times article, is the parent company of regional carrier Colgan Air, which was the airline operating the aircraft involved in the fatal February 2009 Continental Connection crash in Buffalo.

NTSB Hearings on the Buffalo Plane Crash

On May 12th, 2009, the NTSB began a three-day public hearing about its ongoing investigation into the fatal February 2009 crash of a Continental Connection airliner in Buffalo, NY. Among the issues that came up were the possible roles of crew fatigue and crew training in the accident. During the last day of the hearing, noted aviation consultant Mike Boyd and I sat down with host Dave Berns of the "State of Nevada" program on KNPR radio in Las Vegas.

KNPR Interview on 14 May 2009 (15:21)

Additional Information
NTSB Public Docket on the Investigation
Accident Details from AirSafe.com
Todd Curtis book Understanding Aviation Safety Data