American Airlines seeks to delay aircraft delivery

Airline Industry Information, Nov 4, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Troubled US carrier American Airlines is in negotiations with aircraft manufacturer Boeing to delay the delivery of aircraft as it struggles to cut capacity to match demand and push down its ticket prices.

American Airlines has a firm order of 47 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and nine 777-200 aircraft due for delivery between 2006 and 2010 but has held talks with Boeing to defer the deliveries until a later date. The airline said that it expects to make an announcement on the issue in the near future.

Boeing said that given the current state of many carriers American Airlines' request is not surprising and that it will continue to work with the airline to solve the problem. The aircraft manufacturer added that any deferral would not affect its target of delivering 285 aircraft in 2004 and 320 in 2005. American Airlines will remove 15 aircraft from its fleet to cut capacity across its network, reports Bloomberg.

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