Why did AA sell their Airbus A330's?
#16
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The A332s were leased from AerCap (nee ILFC). I think the A333s were owned, but I can't be sure.
I think AA are on record on earnings calls as saying the fleet strategy was to get rid of mini fleets like the A330s, I'm nearly certain they were planning these retirements pre COVID too.
Big loss for the Y PaxEx for sure, you just can't beat 2-4-2 over the Atlantic. Those MCE's on the RHS of the A332s were the best long haul economy seats in the fleet imo.
I think AA are on record on earnings calls as saying the fleet strategy was to get rid of mini fleets like the A330s, I'm nearly certain they were planning these retirements pre COVID too.
Big loss for the Y PaxEx for sure, you just can't beat 2-4-2 over the Atlantic. Those MCE's on the RHS of the A332s were the best long haul economy seats in the fleet imo.
#17
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Major disruptions to global travel have always been catalysts for airlines to say "sayonara" to subfleets that had upcoming exit dates more quickly than they otherwise would have. If you remember back to 9/11, US Airways had a large number of F-100s, 737-200s and MD-80s in its fleet. The 737s were parked basically immediately, the F-100 and the MD-80 exit schedules were sped up.
American did the same with their MD-11s.
The A330-300s had crew commonality with the A-330-200s which allowed for cross-crewing. But the vintages were quite different with the -300s being delivered between 2000 and 2001. The -200s were delivered from 2009 and 2014. They also had different engines so there was air frame commonality but not powerplant commonality. With the 9 -300s gone by end of 2022 or 2023 (then pushed up), the economic case for retaining all the parts and tooling and simulator equipment and pilot certifications/type ratings for 15 -200s became harder to justify. In addition, in terms of seat count and profile, the 787-8 is close match for the A-330-200. The 787-9 is a closer match for the A-330-300 but has much, much longer range.
American did the same with their MD-11s.
The A330-300s had crew commonality with the A-330-200s which allowed for cross-crewing. But the vintages were quite different with the -300s being delivered between 2000 and 2001. The -200s were delivered from 2009 and 2014. They also had different engines so there was air frame commonality but not powerplant commonality. With the 9 -300s gone by end of 2022 or 2023 (then pushed up), the economic case for retaining all the parts and tooling and simulator equipment and pilot certifications/type ratings for 15 -200s became harder to justify. In addition, in terms of seat count and profile, the 787-8 is close match for the A-330-200. The 787-9 is a closer match for the A-330-300 but has much, much longer range.
Last edited by IADCAflyer; May 2, 2021 at 12:51 pm
#18
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The 333s were in pretty pathetic shape with a pathetic and tacky product by the end. My July 2019 flight on one was one of the least enjoyable J experiences I’ve had in the last decade. Crew was terrible too.
a far cry from their original introduction when they had a 6 seat international F cabin under management that wanted F and J to Europe to be equivalent to BA standards. Caymus was the standard red as I recall.
a far cry from their original introduction when they had a 6 seat international F cabin under management that wanted F and J to Europe to be equivalent to BA standards. Caymus was the standard red as I recall.
#19
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I don’t like they getting rid of A330 aircraft. They want keep it for a little bit longer. I think Delta likely to acquired A330 from American Airlines. This could be better works.
#20
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US Airways was the first U.S.-flag carrier to offer lie-flat and all-aisle access in the business cabin, in a 1-2-1 configuration. At the time of the AA-US merger, AA's business product was still recliner seats, in a 2-3-2 configuration.
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Not entirely accurate. By the time of the merger AA already had a number of 77Ws in the fleet equipped with the J seats they currently offer. The 772s and 767s had the older angle-flat J seats though keep in mind the 772s also had sizable F cabins with 1-2-1. The recliners were all long gone many years before the merger.
#22
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The envoy suites on the A330 are the reverse herringbone seats, way better than the zodiac "rockin" chairs on AA's 788 and half of 772. LAA was the one had the featureless 752 and 763 aka no in seat PTV and instead hand out ipads and collect them two hours before landing
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this was before US merged with AW?
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#25
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#26
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The 220 is a better replacement for a 73G or 319 as it's considerably larger than a CR9. AA realistically should start phasing out some of the older 319s and replace them with 220s to remain ahead of the shifting aircraft dynamic. The 319 offers little to nothing that the 220 doesn't.
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Major disruptions to global travel have always been catalysts for airlines to say "sayonara" to subfleets that had upcoming exit dates more quickly than they otherwise would have. If you remember back to 9/11, US Airways had a large number of F-100s, 737-200s and MD-80s in its fleet. The 737s were parked basically immediately, the F-100 and the MD-80 exit schedules were sped up.
American did the same with their MD-11s.
American did the same with their MD-11s.
You should remember at one point AA had to lease DC10-30ER to sub for M11 for DFW-NRT as the performance on range of M11 was so bad when they were first delivered
Last edited by ORDnHKG; May 3, 2021 at 10:19 am
#28
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Not entirely accurate. By the time of the merger AA already had a number of 77Ws in the fleet equipped with the J seats they currently offer. The 772s and 767s had the older angle-flat J seats though keep in mind the 772s also had sizable F cabins with 1-2-1. The recliners were all long gone many years before the merger.
#29
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The 220 is a better replacement for a 73G or 319 as it's considerably larger than a CR9. AA realistically should start phasing out some of the older 319s and replace them with 220s to remain ahead of the shifting aircraft dynamic. The 319 offers little to nothing that the 220 doesn't.
In any event, AA -had- a small aircraft fleet: the E-190s. AA parked them owing to COVID.
#30
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AA is all about fleet simplification. This is an approach that has been highly successful at Southwest, and AA is really way ahead of Delta and United on that front. If AA sees an opportunity in the A220 space, there are better choices for AA based on staying with the current fleet rationalization. Southwest faced this decision point and went with the Max-7. With AA as the largest A320 series operator in the world, the 319 NEO might also be a viable choice.
Last edited by ksweeney; May 3, 2021 at 12:19 pm Reason: Corrected 319 NEO