For example, China’s domestic express market for freight is growing rapidly, often with 737 Classics, but the country is pushing the implementation of performance-based navigation to alleviate the pressure on its air traffic control system.
Many of the -300s and -400s are not equipped for that, so Chinese freight operators would have to choose between upgrading the avionics or ordering a later-generation aircraft.
“Those are the kinds of things we look at” in deciding when the time is right for conversions, Hermesmeyer says.