Why do American Airlines have no boeing 747's in their fleet?

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kerry328270

My understanding is AA were looking into leasing some of these however, many of AA's captain's would need retraining on the flight deck.

They will come in time I would guess, but the AA fleet is not currently that old, so it may be a little time, and by then they may look at or wait for the next generations of long-hall planes.

Hope this helps?

The Shadow

American did have them many years ago, but replaced them with MD-11s and now with 777's.

The 747 is not every economical to operate compared to newer, twin-engine planes. The 747 uses more fuel than newer planes, a huge disadvantage in a world of $100 a barrel oil, and the extra two engines increase maintenance costs. The 747 only makes financial sense on routes with very high passenger volumes and routes that cannot legally be flown by twin-engine aircraft operating under ETOPS (extended twin-engine operations) rules. Apparently, American feels that 777's are better suited to their routes.

That's why many airlines have reduced or eliminated the 747's in their fleets. It used to be common to fly on 747s from the US to Europe. Now, most flights are on twin-engine aircraft. Twin-engine aircraft are now replacing 747's on many transpacific routes as well.

WingsOTWorld

This came up in a discussion once and I've done a bit of quick research.

American Airlines did actually operate the 747 at one point in time, they used 747-100s beginning in 1974 using them as freighters. Soon they were used on passenger lines and so on.

However, fuel prices started to rise and the business setup just didn't suit 747 usage (American didn't have a true hub and spoke system until 1979). The key to really profiting with 747s are with hub/spoke systems where you pack these planes with people from all over the country and send them to their destination.

They eventually traded most of their 747s to Pan Am in exchange for DC-10s in 1983. And, their 747 freighter fleet was retired by 1984 and opted to transport freight in smaller sets underneath regular passenger flights.

Nowadays, planes like the 777 can hold as much as the smaller 747s, fly farther and for less money (2 engines v. 4 so cheaper maintenance costs). It fits better into the American business plan (trust me...they have to have been crunching the numbers). And as a graceful a bird as the 747 is, economics says the 777 wins. So that's what American will continue to buy more of, expand internationally with, and so on.

potatochip

American Airlines did operate the 747. In their advertisements they said they had a person playing the piano in the upper deck. One AA 747 actually carries the space shuttle on it when NASA needs to transport the space shuttle somewhere.

Later on AA did phase out the 747 and started using the DC-10 and later bought the MD-11 and now they operate the 777. AA has always been big on fuel efficiency. When Boeing came out with the 727, AA wanted an aircraft that only had 2 engines because that would save money on fuel. They ended up accepting Boeing's design of an aircraft with 3 engines. But the 747 does burn more fuel than say an MD-11 or 777.