alt Hacker NewsNit: at some point you start getting metal fatigue issues (see Aloha Airlines Flight 243) but in general yes: fuel efficiency and fleet standardization.
Also airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement. Eg. there's a bunch of DC-3s still being commercially operated. Jet engine noise regs killed a bunch of early jets, but older prop aircraft are still going strong.
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JumpCrisscross • yesterday at 9:25 PM
> Nit: at some point you start getting metal fatigue issues
Good point. The B-52 doesn’t pressurize the whole fuselage. Just the crew compartment.
> airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement
Out of curiosity, do they not pressurize the cargo hold?
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> Also airliners usually just become cargo planes for quite a long time before retirement.
Yes, but that's a function of how fuel economy and capital impact the overall economics.
Cargo = (usually) one flight per night.
Passenger = (usually) many flights per day.
It's important for cargo airlines to have low capital costs for an asset that spends a lot of time not making money, but it's important for a passenger airline to have low operating costs for an asset that's burning fuel all the time.
Passenger airplanes are repurposed for cargo when newer, more fuel efficient airplanes come on the market.