American Airlines places orders with Airbus, Boeing, Embraer

American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has announced orders for eighty-five A321-200neo, eighty-five B737-10s, and ninety E175s as it seeks to boost capacity on its domestic and short-haul international routes.

The order for the 260 new aircraft includes options and purchase rights for an additional 193 airframes, 75 of which are for additional B737-10s. As part of the Boeing order, American Airlines upgauged 30 existing B737-8 orders to B737-10s.

“As we look into the next decade, American will have a steady stream of new aircraft alongside a balanced level of capital investment, which will allow us to expand our network and deliver for our shareholders,” American Airlines Chief Financial Officer Devon May said in a statement on March 4.

The new E175s will be operated by American’s wholly-owned regional carriers Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines. The company is moving forward with its plan to retire all of its 50-seat single-class regional jets by the end of the decade and introduce larger regional aircraft to serve small and medium-sized markets.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that American Airlines already had 162 aircraft on order, for four A321-200NX, fifty A321-200NY(XLR)s, seventy-one B737-8s, twenty-five B787-9s, and twelve E170s. With this new announcement, it has on order in excess of 400 aircraft.

American Airlines expects to receive between 41 to 54 new aircraft each year from 2024 and 2028, with the rest to arrive from 2029:

• in 2024: three A320neo, twenty B737 MAX, six B787s, twelve E175s;
• in 2025: sixteen A320neo, fourteen B737 MAX, five B787s, twelve E175s;
• in 2026: twenty-one A320neo, ten B737 MAX, four B787s, eighteen E175s;
• in 2027: thirty-one A320neo, zero B737 MAX, five B787s, fifteen E175s;
• in 2028: fourteen A320neo, twenty B737 MAX, five B787s, fifteen E175s; and
• 2029 and thereafter: sixty-four A320neo, ninety-five B737 MAX, five B787s, and thirty E175s.

The American Airlines fleet comprises 1,002 airframes, ch-aviation fleets data shows, including 133 A319-100s, forty-eight A320-200s, 218 A321-200s, ten A321-200Ns, seventy A321-200NX, fifteen A330-200s, fifty-nine B737-8s, 303 B737-800s, forty-seven B777-200ERs, twenty B777-300ERs, thirty-seven B787-8s, and twenty-two B787-9s, as well as twenty inactive MD-83s.

Previous reports hinted at the possibility of a widebody order for the A350 to replace the B777-200ER.