To upgrade is the question?

[LifesaverM]

I currently operate a fleet of about 15 B737-200Adv, and a few ATRs for my smaller flights. My company is currently profitable, and have been growing at a steady pace. I'm fairly happy about where things are but I feel like I'm at a place where I can finally begin to consider replacing my aging -200s.

Here's the question while I really like the 300/400/500 fleet group is the increased lease costs worth it at this point. One argument in favor of upgrade I've seen is maintenance costs. Most of my -200Adv fleet are between 14-20 years once they hit 20 I dump them because of the maint costs. That aside the increased leasing costs will far outweigh the reduced maint. costs making that less of a selling point to me. I estimate that even factoring in maint, I'll see almost a 1M increase in costs per plane per year.

So the only other potential advantage I see is fuel costs. I've been very mindful about the -200Adv I've leased and none of them exceed 3,000 kg/hr, with many of them around 2,800-2,900 most of the B737-300s I've seen avg around 2,500 kg/hr. So would the 200-500 kg/hr fuel savings justify the increased leasing costs to upgrade my fleet?

I've considered a few other fleet groups, but I really think based on routes available that the 300/400/500 group to make the most sense from my main base in Cleveland.

Comments/thoughts/suggestions?

[Sami]

Well, some maths is needed if you wish to do it "properly". If you have on avg. 350kg/h savings on 737 fleet, just count how much you fly them (flight hrs, not block hrs), and compare it to the added lease costs. And deduct the cheaper maintenance of new planes.

>15y planes are becoming quite tedious to keep in good shape, and that'll cost you.

Newer fleet has also less chance for cancellations/delays and pax have small preference for younger fleet but both are minor issues if other stuff is running normally.