Regional Equipment Idle as Carrier Shifts Capacity to Larger Planes

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom states his company has parked approximately 100 aircraft. 

“We have probably a hundred aircraft … almost a hundred aircraft that aren’t productive right now, that aren’t flying,” Isom said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on 03 June 2022.

American—the largest U.S. airline—is the latest domestic carrier to announce that it’s parking some regional jets due to a shortage of qualified pilots. 

Isom’s assertion that American has not changed any capacity guidance suggests the airline has parked primarily its 50-seat, Embraer 145, and shifted capacity to larger aircraft, such as the Canadair Regional Jet 700, 900, and the Embraer 175.

“So just like we have done some up-gauging on the mainline side of things, we’ve done that on the regional side, too … so we’ve been able to offset quite a bit of the loss of pilots,” Isom—a gifted speaker—said.

Isom’s comments came six months after United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby spoke similarly of his carrier’s regional airlines. United has since exited a significant number of regional markets—a move that contradicts Isom’s reference to stable capacity.

“We don’t have enough pilots to fly all the airplanes,” Kirby said in December, “so the 50-seaters are at the bottom of that pile, and markets that rely on 50-seaters are the ones that are going to lose service.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an American Airlines captain claimed pilots at his base have picked up a significant amount of flying opportunities this month — mainly to cities previously served by regional airlines. 

In a move likely to compound its regional staffing woes, American aims to hire 2,000 pilots in 2022—many of whom are apt to come from its own regional airlines. 

FMI: www.jobs.aa.com