SAN ANGELO, TX — The last of the American Airlines Envoy regional jets that were stored in San Angelo for years are almost gone. According to the mechanics busy readying the last three jets on the ramp at San Angelo Mathis Field, the planes are headed for a drier climate in Tucson, Arizona.
The City of San Angelo has a lease with AMR Corporation, the parent of Envoy, the regional jet operator, to park retired Embraer ERJ 140 jets on the expansive Mathis Field tarmac for $192 per jet per month. At the peak, there were 59 jets parked on the Mathis Field tarmac, earning the City of San Angelo over $11,000 per month in lease payments.
[[{"fid":"11809","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)"}},"attributes":{"alt":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)","title":"AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]
Above: AMR Corporation is storing retired ERJ 140s at Mathis Field. This is back when the number of jets approached 60 in 2015. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)
The last three jets are being readied for a short flight to Tucson this week. A&P Mechanics there said in all, the last three jets will require over 600 combined man hours to prep for the one-time flights.
Expect the last jet to leave by next Wednesday, they said. What will eventually become of the old jets? “They’ll probably cannibalize them for parts for the existing fleet,” one mechanic said.
Tucson is a drier climate. The mechanics out working on the jets today suggested that was the number one reason the planes were moved, not the cost of the monthly rental. The climate in sunny Arizona is so preferred for the preservation of aircraft, that the U.S. Air Force stores its old planes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s Boneyard, also in Tucson.
The City’s deal with AMR was a month-to-month lease.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: