Aircraft Getting Too Old

[Karl]

What are the consequences of continuing to fly "old" aircraft?

I know:
-that the game rules do not allow aircraft older than 35 years.
-that MX checks of older aircraft are more expensive.

However:
-I have never played in a scenario that went much beyond the real-world year.  The Age of Flight is currently in 2026 going on 2027.  The end point is 30 Dec 35.
-As a sense of personal pride, I always replaced aircraft requiring D Checks well before 22 years or so.  Since we are well into the future, I have been keeping aircraft much longer.
-At around 25 years or so, I have been getting messages warning that aircraft are too old.
-By the end of the game none of my aircraft will be 35 years old; however, some will be close.
-Used replacement aircraft are getting to be few and far between.

So, will older aircraft hold up?  Beyond more expensive operations costs and possible delays, etc. (which currently seem to be within an acceptable range), will the aircraft experience very expensive technical issues - or perhaps a crash?

[Sami]

The warnings start quite early, since maintenance of the 25yr+ planes gets rather expensive. 35yr is the hard limit which after they won't fly. They won't crash (not a feature), but be prepared to shovel a lot of cash into the checks (incl. A-B).

[Karl]

Thanks for the quick response.

[groundbum2]

they also use more fuel. a penalty is added based on age. Typically at 25 years it's about 4% extra fuel burn. You'll also have a lower airline score as one of the components is average aircraft age.

The time to replace aircraft is just before a D check. Amortization seems to reduce the price to hit a low spot the day before a D check. Once the D check has been done, say for $8M, then $8M is added to the book value of the aircraft. So if you scrap an aircraft a day after a D check then you'll have wasted 8M on a D check, plus whereas the money to get from the scrapper will be the same, the book value is higher so that comes off assets and profits.

Simon

[mp81]

I've flown DC-8/757/767 freighters that were 30 years plus and they were still cash cows. I still say let the user determine what they want to pay for maintenance/operating costs on aircraft past 35 years old.

[gazzz0x2z]

I've flown DC-8/757/767 freighters that were 30 years plus and they were still cash cows. I still say let the user determine what they want to pay for maintenance/operating costs on aircraft past 35 years old.

Cargo is often a cash cow because not enough players seem to master it. With proper opposition, those birds would have bleeded money as well.

[Karl]

One way or another an airline is going to pay. One can pay higher MX & fuel costs with lower lease/ownership costs OR lower MX costs with higher lease fees (or the cost of purchase).

The choice is up to the airline CEO.  Whatever works!

[gazzz0x2z]

One way or another an airline is going to pay. One can pay higher MX & fuel costs with lower lease/ownership costs OR lower MX costs with higher lease fees (or the cost of purchase).

The choice is up to the airline CEO.  Whatever works!

true, but not all airliners are created equal. Having the same strategy for a 777 and for a IL-96 is not advised.