American nears decision on MD-80 successor

[Midnight Mike]

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 (ATWOnline, March 13). 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.

[PhilDernerJr]

It's pretty much a shoe-in for the 737. There really aren't any competitors for this. American won't go Embraer and they won't go Airbus.

[T-Bird76]

It's pretty much a shoe-in for the 737. There really aren't any competitors for this. American won't go Embraer and they won't go Airbus.

The A320 is a very real competitor and the bread and butter of Airbus's 140 seat product offering. American has hinted in the past that it would do business with Airbus. Its more then likely the 737-700 will be the selection because of the similarities with the 737-800. Don't be surprised to see AA or AE bring on some Ejets if they can get around the dumb scope clause in the pilots contract. The 70-100 seat market is a growing market which AA really isn't part of right now.

[PhilDernerJr]

AA only mentions Airbus for a better deal with Boeing. Diversifying their fleet with Airbus would be absolutely retarded.

Ejets at some point maybe for AE.

[Midnight Mike]

If American were smart, they would be the launch customer for the new 737NG replacement, which could be released in 2012/2014?.

They would be able to get the slots they want & at a good price......

[hiss srq]

I see AA canning maybe about 30 to 35% of the Maddogs in the near timeframe for some 700's and keeping the newer fresher ones around a little longer untill the new 737 family is on the drawing board at least. There is a good number of them that are only just over a decade old still.

[PhilDernerJr]

As old, or new, as the MD80s might be, it still comes down to how much more they are costing the airline in terms of fuel.

They would be better off selling them to some airline in South America or Africa and getting new ones and saving on fuel and maintenence.

[Matt Molnar]

If American were smart, they would be the launch customer for the new 737NG replacement, which could be released in 2012/2014?.

They would be able to get the slots they want & at a good price......

They don't want to wait that long to replace the MD's from my understanding.

[stuart schechter]

Those MD's are killers for fuel from what I hear. Any AA junkie know what's the oldest one in the fleet?

[Matt Molnar]

The oldest was delivered in 1983 according to Airfleets.net. :shock:

[stuart schechter]

24 years DOH!

[cancidas]

that's some good seniority...

[Midnight Mike]

They don't want to wait that long to replace the MD's from my understanding.

Not sure how fast American thinks they are going to get the 737's, there is a backlog of over 1,000 airplane orders, American may not be able to get an Airbus or a Boeing order prior to 2012.

[Mateo]

AA also has the last batch of MD-80s off the line - delivered in 1999. Stepping onto an AA (ex-TW) MD-83 last year, I saw the plate read 'Boeing,' and I got all angry at revisionist history until I discovered that it was delivered in October '99, well after the boys in Seattle bought MacDoug. Most of AA's MD-80s are in the 10-15 year old range.

[stuart schechter]

Doesn't DL have a large fleet of MD-80's for their Delta Shuttle service and also the routes between here and FLL. I am on one every time.