AA nears decision on MD80 replacement

[Pieter C. 5]

American nears decision on MD-80 successor, RegionsAir replacement

 

Thursday March 22, 2007

American Airlines will make an announcement regarding fleet renewal "in short order," according to Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey, who conceded that the carrier's more than 300 MD-80s burn too much fuel. He said 737NGs may be a viable replacement.

 

Speaking yesterday at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York, available via webcast, he said AA is trying "to figure out the timing of [potential 737NG] deliveries and how it would affect fuel efficiency. . .Fuel remains a huge wild card." He added that the "shocking price" of fuel in recent years "has forced us to be much more vigilant about how much fuel we consume." AA expects to save 95 million gal. of fuel this year through conservation initiatives, he claimed.

 

But the carrier's lack of capacity growth and high load factors give it some flexibility regarding fleet renewal, Arpey said. Domestic capacity is expected to fall 1% in 2007 with international capacity remaining flat or slightly lower than 2006 levels, he noted. "We've taken a disciplined approach when it comes to capacity," he said.

 

Separately, AA is trying to reestablish service to cities previously served by regional partner RegionsAir, which suspended operations two weeks ago over issues related to pilot training and certification. AA parent AMR Corp. is working with Great Lakes Aviation to restore service between St. Louis and Burlington, Iowa, the Illinois cities of Decatur, Marion, Springfield and Quincy, and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

 

AA reservation agents will rebook without penalty passengers whose flights were cancelled or offer full refunds for the portion of travel affected by RegionsAir cancellations. Great Lakes operates Beech 1900s and Brasilias. RegionsAir also operated on behalf of Continental Airlines.

 

[Andrew Ong 1]

Boeing and AA accelerates the delivery of the 737-800s:

 

Boeing and American Airlines to Accelerate Delivery of 737-800s

 

SEATTLE, March 28, 2007 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and American Airlines today announced that the Dallas-based carrier will accelerate delivery of 737-800 aircraft into its fleet. Following the events of 9/11, Boeing agreed to delay delivery of 737-800s into the 2013-2016 time frame. That agreement provided American with the ability to move those deliveries forward when market conditions warranted such a move.

 

Today's announcement does not affect Boeing production rates. The 737-800s are already included on the Boeing order website.

 

[Seth K 3]

300 replacement, if all come this year...........that's a miracle!!!!! Nothing that official yet but congrats to Boeing and AA At least American carriers starting to modernize their fleet, well if we can just get NW do the same thing too

Edited March 29, 2007 by Seth K

[Andrew Ong 1]

well if we can just get NW do the same thing too

 

NW has replaced their DC-10s with the A330s

Edited March 29, 2007 by Andrew Ong

[Seth K 3]

NW has replaced their DC-10s with the A330s

Well, that's why because they want to pace with the competitors on Europe and Asia routes, dun wanna left behind. On domestic, ppl dun care much since flying MD-80 and new NB won't differ much...unless if you put PTV

[Pieter C. 5]

American Airlines plans to maintain a low-to-negative growth strategy for the foreseeable future even as it accelerates deliveries of 737-800s to replace its MD-80 fleet. "It's very much about replacement, not growth," VP-Corporate Development and Treasury Beverly Goulet said yesterday at the Bear Stearns 2007 Global Transportation Conference, available via webcast. "In our mind, we need to operate the fleet we have profitably over a long period of time before we think about growth." She said that -800 deliveries will continue to be "pulled forward" but that replacing the MD-80 fleet, which numbers more than 270, likely will take nine years beginning in 2009. She noted that AA will lower capacity by 3% year-over-year in the second quarter and by 2% for the full year as it remains "focused on balance sheet repair."

 

 

[Keith T 2]

Still lots of noisy MD80s and MD83s all over my itinerary. Here's hoping the acceleration of the fleet replacement goes well.