American Airlines early retires jets

As WingMag has already reported, the corona crisis has resulted in countless flight bans and shutdowns for numerous airlines. A number of airlines, including American Airlines, are taking their older aircraft out of service prematurely.

Without its subsidiaries, American Airlines has a total of 950 aircraft. According to the President of American Airlines, Robert Isom, around 135 long-haul jets and 300 short- and medium-haul aircraft are on the ground as a result of the corona crisis. As a result, American Airlines is now retiring 34 Boeing 757 and 17 Boeing 767 aircraft early. In addition, 100 further retirements are planned. Isom argues that more expensive maintenance work is expected for these models anyway. Therefore, 76 Boeing 737-800s that joined the fleet between 1999 and 2001, Airbus A330-300 jets and all 20 Embraer E190s are to be taken out of service.

In addition, the company is considering removing regional aircraft, such as the 50-seater Bombardier CR-200, from its product range. In the future, more modern and economical aircraft are to replace the discontinued models. This year, 76 additional aircraft of the new Boeing 737 Max are scheduled to be added to the fleet. American Airlines has also ordered 25 Boeing 787-9 and 105 Airbus A321 Neo.

Picture © Miguel Ángel Sanz

by Cindy Bauernfeind