The Future Fleet Plans Of American Airlines
- The Future Fleet Plans of United Airlines
- The Future Fleet Plans of American Airlines
- The Future Fleet Plans of Delta Airlines
In this article (and the one on United and the future one that I will do on Delta), I will examine the future fleet plans that American Airlines has on order. What I will do is explain which aircraft American Airlines will replace in the future, which ones they have on order, what the interiors of the aircraft on order are and the ones that they will replace have. American has a pretty mixed fleet, with both aging aircraft such as the MD-80 or the Boeing 757 and also with many new aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and 777. They have many Boeing 737 MAXs on order but also have a huge amount of 787s on order, which they will take delivery of within the next few years.
Regional Fleet Plans:
American Airlines’ regional brand is called American Eagle and leases planes from smaller contract carriers such as Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, PSA Airlines, Republic Airline, Mesa Airlines, ExpressJet, Compass
Like United, you can basically classify the regional fleet into two types of aircraft: the smaller ones with 50 seats (E145/CRJ200) and the larger ones with 75-80 seats (CRJ-700/900, E175). The Embraer E145 is in a 1-2 configuration while the CRJ200 is in a 2-2 configuration. Both the E145 and the CRJ200 have no in-flight entertainment and operate on some of American’s shortest routes to some of their smallest cities that they serve. There are around 175 50 seat (E145/CRJ200) aircraft in their fleet. The 65-80 seat aircraft (CRJ-700/900, E175) are all in a 2-2 configuration in economy class and all have a few rows of first class seats in a 1-2 configuration. Additionally, all of the larger regional jet aircraft have personal device entertainment and operate on short-haul flights up to three hours long.
Also, American Airlines operates 20 Embraer E190s which they inherited from US Airways and are operated by American Airlines, not any of their regional partners. These aircraft are used on short-haul flights and some of the American Shuttle routes. They are planned to be retired by the end of 2020.
So what’s next for American Airlines’ regional fleet? American Airlines has no regional aircraft on order of an aircraft type that they don’t already have in their fleet. They (through their regional partners/subsidiaries) are expected to take delivery of around 45 Embraer E175s and 15 CRJ900s within the next years. In terms of retirements, I don’t think that they will retire many of their E175s or larger CRJ aircraft anytime soon. However, they probably will start retiring their smaller (and older) Embraer E145s and CRJ200s within the coming years in favor of the newer E175s or larger CRJs.
Narrowbody Fleet Plans:
American Airlines operates the Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800s (over 300 of them), Boeing 737 MAX 8, and the Boeing 757-200 in their narrowbody fleet. The A319s, A320s, A321s, 737s, and domestic 757s all have economy class in a 3-3 configuration and have first class featuring recliner seats (besides transcontinental A321s) in a 2-2 configuration. Newer A319s, A321s, and Boeing 737-800s have personal on-demand entertainment while other aircraft have personal device entertainment through wireless streaming.
American’s internationally configured 757-200s have flatbed seats in business class in a 2-2 configuration, although they don’t have any built-in entertainment systems (business class passengers receive iPads, but economy class passengers have no entertainment available). A few A321 aircraft are in their transcontinental configuration (operating from New York JFK to LAX/SFO) and have business class in a 2-2 configuration, first class in a 1-1 configuration, and have personal screens at every seat. American also has around 30 MD-80s in their fleet which don’t have any entertainment options and will be completely retired by the end of this year.
So what are American’s plans for their narrow body fleet? More densification, worse seats (even in first class), and tighter cabins in general. American Airlines recently received their first 737 MAX 8 aircraft. They have a very tight cabin, with less legroom, tiny restrooms, and hard first class seats which have little legroom and less width. Additionally, these aircraft don’t have built-in entertainment systems like some of their older 737-800s do but rather have personal device entertainment. American Airlines is retrofitting their 737-800s with the new MAX style cabins, which is only bad news for passengers. American has taken delivery of around 20 of the new MAX aircraft and had approximately 80 more on order.
Widebody Fleet Plans:
American Airlines operates the Airbus A330-200, A330-300, Boeing 767-300, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 777-300, Boeing 787-8, and the Boeing 787-9 in its long-haul fleet. Economy class is in a 2-4-2 configuration on A330s, a 3-3-3 configuration on 767s, and is in a 3-4-3 configuration on all Boeing 777s. Business class features Thompson Vantage seats on the 767 in a 1-2-1 configuration, and American features reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 configuration on A330s, 777s, and 787s. All aircraft are equipped with personal on-demand entertainment besides the 767, which has no entertainment in economy class (which makes the aircraft worth avoiding) but has iPads available for business class passengers.
American has retrofitted all of their 777s, A330-200s, and most of their 787s with Premium Economy. While they have no official plans yet, I do expect them to retrofit their A330-300s with Premium Economy (hopefully) starting in 2019 or 2020 as they plan to keep those aircraft for a number of more years.
So what’s American’s long-haul fleet going to look like in a few years? Luckily, American is set to retire their awful 767-300s by the end of 2021, with only a few in their fleet by the end of 2020. That is great news for economy class passengers, who don’t have inflight entertainment on the 767s. American Airlines recently cancelled an order for 22 Airbus A350-900s which US Airways had ordered a few years back. They recently put in an order for 49 more 787s, which they’ll receive in the next years! This includes 22 787-8s, and 27 787-9s. When they receive all of their 787s by the mid 2020s, they’ll have a grand total of 89 Boeing 787s, including 44 787-8s and 47 787-9s. Unless another airline orders more 787s, they will then have the largest 787 fleet of any airline! Over time, American Airlines will also start to retire some of their old 777-200s which will be replaced by their new 787s.
Conclusion:
American Airlines’ regional fleet will pretty much stay the same over the next years, while their narrowbody/short-haul fleet will just get denser and more uncomfortable with their new Boeing 737 MAXs. Additionally, their long-haul fleet over the next years will mostly include the 787, although the Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft will still remain vital to their fleet throughout the next years. Overall, short-haul flights will just get more and more uncomfortable in both economy and business class, while long-haul premium cabins will continue to get more and more comfortable at the same time as Premium Economy continues to grow.
What do you think of American Airlines’ future fleet plans?
