Delivering the American Dream

American Airlines this week officially welcomed its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner but has still not yet confirmed which scheduled markets it will deploy the modern generation airliner. American took delivery of the 787-8 on January 29, 2015 at Boeing's factory in Everett, Washington, and it arrived at its Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport hub the following day.

The US major has placed firm orders for 42 Boeing 787 aircraft, with the right to acquire an additional 58. It has committed to acquire both the 787-8 and 787-9 variants as part of the 42 firm orders. It expects the aircraft to enter revenue service in the second quarter, flying domestically between American's hubs for several weeks before being launched on international flights.

"We are committed to delivering a fantastic product for our customers with the continuation of our unprecedented fleet renewal program and more than $2 billion in improvements in the customer experience," said Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer, American Airlines. "The 787 makes our fleet younger and more modern and it will open up new possibilities to connect our customers to the places they want to fly."

American already has the youngest fleet of the US global network carriers, with an average aircraft age of 12.3 years. In 2015, American plans to take delivery of an average of two new aircraft per week. The renewal is part of more than $2 billion in planned improvements.

In addition to taking delivery of hundreds of new planes, American is retrofitting its entire fleet of Boeing 777-200s and selected 767-300s, 757-200s and Airbus A319s to refresh the cabins and enhance the experience on domestic and international flights.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…