The changes to American Airlines fleet continue as the coronavirus pandemic resets flying.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier has retired its 15 Airbus A330-200s, officially making it an all-Boeing wide-body operator of 777s and 787s, American said Thursday. The A330s have been in long-term storage since May.
The move brings the number of jets retired by American to 114 during the pandemic. Gone are its Airbus A330s — both the -200s and -300s — Boeing 757s and 767s and Embraer E190s, as well as the Bombardier CRJ200s flown by its regional affiliates.
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“We now only have for aircraft types in our mainline fleet,” said American chief financial officer Derek Kerr during a quarterly earnings call on Thursday. “The operating efficiencies on the crew, maintenance and schedule are permanent.”
Kerr added that the aircraft retirements “accelerated” the airline’s long-term fleet plans. American’s mainline operations now consist of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family narrow-bodies and 777 and 787 family wide-bodies.
In a report Thursday, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth estimated that American has removed roughly 10% of the seats it flew in 2019 with the A330 retirements. Delta Air Lines has removed roughly 22% of 2019 seats and United Airlines none having not officially retired any jets.
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