Originally Posted by
kappa
Would that be in addition to the 772 order?
Don't know. My WAG is that they will be converted to 77Ws.
The truly surprising thing for me is that this strategy represents a reversal of the Crandall-era philosophy that smaller planes generally make more sense than the largest planes. 777-300s are essentially a two-engined 747 (capacity-wise), and I didn't think AA would ever fly anything that large again.
As to additional 77W orders: Except for the 747SPs acquired to permit AA to fly DFW-NRT while it waited for the MD-11s, AA has never flown a fleet of just two or three airplanes. That's why I'm certain the three orders will be joined by more in the coming months.
Then again, I might be completely wrong. A while back (after last summer's 738 orders) I predicted that AA would order several dozen additional 738s and so far, that hasn't happened. With jet fuel prices well north of $3/gal today, each MD-80 represents an additional $2.4 million of fuel burned per year on average compared to a new 738 (AA's numbers). At today's prices, AA's present fleet of MD-80s will burn an extra half billion dollars of fuel this year over an equivalent fleet of 738s. Years ago, when NW refurbished its fleet of DC-9s instead of replacing them, fuel cost about 20% of its price today. Old fuel guzzlers made economic sense when fuel was practically free but not when it's $3/gal.