May 13, 2016
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to tell you about some fleet changes American has planned over the next several years. We are sharing this information now in order to keep you apprised well in advance of those things that may affect your decisions down the road. Now is the right time to make changes that will help keep our flying in line with demand and put the right plane on the right route. Over the next few years, American will be phasing out Embraer E190s and Airbus A330-300s, and accelerating retirements of Boeing B767s.
Here are the planned changes for each fleet type:
Embraer E190
American plans to phase out our E190s by the end of 2019. Scott Kirby has said since the merger that eventually we would either need to increase this fleet or phase it out. The E190s have some expensive maintenance scheduled in the near future, so it makes sense to phase them out of the fleet in 2019.
Some key points on the E190:
• Today, these 20 aircraft primarily fly on the American Shuttle. The Shuttle isn’t going away. It’s a great product for our customers, and we want to keep their business.
• Because we are still several years away, we haven’t decided which aircraft will fly the Shuttle. But we will maintain the mix of mainline/regional Shuttle flying per the APA contract.
• The E190 is the only active fleet type in pay band Group I of the APA contract. After retiring our E190s, new hire pilots will train to fly Group II aircraft in the future.
Airbus A330-300
This is an aircraft that has served US Airways well. But we only have nine of them and, again, smaller fleets can be pricey to maintain. Their Pratt & Whitney PW4168 engine is unique in our fleet, adding maintenance complexity and expense for such a small number of aircraft. With a seat count of 291, it’s duplicative of B777-200ERs, which are being retrofitted to 289 seats.
• A330-300 retirements begin in 2017 and will be done by the end of 2018.
• A330 pilots are qualified on both the -200 and -300.
• Flight attendants will be offered training in advance of the B777-200ER being introduced in designated markets.
• No changes are planned for our 15 A330-200s.
Boeing B767
As you know, we have been retiring B767s. Our first B767s were delivered in 1988 and at times, this type has been a challenge for our international reliability. We have 40 today. Our previous plan had been to draw down this fleet to 25 aircraft by the end of 2017. We will now retire an additional eight aircraft in 2018, leaving us with the 17 youngest aircraft in this fleet, which have all been retrofitted with fully lie-flat seats in Business Class.
Our fleet is experiencing transformational change. Fast. American is taking delivery of a new mainline aircraft every seven days and by 2017, the average age of our aircraft will be less than 10 years old. That’s the youngest of the U.S. network carriers (and some others, too). In fact, in 2015 we took delivery of more new planes than any airline in the world, and there are more on the way. We have an order book that includes new B737s, the B737 MAX, more A321s, A321neos and (on the widebody side) B787-8s and B787-9s arriving this year and A350s next year.
Pilots qualified on these aircraft will have plenty of time to go through necessary training and adjust to our new fleet lineup. Flight attendants are either cross-qualified or will be able to train on new aircraft in advance.
We’re making these changes at a great time for our airline and our fleet. Customer demand and profits are both strong, and with so many new planes on the way – both narrowbodies and widebodies – opportunities continue to be plentiful.
Please reach out to your Chief Pilot, Flight Service Manager, Base Manager or us with any questions.
Best regards,
Hector ..
