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Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

graham697 wrote:

Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

AMEN! 2021 has got to be better!

graham697 wrote:

Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

AMEN to that.... I'm ready to return to work

Happy New Year and a return to a sky full of beautiful Aircraft!

Good luck in 2021, American Airlines fleet

#AmericanAirlines became the first US airline to resume commercial flights on the #737MAX

#American also took delivery of 3 more #737MAX8 aircraft, N324SH ship 3SH, N326SJ, ship 3SJ, and N327SK ship 3SK and 3SL scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Currently 33 of 100 delivered

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJctcpch5hS/

Detroit313 wrote:

#AmericanAirlines became the first US airline to resume commercial flights on the #737MAX

#American also took delivery of 3 more #737MAX8 aircraft, N324SH ship 3SH, N326SJ, ship 3SJ, and N327SK ship 3SK and 3SL scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Currently 33 of 100 delivered

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJctcpch5hS/

Acft N329SL is enroute to TUL. This is the 10th 737MAX8 delivered to AA in Dec 2020.

anymaninfc wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

#AmericanAirlines became the first US airline to resume commercial flights on the #737MAX

#American also took delivery of 3 more #737MAX8 aircraft, N324SH ship 3SH, N326SJ, ship 3SJ, and N327SK ship 3SK and 3SL scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Currently 33 of 100 delivered

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJctcpch5hS/

Acft N329SL is enroute to TUL. This is the 10th 737MAX8 delivered to AA in Dec 2020.

Wow! What a December! So, up to 35 now.

Glad to see the Max getting on property in a timely fashion after being given the green light.

Here is to a great 2021!!!

I guess with so many MAXs arriving so quickly AA will probably retire the 737s from 1999-2000.

Detroit313 wrote:

I guess with so many MAXs arriving so quickly AA will probably retire the 737s from 1999-2000.

In the 2020 thread it came up how AA is only Kodiak'ing 29 of the original batch of 738s so those that aren't going to get Kodiak'ed likely won't return from ROW or will exit in the 1Q if they have been flying this whole time.

Granted this is long-term, but I do wonder if internally they have started a discussion on what will replace the L-US A319 fleet. The majority of the fleet is over 20 years old now (first plane was delivered in 1998 IIRC) and has the smallest capacity of any plane in the fleet, so it cannot be easily replaced.

I wonder if the strategy is just to continuously pick up used A319s that are slightly younger and refurb them, or if they would ever be interested in say the A220.

graham697 wrote:

Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

I'm interested to see if carriers (U.S. generally, but also AA specifically) return all aircraft to service at significantly reduced utilization, or if they seek to boost utilization back to 2019 norms and return aircraft only really as needed.

USAirALB wrote:

Granted this is long-term, but I do wonder if internally they have started a discussion on what will replace the L-US A319 fleet. The majority of the fleet is over 20 years old now (first plane was delivered in 1998 IIRC) and has the smallest capacity of any plane in the fleet, so it cannot be easily replaced.

I wonder if the strategy is just to continuously pick up used A319s that are slightly younger and refurb them, or if they would ever be interested in say the A220.

There are no plans to retire or replace the LUS 319s. Before Covid AA had been kicking the tires are getting more used A319s, even had talks with AS to acquire some of those buses. And with Covid there are 17 319s temporarily parked. AA has deferred new planes and won’t spend large sums to buy new planes. AA has been adding larger narrow bodies, not small.

Boof02671 wrote:

USAirALB wrote:

Granted this is long-term, but I do wonder if internally they have started a discussion on what will replace the L-US A319 fleet. The majority of the fleet is over 20 years old now (first plane was delivered in 1998 IIRC) and has the smallest capacity of any plane in the fleet, so it cannot be easily replaced.

I wonder if the strategy is just to continuously pick up used A319s that are slightly younger and refurb them, or if they would ever be interested in say the A220.

There are no plans to retire or replace the LUS 319s. Before Covid AA had been kicking the tires are getting more used A319s, even had talks with AS to acquire some of those buses. And with Covid there are 17 319s temporarily parked. AA has deferred new planes and won’t spend large sums to buy new planes. AA has been adding larger narrow bodies, not small.

AA has some legacy Frontier A319's in the fleet, if I am not mistaken. Just a handful. The rest are LUS and new builds.

anymaninfc wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

#AmericanAirlines became the first US airline to resume commercial flights on the #737MAX

#American also took delivery of 3 more #737MAX8 aircraft, N324SH ship 3SH, N326SJ, ship 3SJ, and N327SK ship 3SK and 3SL scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Currently 33 of 100 delivered

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJctcpch5hS/

Acft N329SL is enroute to TUL. This is the 10th 737MAX8 delivered to AA in Dec 2020.

This is what I have as of 10DEC20 (per FR24) - all ferry flights AA9825 unless otherwise noted:

10DEC20: N323SG
14DEC20: N318SF
15DEC20: N316SE
16DEC20: N315SD
21DEC20: N339SU
23DEC20: N378SC
28DEC20: N324SH
30DEC20: N326SJ (AA9826)
30DEC20: N327SK
31DEC20: N329SL

ContinentalEWR wrote:

Boof02671 wrote:

USAirALB wrote:

Granted this is long-term, but I do wonder if internally they have started a discussion on what will replace the L-US A319 fleet. The majority of the fleet is over 20 years old now (first plane was delivered in 1998 IIRC) and has the smallest capacity of any plane in the fleet, so it cannot be easily replaced.

I wonder if the strategy is just to continuously pick up used A319s that are slightly younger and refurb them, or if they would ever be interested in say the A220.

There are no plans to retire or replace the LUS 319s. Before Covid AA had been kicking the tires are getting more used A319s, even had talks with AS to acquire some of those buses. And with Covid there are 17 319s temporarily parked. AA has deferred new planes and won’t spend large sums to buy new planes. AA has been adding larger narrow bodies, not small.

AA has some legacy Frontier A319's in the fleet, if I am not mistaken. Just a handful. The rest are LUS and new builds.

10 Frontier that were added their tail numbers end with XF. Yep I was at US and was a trainer when we got the Airbus. 700 and 701 were the first two. AA was in negotiations with AS for the 10 319s they inherited from VX.

Have the Frontier A319s been retrofitted with closets? On the LUS 319s the crew uses bins in F to stow their gear and unless you're the first one or two F paxs down the jet bridge you often find no space for bags.

Miamiairport wrote:

Have the Frontier A319s been retrofitted with closets? On the LUS 319s the crew uses bins in F to stow their gear and unless you're the first one or two F paxs down the jet bridge you often find no space for bags.

All the former F9 319s were converted to AA interiors.

More specifically, I believe they match the LUS A319s interior, not the LAA A319 interior.

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graham697 wrote:

Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

Don't mean to be a wet blanket, but the virus is getting worse. I don't see recovery in 2021. More aircraft deliveries deferred, more layoffs and when the latest infusion of cash from Washington runs out at the end of March, it gets worse. Another point is that with all the layoffs, fewer people have disposable income for air travel. This is bigger than 9-11 or the 2008 Wall street meltdown.
Again I hope like everybody else that things improve, but I am a realist. I call em like I see's em.

airlineworker wrote:

graham697 wrote:

Here's to hoping the remaining fleet remains strong and all go back to full schedules in 2021! Happy NYE!

Don't mean to be a wet blanket, but the virus is getting worse. I don't see recovery in 2021. More aircraft deliveries deferred, more layoffs and when the latest infusion of cash from Washington runs out at the end of March, it gets worse. Another point is that with all the layoffs, fewer people have disposable income for air travel. This is bigger than 9-11 or the 2008 Wall street meltdown.
Again I hope like everybody else that things improve, but I am a realist. I call em like I see's em.

Massive vaccination is already under way. It is expected to ramp up massively in the coming weeks. Let’s hope that takes care of the virus.

I agree with airline worker, significant increase in case counts and deaths (USA view), but Japan has just closed its borders to non-citizens on concerns about the new strains. Significant restrictions in Europe for the same reason. Best outcome for 2021: a first half (or so) that is a lot like the second half of 2020 and an improving second half.

To Avi8 -- in the US, vaccinations are moving very SLOWLY -- currently around 20% of much ballyhooed target of 20 million doses before year-end. Not a good harbinger and not massive. It is unclear how this will play out in the coming weeks as additional cases start to show up after a very undisciplined Christmas holiday.

Having said all that -- happy to see Maxes being delivered and put to use.

tootallsd wrote:

I agree with airline worker, significant increase in case counts and deaths (USA view), but Japan has just closed its borders to non-citizens on concerns about the new strains. Significant restrictions in Europe for the same reason. Best outcome for 2021: a first half (or so) that is a lot like the second half of 2020 and an improving second half.

To Avi8 -- in the US, vaccinations are moving very SLOWLY -- currently around 20% of much ballyhooed target of 20 million doses before year-end. Not a good harbinger and not massive. It is unclear how this will play out in the coming weeks as additional cases start to show up after a very undisciplined Christmas holiday.

Having said all that -- happy to see Maxes being delivered and put to use.

Very well put , tootallsd. I think, sadly, I’ll have to agree. Let’s hope vaccination gets better and that people choose to behave more responsibly.

Happy new year to all.

A320 N649AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N649AW

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N649AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N649AW

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

Detroit313 wrote:

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N649AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N649AW

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

There were always 4 planned to be retired in 2021 as part of the regular fleet plan (pre-COVID). Looks like they stuck to that plan albeit in January as opposed to the normal Aug retirement timeframe.

649 had been parked in GSO for a while under "short term storage".

Detroit313 wrote:

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N649AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N649AW

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

Old America West bird

A320 N654AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N654AW

Detroit313 wrote:

anymaninfc wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

#AmericanAirlines became the first US airline to resume commercial flights on the #737MAX

#American also took delivery of 3 more #737MAX8 aircraft, N324SH ship 3SH, N326SJ, ship 3SJ, and N327SK ship 3SK and 3SL scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Currently 33 of 100 delivered

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJctcpch5hS/

Acft N329SL is enroute to TUL. This is the 10th 737MAX8 delivered to AA in Dec 2020.

Wow! What a December! So, up to 35 now.

I believe it's 34, consisting of 24 prior deliveries and 10 new deliveries in December.

Wondering when B787-8, N873BB is going to be delivered.

AA N978AN 738 heading TUL-ROW lease return

First 738 to be returned ?

Boof02671 wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N649AW is en route from GSO to ROW for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N649AW

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

Old America West bird

All of AA's A320's are old. The 319 and 321 are considerably younger.

TTailedTiger wrote:

Boof02671 wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

Old America West bird

All of AA's A320's are old. The 319 and 321 are considerably younger.

The A320 fleet is mainly comprised of LUS jets, which were ordered in 1996 and deliveries began about a year or so later. The rest came from America West which merged with US in 2005. Some of the A319's are 1996-era vintage orders and others (LUS), some from HP, a subset were part of the AA order in 2011, and a handful were acquired from Frontier very recently. The 321s are a mix of LUS and LAA orders and yes, they are considerably younger.

The AA A320s though are perhaps a bit younger than their equivalents at UA, which came from a 1992 order for A320/A319s (some A319's were delivered in 2002 as part of a top up order at UA, and the rest were bought second hand from a mainland China carrier). The DL A320s are LNW birds, with deliveries that began I think in the late 1980s.

TTailedTiger wrote:

Boof02671 wrote:

Detroit313 wrote:

Wait, are they retiring 320s? They just added power and USB ports.

Old America West bird

All of AA's A320's are old. The 319 and 321 are considerably younger.

Not really true. The first A320s that were L-US acquisitions happened in 1998 - right about the time the first A-319s came around. It was all part of a big packge. There were some old HP birds, but they are all gone.

A320 N656AW ferried from GSO to ROW yesterday for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N656AW

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N656AW ferried from GSO to ROW yesterday for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N656AW

Another previous HP bird.

Boof02671 wrote:

jgcotter wrote:

A320 N656AW ferried from GSO to ROW yesterday for retirement.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N656AW

Another previous HP bird.

How many previous HP birds are left now in the system (of any type)?

washingtonflyer wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

Boof02671 wrote:

Old America West bird

All of AA's A320's are old. The 319 and 321 are considerably younger.

Not really true. The first A320s that were L-US acquisitions happened in 1998 - right about the time the first A-319s came around. It was all part of a big packge. There were some old HP birds, but they are all gone.

Indeed, as USAir rebranded to USAirways under Stephen Wolf (former CEO of UA) in late 1996, it placed a huge order for 400 Airbus aircraft. The order included A320, A319, and A330 aircraft. The first A320's and A319s were delivered around 1997 or 1998 as you say. The A330 deliveries began in 2000.

Deliveries started in 1998

https://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/US% ... y-a319.htm

I'm fairly certain the A320s are merely being parked for a lack of demand, not retired. Flying to Roswell used to mean retirement for American but they also do a considerable amount of parking there now.

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hagela wrote:

I'm fairly certain the A320s are merely being parked for a lack of demand, not retired. Flying to Roswell used to mean retirement for American but they also do a considerable amount of parking there now.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Last spring AA had talked about retiring the A320s but then domestic demand rebounded enough to keep them around. I believe a handful of them were set to be retired this year. Now if demand starts to slacken the A320s could certainly go given their relatively small numbers and in some cases more than 20 years old.

IIRC from the investor guidance, the plan since the merger has been to retire the A320s and replace them with the MAX, bracketed by additional (used) A319s on the low end and additional A321 NEOs on the high end of the NB fleet. With the MAX deliveries resuming it seems like they may be ready to start the A320 retirements again. Let’s see what happens.

Is it me or does AA seem to be in an odd position. They are seemingly going to be eliminating their A320s which have 150 seats and their smallest mainline jet has 128 seats.

So you go from Eagle E715s which have 76 seats to A319s which have 128 seats to 737s which will have 160 to 172 seats. Seems like there is a big set of gaps.

150 seats which is what the A320s currently fulfill and then the huge gap between 76 and 128 seats which the E190s fulfilled.

Is AA content with some fleet/route mismatches or do they plan for replacement aircraft for these gaps?

washingtonflyer wrote:

Is it me or does AA seem to be in an odd position. They are seemingly going to be eliminating their A320s which have 150 seats and their smallest mainline jet has 128 seats.

So you go from Eagle E715s which have 76 seats to A319s which have 128 seats to 737s which will have 160 to 172 seats. Seems like there is a big set of gaps.

150 seats which is what the A320s currently fulfill and then the huge gap between 76 and 128 seats which the E190s fulfilled.

Is AA content with some fleet/route mismatches or do they plan for replacement aircraft for these gaps?

AA can combat some of these gaps with frequency. 2x 175s is 152 seats, right in the slot between a 319 and a 738.

As for the 190, it is cheaper for AA to just throw a 319 on a 190 route than maintain the separate aircraft type and engine type. I’m a big fan of the 190, especially from a customer experience, but the operating costs aren’t that much different, and AA has shown a fondness for the 319.

washingtonflyer wrote:

Is it me or does AA seem to be in an odd position. They are seemingly going to be eliminating their A320s which have 150 seats and their smallest mainline jet has 128 seats.

So you go from Eagle E715s which have 76 seats to A319s which have 128 seats to 737s which will have 160 to 172 seats. Seems like there is a big set of gaps.

150 seats which is what the A320s currently fulfill and then the huge gap between 76 and 128 seats which the E190s fulfilled.

Is AA content with some fleet/route mismatches or do they plan for replacement aircraft for these gaps?

With AA having a large 737 MAX order still in place theoretically they could convert some to the 737-7 to offset future 319/320 retirements. It would also be able to handle routes deep into South America that can't support 787s. Boeing could offer a sweetheart deal to bolster the 737-7 orders.

JohanTally wrote:

washingtonflyer wrote:

Is it me or does AA seem to be in an odd position. They are seemingly going to be eliminating their A320s which have 150 seats and their smallest mainline jet has 128 seats.

So you go from Eagle E715s which have 76 seats to A319s which have 128 seats to 737s which will have 160 to 172 seats. Seems like there is a big set of gaps.

150 seats which is what the A320s currently fulfill and then the huge gap between 76 and 128 seats which the E190s fulfilled.

Is AA content with some fleet/route mismatches or do they plan for replacement aircraft for these gaps?

With AA having a large 737 MAX order still in place theoretically they could convert some to the 737-7 to offset future 319/320 retirements. It would also be able to handle routes deep into South America that can't support 787s. Boeing could offer a sweetheart deal to bolster the 737-7 orders.

That's so unlikely, and why would they convert MAX orders to NG 737-700s? (or do you mean the 737-MAX 7)? The MAX can fly the missions AA needs it to in South America where the 787 is too much plane (it also has a sub fleet of A319's that can do just that as well), and an order for A321XLR's as well.

ContinentalEWR wrote:

JohanTally wrote:

washingtonflyer wrote:

Is it me or does AA seem to be in an odd position. They are seemingly going to be eliminating their A320s which have 150 seats and their smallest mainline jet has 128 seats.

So you go from Eagle E715s which have 76 seats to A319s which have 128 seats to 737s which will have 160 to 172 seats. Seems like there is a big set of gaps.

150 seats which is what the A320s currently fulfill and then the huge gap between 76 and 128 seats which the E190s fulfilled.

Is AA content with some fleet/route mismatches or do they plan for replacement aircraft for these gaps?

With AA having a large 737 MAX order still in place theoretically they could convert some to the 737-7 to offset future 319/320 retirements. It would also be able to handle routes deep into South America that can't support 787s. Boeing could offer a sweetheart deal to bolster the 737-7 orders.

That's so unlikely, and why would they convert MAX orders to NG 737-700s? (or do you mean the 737-MAX 7)? The MAX can fly the missions AA needs it to in South America where the 787 is too much plane (it also has a sub fleet of A319's that can do just that as well), and an order for A321XLR's as well.

Yes I'm referring to the B37M not 73G. It's a swap that could actually save AA money while offering a next generation mainline ac only needing 3 FAs. Obviously not likely but if AA could save cash while Boeing could tout selling frames for a less popular model. The LAA 319s are used on some longer routes but other than the IFE screens they are nothing special. At some point AA will need a new sub 150 seat ac so the B37M and 319NEO wouldn't require adding a totally new fleet.