LAXintl wrote:A couple fleet related Q&As from this week's Arrivals newsletter.
Q. I’m really excited about our B787 order. With American’s continued growth, are there plans to not just replace aircraft but to expand the fleet, open new international routes and maybe even place an order for a larger aircraft like the B777X to take our network to new places? Or the B787-10?
A. Vasu Raja, vice president, Network & Schedule Planning: Our long-term plan is to grow about as fast as the U.S. economy grows. So, there is definitely some growth built into our fleet plan. Buying new planes is just one way to achieve that growth. Others include using larger aircraft, flying them farther [LAX-Sydney (SYD) was significant growth just from one route] or using our aircraft throughout more of the day, meaning scheduling them more efficiently. As for the B777X and the B787-10, those are both very large aircraft that aren’t in our current plan. However, our Network Planning and Fleet teams are always looking out into the future to evaluate our long-term needs.
Q. What is the timeline for getting our aircraft amenities/features and the look and feel “synced”?
A. David Seymour, senior vice president, Integrated Operations: Our interiors are not as consistent as any of us would like. There’s a project under way right now to fix that. We will be retrofitting our Boeing 737-800s to make their interiors the same as the new B737 MAX, including newer seats, larger overhead bins and power at every seat. The first of those aircraft just received the prototype installation at Tech Ops – Tulsa. We will start the production retrofit lines in late summer with completion scheduled for mid-2020. We’re doing the same thing on Airbus A321s, with interior overhauls beginning in early 2019 and done by the end of 2021.
Sounds like the 78J is not the cards for quite some time. Another 787-9 order could end up replacing the rest of the 777-200ERs. As I have stated earlier, and I'm sure Vasu Raja would agree, the 777-300ER fleet is very young and will not to be replaced until ~2040. I think AA eventually operates both the 78J and 77X but the 78J will be introduced before the 77X.
How about syncing the 787-8 and 777-200ER fleets with the B/E Super Diamond seats instead of the Zodiac seats? The 22 787-8s on order will undoubtedly have the B/E Super Diamond product, making an inconsistent product. Its already inconsistent with the 777-200ER fleet. Yes, I know it would be expensive to order B/E Super Diamond seats to replace the Zodiac product, but its a terrible product with the motion across the ocean and unpopular.