São Paulo – American Airlines announced on this Wednesday (20th) that it will purchase 460 new aircraft from the United States-based manufacturing company Boeing and the European Airbus. Out of all the aircraft ordered, 260 are Airbus A320 models and 200 are Boeing 737s. The two aircraft can carry 150 to 180 passengers and are direct competitors. Both are used mainly in domestic flights. According to American Airlines, this is the largest order in the history of aviation.
The chairman of American Airlines, Gerard Apey, stated, on announcing the purchase, that in the coming five years, he expects the company to have one of the youngest and most efficient fleet in the United States. Presently, American is the fourth largest airline in the United States (after Delta, Southwest and United) and has one of the oldest fleets in the country. The new aircraft will replace the MD-80 models, which have 20 years of flight on average, and 757 jets that Boeing no longer manufactures.
The airline obtained a line of financing of US$ 13 billion to purchase the first 230 aircraft. These will start being delivered in 2013. Although all of the A320s and Boeing 737s boast lower fuel consumption than the aircraft that will be replaced, only some of the units ordered belong to the newer generations of these models.
Of the A320s, 130 will be equipped with the current engine version, and the other half, which will start being delivered in 2017, will have propellers that are 15% more efficient. This model, called A320neo, should also be more silent, have lower operation cost and greater flight range. Before the end of the year, Boeing has promised to announce whether it will release a new version of the 737. If it does, then some of the aircraft ordered may be of the model.
The agreement between American and Boeing and Airbus includes options to purchase 465 more aircraft starting in 2025. The purchase order, however, must be confirmed by the airline. American had not purchased new aircraft from Airbus in more than 20 years. The latest models made by the European manufactured that the airline owned, according to the The New York Times, were A300s, which it retired in 2009.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
