American Airlines has made a big buy in jetliners both to increase its fleet and as replacements for older planes; the order is split three ways among three manufacturers and three aircraft models.
American is getting 260 planes: 85 Airbus A321neo, 85 Boeing 737Max-10 and 90 Embraer E175 regional jets, which will be operated by its regional subsidiaries, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA under the American Eagle brand.
For a sense of how big the orders are, American already has 980 mainline planes; the 170 represent 17.5% of that, although they will not all be added as older planes are retired. On the American Eagle side, the 90 orders are for a fleet that presently has 357 planes, or 25%. The order for the 76-seat E175s likely means the end of the line for AA's ERJ-145s, a 50-seater with no room for premium-priced seats.
The 737-10s, a model that is awaiting final certification by the FAA, will allow American to 'upgauge' on some routes by providing more seats without more flights, especially important at crowded or slot-controlled airports such as American's operations in New York and Washington, DC.
In addition to the new orders, American is converting 30 737-8 orders already in the pipeline to the larger model, and taking options on another 75. The Embraer order also includes options for another 43 planes.
Image: Quintin Soloviev/Wikimedia Commons
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