American Airlines has taken significant strides with its Airbus A321XLR plans, capturing the attention of the aviation community following the maiden flight of its first XLR aircraft on March 31 from Airbus's facility in Hamburg, Germany. The airline currently has an order of 50 A321XLR jets, which will be delivered between 2025 and 2029.
"American Airlines currently has 50 XLRs on order," according to ch-aviation. This initiative marks the first time an airline in the United States has ordered the A321XLR, as American aims to tap into new transoceanic markets. Clay McConnell, Head of Communications for Airbus Americas, confirmed, "The purchase agreement includes the conversion of 30 of American’s existing A321neo slots to A321XLRs and incremental orders for an additional 20 A321XLRs."
Previously, the airline had over 250 Airbus jets on order, including a sizeable number of A321s as part of a fleet renewal effort initiated during bankruptcy restructuring. This was intended to replace aging aircraft and comply with the restructuring strategy after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011.