VALUJET HAS re-opened negotiations with McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and Boeing after failing to reach agreement with Airbus over the seemingly imminent sale of up to 25 A319s.
The negotiations with Airbus, were expected to be sealed by the beginning of October, but appear to have foundered, primarily over guarantees on the break-even load factor for the A319.
ValuJet aims to make its existing McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s break even with only 50 passengers, equivalent to a 45% load factor for the 113-seat aircraft.
The airline is keen to ensure that the break-even requirement does not mushroom with the A319, which would have 134 seats in a typical single-class configuration.
ValuJet confirms that it has been looking again at "some of the economics", and is now back in talks with all three manufacturers.
"Airbus does not have a deal, and the others see an opportunity for getting back into the competition. Both US manufacturers are having another shot at it," adds a source. None of the manufacturers has made an official comment, however.
It is thought that the A319 is still ValuJet's favoured option, although MDC is understood to be sweetening its latest deal by offering MD-87s as an interim fleet until the first MD-95s become available in late 1997.
ValuJet was originally looking at the possibility of taking used MD-80s to continue its expansion if the supply of DC-9-30s ran out. This is still an option if the talks with manufacturers fail.
Meanwhile, ValuJet has continued its rapid expansion. Passenger traffic almost trebled in the September quarter, while load factors were up by ten points running at more than 73%.
Source: Flight International
