Helvetic a melancholy goodbye to its last Fokker 100
With the Swiss regional airline another European airline, said the Fokker 100 goodbye. Especially of a Helvetic Airways liked the two radiators, the: The reliability.
Technical innovations in the air travel, often in batches. This is true – and literally – for the engines, the performance increase of a new Generation by leaps and bounds, and the noise values fall significantly. This was also the case with the Fokker 100 as it was delivered in 1988 to the first customer.
For the past 30 years, the Fokker 100 is now on the road. The initial customer was Swissair. The world of Short track was dominated at the time by McDonnell Douglas’ MD-80, maybe even from the previous model DC-9. Both were generators in today's comparison as a rule, the rights of a Crash. The Fokker 100 is comparatively quiet. They sat for the entire industry a new benchmark in terms of noise – but also cost-effectiveness.
"Reliability of 99 percent,"
And now, this aircraft belongs already to the old iron. On Friday, Helvetic Airways conducted the last flight with a Fokker 100. It is a short flight in the HB-JVG – of the last Fokker 100 of the Airline – and for long-serving employees, some Familiar from the aviation industry and journalists. For Tobias Pogorevc, for a year-in-chief at the Swiss regional airline and Wet Lease provider, it is a day with mixed feelings.
The Fokker 100 made in Switzerland since 2003, good services, very good even, he explained. "We had a reliability of 99 percent," says Pogorevc in conversation with aeroTELEGRAPH. "There's a bit of nostalgia to come." The two-engine Jets were for passengers as well as the staff popular. The 140,000 flights Helvetic completed with them, of 180,000 hours, you were in the air. The flown route as a whole? 116 Times to the moon and back.
Conversion on Embraer E2
But now I'm looking "forward", says Pogorevc. The outplacement of the fleet is over now, Helvetic Airways, with 449 employees focuses on the introduction of the Embraer E190-E2, of which twelve piece ordered and an Option for a further twelve specimens secured. Thus, Helvetic has unified its fleet of quasi. Technically, not quite, because the airline operates also eleven Embraer the previous version of E-Jets.
The new E2, but again significantly improved performance. And they are as reliable as the Fokker? Pogorevc pauses for a moment and searches for the balanced words. "We are very pleased," he says. A reliability number is not he does not want to call but, so much experience, you have the airplane pattern, he explains.
American was once the largest operator of
The whole re-equip with the Embraer E2 is the company a great challenge. But it was "just fantastic, how all the panning on all levels," says Pogorevc his Crew. On Friday, the adopted machine was once on American Airlines, which was once with 75 Fokker 100 on the way. She was the largest operator in the world.
By the end of 2018, approximately 140 Fokker 100 were in operation around the world. At the most they are used in Australia at Alliance Airlines (24 aircraft), flying Ex-Austrian-Fokker, Network Airlines (16) and Virgin Regional Australia (14). Nearly 30 are still in Iran, on-the-go. In the homeland of Europe, only around a dozen Fokker 100 are in use, including the Cypriot Tus Air, the German Avanti Air or Montenegro Airlines.
New Operator
The last Helvetic-Fokker still flying on Friday to Bratislava out. There, she waits with the Other machines to a new owner. It is very likely you will be somewhere in the world again in scheduled or Charter service.
In the above image gallery to see photos from the farewell of the Fokker 100 by Helvetic Airways.