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Old Aug 28, 2017, 9:07 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
The 27JAN17 investor update included AA's Fleet Plan for 2017. Changes have been made since that.

For 2017, the plan was:

* MAINLINE DELIVERIES (+58) *

- 20 Airbus A321: +8 Q1, +7 Q2, +5 Q3,
- 20 Boeing 737-800: +5 Q1, +5 Q2, +5 Q3, +5 Q4
- 5 Boeing 737 Max: +1 Q3, +4 Q4
- 3 Boeing 787-8: +2 Q1, +1 Q2
- 10 Boeing 787-9: +2 Q1, +2 Q2, +3 Q3, +3 Q4

* MAINLINE RETIREMENTS (-56) *

- 5 Airbus A320: -1 Q1, -2 Q2, -1 Q3, -1 Q4
- 17 Boeing 757-200: -12 Q3, -5 Q4
- 9 Boeing 767-300ER: -1 Q2, -4 Q3, -4 Q4
- 25 MD-80: -5 Q1, -20 Q3

* MAINLINE FLEET COUNT AT YE2017 * (projected)

- 319 = 125
- 320 = 46 (-5)
- 321 = 219 (+20)
- 332 = 15
- 333 = 9
- 738 = 304 (+20)
- 738M = 5 (+5)
- 752 = 34 (-17)
- 763 = 22 (-9)
- 772 = 47
- 77W = 20
- 788 = 20 (+3)
- 789 = 14 (+10)
- E90 = 20
- S80 = 32 (-25)
- Total = 931 (+1)


* REGIONAL DELIVERIES (+31) *

- 19 CRJ-700: +9 Q1, +7 Q2, +3 Q3
- 12 E-175: +3 Q1, +6 Q2, +3 Q3

* REGIONAL RETIREMENTS (-55) *

- 23 CRJ-200: -20 Q1, -2 Q2, -1 Q3
- 19 Dash 8-100: -8 Q1, -3 Q2, -4 Q3, -4 Q4
- 13 ERJ-140: -13 Q1

* REGIONAL FLEET COUNT AT YE2017 *

- CR2 = 97 (-23)
- CR7 = 98 (+19)
- CR9 = 118
- DH1 = 4 (-19)
- DH3 = 11
- E75 = 136 (+12)
- ERD = 0 (-13)
- ER4 = 118
- Total = 582 (-24)

For perspective, Hector Adler's full May 2016 missive:

Code:
Hector Adler 
 Vice President Flight Service 
 
 May 13, 2016 
 
 Dear Colleagues, 
 
 We would like to tell you about some fleet changes American has planned 
 over the next several years. We are sharing this information now in order 
 to keep you apprised well in advance of those things that may affect your 
 decisions down the road. Now is the right time to make changes that will 
 help keep our flying in line with demand and put the right plane on the 
 right route. Over the next few years, American will be phasing out Embraer 
 E190s and Airbus A330-300s, and accelerating retirements of Boeing B767s. 
 
 Here are the planned changes for each fleet type: 
 
 Embraer E190 
 
 American plans to phase out our E190s by the end of 2019. Scott Kirby 
 has said since the merger that eventually we would either need to 
 increase this fleet or phase it out. The E190s have some expensive 
 maintenance scheduled in the near future, so it makes sense to phase 
 them out of the fleet in 2019. 
 
 Some key points on the E190: 
 
 • Today, these 20 aircraft primarily fly on the American Shuttle. The Shuttle 
 isn’t going away. It’s a great product for our customers, and we want to 
 keep their business. 
 • Because we are still several years away, we haven’t decided which aircraft 
 will fly the Shuttle. But we will maintain the mix of mainline/regional Shuttle 
 flying per the APA contract. 
 • The E190 is the only active fleet type in pay band Group I of the APA 
 contract. After retiring our E190s, new hire pilots will train to fly Group II 
 aircraft in the future. 
 
 Airbus A330-300 
 
 This is an aircraft that has served US Airways well. But we only have nine 
 of them and, again, smaller fleets can be pricey to maintain. Their Pratt & 
 Whitney PW4168 engine is unique in our fleet, adding maintenance 
 complexity and expense for such a small number of aircraft. With a 
 seat count of 291, it’s duplicative of B777-200ERs, which are being 
 retrofitted to 289 seats. 
 
 • A330-300 retirements begin in 2017 and will be done by the end of 2018. 
 
 • A330 pilots are qualified on both the -200 and -300. 
 
 • Flight attendants will be offered training in advance of the B777-200ER 
 being introduced in designated markets. 
 
 • No changes are planned for our 15 A330-200s. 
 
 Boeing B767 
 
 As you know, we have been retiring B767s. Our first B767s were delivered 
 in 1988 and at times, this type has been a challenge for our international 
 reliability. We have 40 today. Our previous plan had been to draw down 
 this fleet to 25 aircraft by the end of 2017. We will now retire an additional 
 eight aircraft in 2018, leaving us with the 17 youngest aircraft in this fleet, 
 which have all been retrofitted with fully lie-flat seats in Business Class. 
 
 Our fleet is experiencing transformational change. Fast. American is taking 
 delivery of a new mainline aircraft every seven days and by 2017, the 
 average age of our aircraft will be less than 10 years old. That’s the 
 youngest of the U.S. network carriers (and some others, too). In fact, 
 in 2015 we took delivery of more new planes than any airline in the world, 
 and there are more on the way. We have an order book that includes 
 new B737s, the B737 MAX, more A321s, A321neos and (on the widebody 
 side) B787-8s and B787-9s arriving this year and A350s next year. 
 
 Pilots qualified on these aircraft will have plenty of time to go through necessary 
 training and adjust to our new fleet lineup. Flight attendants are either cross-
 qualified or will be able to train on new aircraft in advance. 
 
 We’re making these changes at a great time for our airline and our fleet. 
 Customer demand and profits are both strong, and with so many new planes 
 on the way – both narrowbodies and widebodies – opportunities continue 
 to be plentiful. 
 
 Please reach out to your Chief Pilot, Flight Service Manager, Base Manager 
 or us with any questions. 
 
 Best regards, 
 Hector Adler, etc. etc.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 8:54 am
  #16  
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I think the best news with this fleet plan is the reduction of CR2s. Hopefully this will be a trend at AA for the next several years.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:14 am
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Originally Posted by golfingboy
I think the best news with this fleet plan is the reduction of CR2s. Hopefully this will be a trend at AA for the next several years.
I am surprised how many CR2's there are compared to the E145's.

Wasn't the plan to get rid of the E90's? Is there a planned retirement date for them.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:20 am
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Originally Posted by golfingboy
I think the best news with this fleet plan is the reduction of CR2s. Hopefully this will be a trend at AA for the next several years.
This. x100.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:24 am
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Originally Posted by CG17
Ive heard pilots say for years that if they needed the power compensate for a short runway or powering over a mountain, the 757s would be their plane of choice. That said, I too welcome the 321s, as I prefer the Airbus' over Boeings
Bingo. I get that people love the interiors of the A321 (who wouldn't) but put that interior in a 75---now that would be awesome. Get yourself into a rough ride, and the 757 will handle it better than ANY AIRCRAFT. Such a smooth flying bird.....

Ask anyone who has ever flown her and they will tell you, flare even a LITTLE bit too much and that ..... will float down the runway and onward FOREVER----you either need a shot gun to the wings or the dreaded "power back" to get her down (aka, BAM, we just landed). Amazing lift capabilities for a single aisle jet.

Like a typical member around here, I just completely derailed this thread OT, sorry OP.

~TG
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:33 am
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Originally Posted by kpfleming
I say good riddance to the 752s and welcome the 321s. Sitting on a 321T now and it's worlds better than a 757 could ever hope to be.
Those will be domestic 321S replacing domestic 757 I'm pretty sure -- the international 757s are sticking around. Not 321T.

I view this as a major downgrade (similar to the reduction of the Super 80s--16F S80 to 8F A319). We are loosing the old style F seat too (more padding/comfort) and a higher F/Y ratio.

LAA domestic 757 has 22 or 24 F seats
321S 'sharklets' 16 F with similar capacity. The 'new AA' aka 'old HP minus consistently good cabin crews.'

The ratio of F/Y is going to continue to push down upgrade potentials. The thinning of the elites with EQD may help for EXP.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:39 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by KBMIFlyer
I am surprised how many CR2's there are compared to the E145's.

Wasn't the plan to get rid of the E90's? Is there a planned retirement date for them.
Yes, that isn't until 2019 though.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by travelgeek1197
Bingo. I get that people love the interiors of the A321 (who wouldn't) but put that interior in a 75---now that would be awesome. Get yourself into a rough ride, and the 757 will handle it better than ANY AIRCRAFT. Such a smooth flying bird.....

Ask anyone who has ever flown her and they will tell you, flare even a LITTLE bit too much and that ..... will float down the runway and onward FOREVER----you either need a shot gun to the wings or the dreaded "power back" to get her down (aka, BAM, we just landed). Amazing lift capabilities for a single aisle jet.

Like a typical member around here, I just completely derailed this thread OT, sorry OP.

~TG
+1 ... DL is doing this with their 757s -- my brother was just on one last month and his comment was -- wow I always hated AAs but DLs were very nice -- New bin style and everything.

Also I'll put forward an alternate opinion to all the A319/20/21 series love here. I really dislike riding on them -- the way the flight controls rock the plane subtly but noticeably L/R in level flight is something that really bothers me and is something I never notice on the Super 80s or 737s. Best I can describe is a slight boat rocking motion but left right instead of fore-aft.

Last edited by schertz; Feb 8, 2017 at 9:47 am Reason: Typo
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:51 am
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Originally Posted by weirdlyndon
Of the 321s being delivered, are they all in 321S/321H configuration? Any towards 321T?

And as an aside, how many 321T dedicated aircraft are there in the fleet?
All 321 delivered for a while now have been the 321S/H variety, with no plans on additional 321Ts. AA actually has a little slack in the 321T subfleet which allows them to utilize them for quick turns like JFK-BOS sometimes. I don't know the exact number of 321Ts in the fleet, but I think it's at most 20, possibly less.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 9:58 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by kpfleming
I have award tickets booked in March, JFK-LAX-HNL in J on 321Ts. Originally these were JFK-LAX-LIH, also on 321Ts, but then AA dropped the LAX-LIH flights from the schedule, and rebooked us in F on JFK-PHX-LIH... on 738s. No joke. I called and had the destination airport changed to HNL, then purchased HNL-LIH roundtrip tickets on Hawaiian, because 12+ hours in a 738 is not my idea of a good way to start (or end) a vacation
And your PHX-LIH was not on a 738 -- it would have been on a 757! If you are going to complain, get your facts straight.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:05 am
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Originally Posted by ty97
All 321 delivered for a while now have been the 321S/H variety, with no plans on additional 321Ts. AA actually has a little slack in the 321T subfleet which allows them to utilize them for quick turns like JFK-BOS sometimes. I don't know the exact number of 321Ts in the fleet, but I think it's at most 20, possibly less.
17 last I looked.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:25 am
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* MAINLINE RETIREMENTS (-56) *

- 17 Boeing 757-200: -12 Q3, -5 Q4

Anyway to know how many of the retiring 757s are domestic and how many are international? I don't mind 3 or so hours in a domestic 757, but it's a tough 7-8 hours (DFW-LIM) in that old 75L.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:31 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by kpfleming
I have award tickets booked in March, JFK-LAX-HNL in J on 321Ts. Originally these were JFK-LAX-LIH, also on 321Ts, but then AA dropped the LAX-LIH flights from the schedule, and rebooked us in F on JFK-PHX-LIH... on 738s. No joke. I called and had the destination airport changed to HNL, then purchased HNL-LIH roundtrip tickets on Hawaiian, because 12+ hours in a 738 is not my idea of a good way to start (or end) a vacation
No. The A321H flies to Hawaii, essentially an A321S two class certified ETOPS.

No again. AA has no 737-800s certified for ETOPS; you were going to be on a 757.


Originally Posted by PHLGovFlyer
It does put an interesting question on the table about what they'll do with the PHX-Hawaii and Northeast U.S.-Europe flights that currently use the 752s. Cutting the fleet in half without equally capable aircraft arriving is going to make things "interesting".
Most of the 757s are slated to be replaced by A321neos, iirc.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:43 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by kpfleming
I say good riddance to the 752s and welcome the 321s. Sitting on a 321T now and it's worlds better than a 757 could ever hope to be.
I do feel bad about 757. 757 is good aircraft and all those complaints about 757s has nothing to do with 757 as aircraft, but about how poorly AA has maintained the interior of 757. I remember when AA had a plan to completely refurbish interior of 757s but that was postponed or maybe later the plan was cancelled or modified. Flew LAX-BOS a lot back then on 757s and seat cushions were worn out on many of their seats. Often felt like I was sitting directly on a metal frame of the seat, and was not comfortable for five plus hours flight.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:53 am
  #29  
 
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Aren't the 757's going simply due to how much fuel they burn?

The pilots consider them sports cars, and love them for their over-sized engines. But in the age of squeezing everything possible on fuel economy, they're on the way out.
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Old Feb 8, 2017, 10:54 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by BillBurn
From the AA Press release on the 737Max interiors:



So it looks like all the A321s and 737-800s coming this year will have Power and seatback entertainment and I am pretty sure they will all have MCE as well, so fortunately it doesn't look like they will adding any aircraft in the LUS configuration.

I agree with you that those planes are awful and I try to go out of my way not to fly them, but now that they are mixing the fleets it's a lot harder.
There's a separate announcement, that came out later, that says the 737 Max airplanes will NOT have seatback entertainment, just Wi-Fi to stream to your personal devices.

It saves AA a lot of money and weight to remove all those screens.
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