Originally Posted by
jeffreyt
Take it at face value, but one flight attendant I know LAX-JFK (LA Based) who has worked on the route 30 years (I've known him 15) is convinced that AA has abandoned the A321 on the route because of DL's 767's and so to be competitive, AA will replace the 762's with 772s . I told him I thought AA would be crazy and said I don't find that to be substantiated in fact. But he was pretty convinced and adamant he was right.
Nobody would be happier than yours truly if this actually came to pass, but I don't think there's any truth to it. When AA placed 772s on DFW-CDG/FRA/MAD for this summer, that confirmed that the gains from seasonal European traffic were probably more lucrative than up-gauging the LAX transcons.
Originally Posted by
Robt760
More speculation, and I hope this doesn't get deleted.....The Airbus A321 order list that I saw does not show any orders/deliveries for AA yet this year. It could be that the list hasn't been updated for some time, or it could be many things. The 777 are already 3-class, so 'maybe' they will be a stop gap until long term things are situated. Further down the road when the fleets are integrated with US, other wide body possibilities come up as well...though that's further speculation.
I'm not certain what "order list" you're talking about, but the Excel spreadsheet on the Airbus site shows that AA ordered 130 members of the A321 family on January 23, 2013 (I believe that's the date that AA and Airbus agreed on the modified purchase order that was approved by the court shortly thereafter).
AA has repeatedly listed on its 2013 fleet plan (included in each quarterly earnings report) that it anticipates having five A321s flying in the fouth quarter of 2013, along with 15 A319s. From other press releases and announcements, it is clear that the A321Ts will be delivered prior to the A321S non-transcon models (they begin delivery in mid-to-late 2014).
Additionally, the fleet plan shows planned retirements of three additional 762s in the fourth quarter, which will leave AA with just nine operating 762s by 12/31/13.
IIRC, the Airbus order didn't show up on the Airbus website in 2011 as AA and Airbus were still finalizing the terms when AA filed its Ch 11 petition, and thus AA wasn't on the hook before it filed for bankruptcy protection. Makes sense that Airbus wouldn't show the AA order for 130 as firm orders prior to AA signing the agreement.
Originally Posted by
carlosdca
I think AA's 777-300s and AA's 787s have never appeared in the order lists either? Someone explained why before.
The 77Ws are shown on the Boeing website as pending orders and have been for several months. The 787s showed up early this year when the bankruptcy court approved AA's plane and engine orders.
Originally Posted by
TheBOSman
It was I believe due to needing approval from the pilot unions for work rules relating to the aircraft. Please note people, I said "I believe", not "I'm certain"
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Close - AA's purchase agreement for the 787s (signed in 2008) gave AA a unilateral right to cancel the order if it did not reach a satisfactory pilot contract. Accordingly, from AA's perspective, it had a firm order for 787s. Boeing had no right to cancel, so AA could hold Boeing to its obligations.
From Boeing's perspective, it could not publicly claim that it had a firm order from AA (when your customer has a unilateral right to cancel the order, you probably shouldn't disclose the order to your investors).