Southern Air’s new CEO seeks to acquire more 747-200s

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Southern Air continues to look to acquire additional Boeing 747 Classic freighters even as the US cargo carrier begins operating new Boeing 777Fs.
Southern Air new chief executive Daniel McHugh says the carrier has been taking advantage of the significant drop in the value of used aircraft and engines over the last year by closing several transactions for 747-200Fs and General Electric CF6s. He says Southern, which now has 12 747-200s and three 747-300s in its active fleet, continues to be on the hunt for more 747 Classics and CF6 engines as more become available.
He says Southern specifically is looking for 747-200 and 747-300 freighters that were previously operated by "good airlines with exemplary maintenance records". He says Southern has a strong preference for GE-powered 747s although it does have some Pratt and Whitney-powered 747s in its fleet.
McHugh adds while the sharp drop in cargo traffic last year led to the grounding of a "remarkable number" of 747 Classic freighters only a few aircraft that have become available during the downturn meet Southern's criteria.
"You have to have an eye on what to buy and when," he says. "There are a lot of 747-200s out there. There's not much premium grade -200s."

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http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... -200s.html

thats pretty interesting news! Southern Air really seems to be very strong on those classic 742s.. Maybe they will take both PKs 742s they should be getting rid of.. Also the Surinam Airways 743 which has the GF6s which was originaly flown by KLM years back. Also I believe there are still several 742s (GE GF6s) still out there in the desert hopefully looking for a new place, maybe Southern Air will swipe those.. :D

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Originally Posted by Delta777LR

thats pretty interesting news! Southern Air really seems to be very strong on those classic 742s.. Maybe they will take both PKs 742s they should be getting rid of.. Also I believe there are still several 742s (GE GH6s) still out there in the desert hopefully looking for a new place, maybe Southern Air will swipe those.. :D

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Well considering they want premium grade 742's, I doubt they are looking at the PIA 747's.

Doubt they would take anything that needs a cargo conversion, It would make sense to acquire aircraft that are already converted into freighters. Honestly the -200/300's are good for certain things, especially when given enough downtime for some TLC. IMHO it's a gamble putting most of their eggs in the 747 classic that could go south when fuel prices spike again, just when they have just spent a few million in C, D checks, not to mention keeping up on the AD's

The could treat them as disposable and park/exchange them as heavy checks become available.

If they are looking for the premium 742F's and were willing to play with a few more JT9's there is a flock of Delta Freighters freshly parked with some glass in the sharp side to boot.

Cant wait to see more classics in the sky. The 747 looks right with those JT9 engines on. I'm waiting for one specific 300 they have that Atlas used to use. Back then my father was wrking for Polar so I have been on that a/c already but that was the best you could get. I remember it. It very rarely had any issues with it. It never wanted to break. Old tail number was N354MC. Superb 300. They were foolish to not renew the contract even though they were negotiating a lower price. That a/c was worth it in my eyes. Got a pic of it in Atlas money saving scheme. All white with a all blue tail :lol: No markings except for a really small sticker by the door with their name on it.