DALLAS – American Airlines (AA) has reduced its aircraft delivery forecast for this year by almost a quarter of the planned aircraft.

Dallas Fort Worth based (DFW) AA was expecting to take delivery of 29 aircraft this year. The airline’s chief financial officer, Devon E May, revealed during a first-quarter investors call that this number has been revised downwards to 22 aircraft. 

The reduced number of aircraft deliveries will have an impact on the AA’s operations for the year. The airline expects deliveries for the year to include sixteen Boeing 737-8s, three Boeing 787-9s and three Airbus A321-200NXs. It had hoped to receive  four more B737-8s and three more B787-9s. 

According to ch-aviation.com, AA has already taken delivery of two aircraft this year. Both of these are Airbus A321neo aircraft. The airline also expects delivery of twelve new Embraer E175 aircraft this year. The popular regional jets are set to be operated by AA’s regional carriers, Envoy Air (MQ), Piedmont Airlines (PT) and PSA Airlines (OH).

Ongoing Delivery Delays

American has experienced delays in aircraft deliveries across manufacturers. The delays are due to issues including regulatory restrictions on production rate increases, supply chain limitations, development delays and several other factors. The issues have impacted AA’s fleet planning and its operations. 

However, these delays are not specific to AA. Airlines across the globe are dealing with the same issues, forcing them to cut capacity or suspends services on certain routes. As a result of aircraft delivery delays, AA has been forced to suspend several routes this summer.

This includes flights from New York (JFK) to Athens (ATH) and Barcelona (BCN); Dallas (DFW) to Rome (FCO) and Dublin (DUB); and Chicago (CHI) to Paris (CDG). The delays could impact transatlantic tourist flows over the summer, and especially this year when higher numbers of people will travel to Europe for the Olympic Games.  

That said, these issues are not specific to AA. Both United Airlines (UA) and Southwest Airlines (WN) have revised their expected deliveries for the year. According to May, “While Boeing delivery delays have impacted mainline capacity production, they have been largely offset by improvements in our regional aircraft utilisation. Aircraft delivery delays are impacting the entire industry, but they are not having the same impact on American as other carriers since we are not as dependent on new aircraft deliveries as most of our peers.”

The Featured image shows N336RU, an AA Boeing 737-8 MAX at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC).