American Airlines forecasts its fleet of long-haul aircraft will increase from about 125 to 200 jets by the end of the decade.
That target figure includes about 40 anticipated Airbus A321XLRs.
Fort Worth-based American detailed fleet-growth plans during its 23 December earnings call, with chief executive Robert Isom suggesting that American’s relatively young aircraft will provide an edge over its network airline competitors as capital expenditures will remain relatively low through 2029.
“We already have the lowest average age of our fleet,” he says. “We don’t have retirements coming up. As others have to invest in their fleet… and with the difficulty of aircraft delivery these days, I really like where we’re at.”
American does not specify when it expects to take delivery of the first of 50 CFM International Leap-1A turbofan-powered A321XLRs it has on order with Airbus. But both American and JetBlue Airways have previously said they expect to receive their first A321XLRs this year, while United Airlines expects to take its first of the type in January 2026.
The variant of the narrowbody A321neo – certificated by both the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration last year – has been marketed by Airbus as an economical solution for long-range flights connecting secondary cities.
The type entered service in October, with Spanish carrier Iberia operating an A321XLR from Madrid to Boston.
American has said it intends to use the aircraft for transatlantic flights from the East Coast of the USA.
The carrier says it operates the world’s largest A320-family fleet. Airline Business data show nearly 500 A319s, A320s and A321s in American’s fleet as of 31 December.
American also operates a sizeable all-Boeing widebody fleet, with 59 787s and 67 777s.
Following a broad trend among US airlines, American is pushing further into the premium market this year with its new Flagship Suite business class seats. The configuration is rolling out on new Boeing 787-9s and older 777-300s, as well as American’s incoming A321XLRs.
American’s current and incoming 787s will be the “real workhorses” of the future long-haul fleet, while 777-300s “are going to be in the fleet for a long time”, Isom says.
“We’ve got a decision to make about the 777-200s at some point,” he says. “We’re in contact with Airbus, and with Boeing as well, and we’re mindful of the benefits that we get by having a simplified fleet.”
American received 20 new aircraft and 10 used aircraft last year. It expects to take 40 to 50 new jets in 2025.
“The good thing about the fleet that we’ve built up – despite the difficulties that we have with supply chain and aircraft deliveries throughout – is [that] we’ve spent, since the [2013 US Airways] merger, $30 billion-plus in terms of new aircraft,” Isom says. ”We have the youngest fleet. We don’t anticipate any big retirements coming and we have the ability to flex this fleet in a very economic fashion should we find that conditions warrant expansion.”
Similar to fellow major US carriers Delta Air Lines and United, American reports “strong performance across the board” for international flying in the fourth quarter, though its capacity (measured in available seat kilometres) on transatlantic flights decreased by nearly 11% year on year.
American reports a $590 million fourth-quarter profit, up from just $19 million during the prior-year period.
For the full-year 2024, the airline turned a $846 million profit – which lags the $3.5 billion and $3.1 billion full-year profits posted by Delta and United, respectively.
American has undertaken in recent months an overhaul of its cost structure and domestic network as it attempts to keep pace with competitors.
