763 Retirements

[N288AA]

I knew with the arrival of the 787 the older 763 were to be retired. I was surprised last week when 370 was sent to ROW. It is one of the older ones but not the original 15. I just thought the first 15 would be the first ones in the desert.
 

 

[autofixer]

I rode on a ratty ass POS 767-300 MIA -LIM, week before last (3 Full fare Pax) and the plane, the service (lack of) and the LIM based F/As sucked (Sat on their asses, blocked the mid lav, lay on the galley floor and ran the movie and never came through with headsets).  I knew better as I always try to fly LAN. Flew LAN back and it was a great experience as usual.  LAN has great planes and great service.  Park those POS 767s!  

 

[eolesen]

I was surprised last week when 370 was sent to ROW. It is one of the older ones but not the original 15. I just thought the first 15 would be the first ones in the desert.

When they had their last MBV is more important than total age, as is whether or not it's leased vs. owned.

IIRC, the leasers will be run out to the point where they've got ~50% left on the airframe before the next check is due (that value will vary by owner).

Owned aircraft will typically be operated until they've got a bare minimum of time left. Chances are that the only buyers for a 25+ year old widebody will be someone looking to do a cargo conversion, which is just a step or two away from a MBV as it is, so why should AA foot the bill? Even if it's bought for a passenger carrier, let them be on the hook and just discount the price accordingly.

 

[UPNAWAY]

I noticed some of the parked AA 767s are only around 15 years old, I was wondering why they parked those?

 

[nycbusdriver]

I noticed some of the parked AA 767s are only around 15 years old, I was wondering why they parked those?

 
As eolesen pointed out, those relatively young airframes may have been leased and now that AA doesn't want them anymore, if the lease runs out they get returned to the owner.  If that is the case, then they are probably parked while the owner decides how to get them sold or leased to another carrier.

 

[FWAAA]

Of the 58 total 763s, 45 of them are owned (subject to liens - they secure debt) and the other 13 are leased (operating leases). I'm sure the info is out there in the bankruptcy documents about which tail numbers are owned and which ones are leased, but I'm too lazy to look. Some have assumed that the youngest nine, delivered in 2002-03 to replace the TWA 763s, would be the last ones retired, but those might still have some market value today as they're lower in cycles and hours than AA's earlier 763s. There were six bought new in the mid-late 1990s for DFW/ORD-Hawai'i (so the DC-10s could be parked). The remaining 43 are all somewhat older.