American Airlines marked the end of an era on Thursday with the announcement that they are retiring five fleets of storied aircraft. The carrier has already retired their Embraer E190 and Boeing 767 fleets, but will also retire their B757, A330-300 and Bombardier CRJ200 fleets.
Today, American Airlines announced that they will accelerate and expand their fleet retirement program. The carrier has already retired their Embraer E190 and Boeing 767 fleets but will now accelerate the retirement of their Boeing 757, Airbus A330-300 and Bombardier CRJ200 fleets. As part of American’s fleet optimization strategy, the retirements will remove operating complexities and deliver efficiencies, as the carrier simplifies its fleet with advanced aircraft including the Airbus A321neo, Boeing 737 MAX and 787 Family aircraft. American’s updated narrowbody fleet will now consist of only Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Family aircraft, benefiting operational performance as well as training and maintenance efficiencies.
American’s Airbus A330-300s joined the US Airways fleet in 2000 and became part of American’s fleet in 2013. As of January 1, 2020, the carrier had a total of nine of the aircraft which served predominantly on trans-Atlantic routes. The airline’s Boeing 757s first joined the America West fleet in 1987 and American in 1989. At the beginning of 2020, American had a total of 34 757-200s in their fleet, which served mostly mainland domestic and Hawaii routes, but were also deployed on some transatlantic and Latin American routes. The Boeing 767-300ER joined American’s fleet in 1988 and the company had a total of 17 at the beginning of the year. American’s 767s were deployed mainly on transatlantic routes but also served on some domestic, Hawaii and Latin American routes. Originally joining US Airways in 2006, the carrier’s Embraer E190s joined American’s fleet in 2013. The E190s flew domestic routes and were heavily utilized in support of the American Airlines Shuttle. Finally, the Bombardier CRJ200 joined the PSA fleet in 2003 and as of January 1, 2020, the regional carrier had a total of 19 of the type. The CRJ200s flew East Coast domestic routes, primarily from American Airlines’ hubs in Charlotte, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.
Source: American Airlines