Good morning!
We wanted to take a minute to share some exciting news with you! As many of you have already speculated, American Airlines has placed an order for 460 narrowbody planes from Boeing & Airbus. This marks the largest aircraft purchase in history, and we’re excited to start serving you aboard the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleet among our US airline peers within approximately the next five years.
We’ll be livestreaming the press conference with CEO Gerard Arpey at 10am CT on the American Airlines Facebook page. Be sure to join us here:
http://on.fb.me/AASTREAM
For the full press release, click here:
http://bit.ly/AAFLEET1
MODERATOR NOTE
ty97 posted some essentials in the speculation thread, reproduced here for members:
Press Release:
http://aa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=3284
AMR Corporation Announces Landmark Fleet Agreements with Boeing and Airbus to Transform American's Narrowbody Fleet
AMR today announced landmark agreements with Boeing and Airbus that will enable it to transform American's narrowbody fleet. These new aircraft will allow American to reduce its operating and fuel costs and deliver a broad range of state-of-the-art amenities to customers, while maximizing the Company's financial flexibility.
Under the new agreements, American will acquire 460 narrowbody aircraft from the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families beginning in 2013 -- the largest aircraft order in aviation history. As part of these agreements, starting in 2017 American will become the first U.S. network airline to begin taking delivery of "next generation" narrowbody aircraft that will further accelerate fuel-efficiency gains.
These new deliveries are expected to pave the way for American to have the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleet among its U.S. airline peers in approximately five years. American also will benefit from approximately $13 billion of committed financing from the manufacturers through lease transactions that will help maximize balance sheet flexibility and reduce risk. The financing fully covers the first 230 deliveries. (AMR provided additional details in a separate news release issued this morning. Please refer to that release for more details).
In addition, American now has eight Boeing 777-300ERs that are scheduled for delivery in 2012 and 2013, including three additional aircraft for which options were recently exercised. These 777-300ERs will complement American's fleet, offering additional network flexibility, and providing increased efficiency due to better seat mile economics and performance characteristics.