Is American Airlines a Boeing or Airbus?
As of now, American Airlines controls a fleet of approximately 900 aircraft, which makes it one of the largest airline companies in the world. This company’s fleet mostly consists of Boeing and Airbus, but they have different aircraft types from the same families and models.
Within the NB segment, America has shifted its attention toward Airbus in recent years, mainly operating Airbus narrow-body aircraft. At present, the Airbus A320 family is the backbone of the American fleet, which offers A319, A320, and A321 models. As it stands, the airline has over 400 Airbus A320 family airplanes in its fleet; thus, it is among the largest global users of aircraft from this family.
The Airbus narrow-bodied aircraft enables Americans to meet a range of routes that consist of short, regional hops and longer, cross-country sectors. The A319 and A320 models have from 128 to 172 seats arranged in a two-class cabin configuration. The A321, on average, offers accommodation for 206 passengers in a similar layout.
In addition to the A320 series, the airline does fly some Boeing 737 narrow-body aircraft as well. However, the overall 737 fleet is comparatively older, with the majority of the planes ordered in the 1990s. In this way, Americans have decided to replace their current narrow-body aircraft with Airbus models instead of Boeing.
Regarding wide-body aircraft, it can be stated that American Airlines has more preference for Boeing-brand aircraft. Boeing 777s and 787 Dreamliners are some of the major fleets that America has strategically incorporated into its long-haul international fleet. Over 50 airplanes of the Boeing 777 and almost 30 airplanes of the Boeing 787 are the main long-haul workhorses of the American Airlines fleet.
The Boeing 777-200ER and 777-300ER models are some of American Airlines’ flagship planes on the O&Ds, such as London Heathrow, São Paulo, and Hong Kong. The 777 holds more than 300 passengers and helps Americans move people on flights that are greater than 5000 miles.
On the other hand, the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner offers America a fuel-efficient wide-body for some of its newer long-haul destinations, ranging from Athens and Dubrovnik right to Reykjavik. Seating 285 passengers on board and having a range of 7000–8200 miles, the 787 offers American Airlines the operational versatility it needs to generate profitability while connecting with widespread international locations.
America also has 34 units of Airbus A330 wide-body planes. However, it should be noted that the average age of an American Airlines Airbus A330 is 16 years, which is relatively low for such a plane. American Airlines has not purchased a new Airbus A330 in a decade, meaning they plan to transition to an American Airlines wide-body fleet composed solely of Boeing.
Apart from NB and WB aircraft, American Airlines also has a large and various regional fleet to provide feeders to its domestic hubs. For local transportation, American has regional partners who fly small-sized planes under the American Eagle codeshare agreements. The air carrier fleet of American Eagle comprises the Embraer E-175 and Bombardier CRJ regional aircraft.
Consequently, hub airports such as Charlotte, Chicago, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as regional American Eagle flights, transport passengers from the small regional markets in Latin America and Canada. Feeder traffic from regional routes means that Americans can generate profits from connecting people through their hubs and to mainline flights.
Therefore, in conclusion, we find that American Airlines has a fleet that consists of both Airbus and Boeing types, which are even customized according to their operational uses. Overall, America uses Airbus for its narrow-body aircraft, but Boeing's wide-bodies are the backbone of its long-haul international operation. Regional flights provided by American Eagle partners also contribute to the enhancement of the global network of flights.
In the same year, American Airlines followed suit to expand its fleet with modern planes, namely the Boeing 787 and Airbus A321neo, to phase out older variants. American currently has over 100 next-generation Airbus A321neos in its order book, which indicates that Airbus will continue to be a part of American Airlines' aircraft fleet and network plan over the next few decades. There are also more Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft expected to be delivered to the United States between 2022 and 2024.
Hence, political reasons and other considerations like politics, trade issues, etc. that may govern the acquisition of aircraft are common, yet American Airlines looks at each aircraft model and evaluates its operating cost and role in the network plan. These two influence APPM and maintenance reliability, which make American Airlines acquire a diverse fleet of aircraft from both premier manufacturers.
The end of it is to have a fleet that has the most optimal plane types for each of the routes and markets served by American Airlines. As it plans to serve more than 260 destinations with hundreds of aircraft, flexibility to adjust the fleet through a long-term fleet plan is vital. Thus, although a brand may impact customer patronage, its cost and network value remain the defining factors for an aircraft’s role in the American Airlines operational model.
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