American Airlines in negotiations for new narrowbody order

American Airlines is in negotiations with Airbus and Boeing about a narrowbody order for deliveries in the latter half of this decade and beyond. The airline disclosed the news during its Q3 earnings call today but didn’t say how many aircraft it is seeking.

American has a total fleet of 953 aircraft. The narrowbody fleet includes 218 Airbus A321ceo’s and 70 neo’s, plus 48 A320ceo’s, and 133 A319ceo’s. There are also 303 Boeing

737-800s and 55 MAX 8s. Of the previous generation of aircraft, the A320ceo’s are well over 22 years of age, the A319ceo’s almost twenty years old, and the 737s on average close to fourteen years old.

The airline currently has another 54 new Airbus A321neo’s on order out of a total of 124. In total 80 MAX and 30 787s are due in the coming years through 2028 and beyond. The airline placed orders for 30 MAX aircraft in 2022, but amended agreements in February as well as a 787 order in August, shifting some Dreamliner deliveries to later years.