American Airlines is in talks with Airbus over the fate of its order for twenty-two A350-900s, considering all options.
According to Bloomberg, sources have confirmed that the airline is in talks with Airbus over the order placed in 2005 by US Airways.
Among the options American is considering there’s the possibility the airline will add more planes to the order, downsize to a smaller widebody such as the A330, deferring deliveries again or cancelling the order outright.
American’s initial deferral of the order came in July 2016 when deliveries were put back by an average of 26 months, thus saving the carrier approximately USD1.2 billion in payments.
The second deferral took place in April this year and has seen the aircraft’s delivery pushed back by an average of 24 months, setting delivery of the first A350 in 2020 instead of 2018.
Bloomberg added that AA president Robert Isom reportedly told pilots at a Q&A session last month that the issue with the order is its relatively small size in comparison to the rest of the airline’s fleet.
I don’t like small fleet in an airline our size. It’s exceptional pricing. Unfortunately pricing is just one aspect of trying to fly something profitably.
The World of Aviation 