Part of Plan to Boost Fleet Fuel Efficiency by More Than 20 Percent by 2020
American Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corp., today said it has accelerated the delivery of six additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft into the first half of 2009, as it continues to execute on its fleet renewal plan and the replacement process for its MD-80 aircraft.
On March 28, 2007, American announced its intent to pull forward the delivery of 47 Boeing 737-800 aircraft under a previously existing purchase commitment with The Boeing Company. As part of the March 28 announcement, American accelerated the first three of these 737s for delivery in early 2009. Today's announcement means that a total of nine of the 47 737s have been accelerated for delivery under the existing purchase commitment.
American intends to continue pulling forward deliveries of the remainder of the 47 737 aircraft from their current 2013-2016 delivery schedules into the 2009-2012 timeframe. The Company reiterated that any decisions to accelerate 737 aircraft deliveries will depend on such factors as future economic and industry conditions and the financial condition of the Company.
"Our agreement with Boeing provides us with substantial fleet renewal flexibility while allowing us to continue to improve our financial foundation and position the company for long-term success," said AMR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. "In addition, our plan to begin replacing our MD-80 fleet is an important component of our efforts to improve the fuel efficiency of our fleet by more than 20 percent by 2020 and to reduce carbon emission and noise levels."
