American Airlines has confirmed that it will retire all of its Boeing 767s by the end of May and 757 in 2021. The information was revealed amid the announcement that the airline will reduce its international capacity from April. The two models, widely used by the company in the past, will be replaced by the more efficient 787 and Airbus A321XLR.
“We will accelerate the retirement of our remaining Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Doing so removes older, less fuel-efficient aircraft from our fleet sooner than originally planned and avoids unnecessary fuel and maintenance costs. The 767 fleet will be grounded in May 2020, and the remaining 757 aircraft will retire between May 2020 and post-summer 2021 at the latest, “says the statement from American.
American Airlines currently has 16 units of the 767-300 and 34 of the 757-200, but has operated a much larger number of both. Another 90 Boeing 767s and 143,757s have passed through the company since its introduction 40 years ago. The first Boeing 767-200 received by American debuted in service in 1982 while the 757-200 started operations in the late 1980s.
Although it still has a rather large number of 737, the company has expanded the presence of the A320 family. The larger capacity A321 variant already has 235 aircraft, 16 of the Neo series. The 787 has 42 units in service, 20 of the 787-8 and 22 of the 787-9.
Coronavirus influences plans
The advent of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak that affects all air traffic has motivated American Airlines to accelerate the withdrawal of these less efficient aircraft from service. The company announced on Thursday a significant reduction in international capacity, 34% during the summer season and 50% only in April.
Flights to Europe will be maintained for another week to allow the return of passengers who were in transit. In South America, flights between São Paulo and Dallas and Los Angeles and Dallas to Santiago de Chile will be suspended. Flights to Argentina, in turn, will all be closed for at least May 7.
The American company also says it will allow refunds and flight changes during the affected period.
