shogan1977

Apologies if a threat on this topic already exists. If so, mods please feel free to move or delete as appropriate.

Is there any information regarding expected delivery schedule for AAs 787 orders?

FWAAA

Latest word from AA was sometime in 2014, and Boeing recently pushed back the expected delivery of the first 787-9 to early 2014:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...541613988.html

Air New Zealand is first in line for a 787-9 with AA close behind.

shogan1977

That's a long time from now

jspira

No firm schedule announced and it seems subject to change, just like the orders for all of the new 738 and A320 orders are subject to change.

Some of the discussion in this article - Exclusive Interview: American Airlines Officials Discuss Boeing, Airbus Deal - might be helpful as background.

zman

Not one 787-9 has been built to date, never mind flown.

FWAAA

Exactly. I'd bet the first 787 won't actually be delivered until 2015 or 2016.

AA is probably in line for continuing compensation from Boeing's failure to have these ready by 2012, as AA's initial order specified.

Recently I speculated that AA's 777-323s may be part of Boeing's compensation package to AA. Nearly every plane scheduled for future delivery has been financed except for next year's 77Ws. Hmmmmmmmm. Wonder if Boeing will finance these at a very favorable rate? Perhaps they'll be leased for a nominal sum?

saltytheseagull

There might be some qualified pilots by then.

Stripy

I'm just a casual observer so didn't know much about the original delivery schedule or the fact that they haven't even built a 787-9 yet....but this does beg the question....why were so many people surprised and/or angry that AA chose to give a large part of it's recent order to Airbus? Until Boeing get this somewhat dismal performance issue sorted out and behind them surely every airline will think twice before going anywhere near them with an order for new planes.

PHL

Because the airbus deal is for narrowbodies, which are proven designs(save for the NEO variant). The A350, Airbus' answer to the 787, hasn't even seen the outside of the factory yet...

JDiver

The same was true with the 737-MAX with CFM International LEAP-1B engines with 68.1 in (173 cm) fan diameter; customers had requested such an aircraft for some time, and it was apparently AA who pushed them to announce the MAX - but it is entirely a paper airplane, and the A320 NEO has been under development for long enough to result in 1,029 aircraft ordered (including AA).

The 737MAX-823 may fly in 2017 at its earliest? The A320NEO with CFM International LEAP-X or the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines will probably be out a year earlier - but as you indicate, AA chose wisely, IMO also, to split the order given Boeing's 787 is quite late and the 787-9 has not even performed one test flight as yet. The 787-923 is yet some time away.

(And the relative commonality of the CFM engine products on 737MAX-823 and A320NE) will be useful for AA maintenance and spares stocking, probably.)

FWAAA

Part of my disappointment stemmed from the fact that the A320 family has proven to enjoy a substantially shorter service life than equivalent Boeing 737 models.

Additionally, adding the A320 family will cause an increase in costs for maintenance. It means a whole lot of duplication of spare parts and tooling. It's disappointing for the same reason I was disappointed when Neeleman at B6 ordered the 190s - it increased costs needlessly (incidentally, B6 has canceled its future 190 orders and has sold some of them).

Further, it surprised me that AA would order 260 Airbus narrowbodies as the tenth anniversary of the flight 587 disaster approached (yesterday) given the way Airbus pinned all the blame on the AA pilots.

Lastly, it disappointed me because AA could have forced Boeing to design a new 737 that would be an even more efficient plane than the re-engined 737 that AA insisted on ordering. Had AA demanded that Boeing re-design the 737 and held out the possibility of a 500 plane order over the next 15-20 years, Boeing might have come up with a more efficient plane than the A320NEOs that AA will be stuck with.

The only upside is that the A320 is six inches wider than the Boeings and thus could be outfitted with 18 inch seats instead of 17 inch like on AA's Boeings. Other than that, yes, I was disappointed.

greybeardy

Airbus recently announced a 6-month delay of the A350 program. There will probably be more to come.

NA-Flyer

I heard a rumor that AA will deploy the new 787 on the non stop Hawaii routes out of DFW and ORD.

PHL

That seems a bit overkill. The plane will certainly have the latest in cabin comfort and technology. Why put it on a low yielding route when it's capable of generating better margins on something more like DFW-SYD (that's an example...not a rumored route).

FWAAA

Your facetious-post detector needs adjustment.