American Airlines has just put in an order for 47 more Boeing 787s, and cancelled an order for 22 Airbus A350s, which had been ordered originally by USAir before its merger with American.
Along with a number of other shifts in orders, including stretching out 737 delivery schedules, this reflects an effort by American to reduce the number of different models it flies. Reducing the model count reduces maintenance costs, and makes it easier to swap out planes for maintenance or other adjustments.
The order is on top of five more 787s from a previous order, and will leave AA with 89 787s, both -8 and -9 models. The first of the new deliveries will be used to retire 767s, and then to replace A330s and older 777s.
