Aircraft Gave 21 Years Of Service To AA

American Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A300 in 1988, and the last A300 flight under American colors landed in New York's Kennedy Airport shortly after midnight on Wednesday, bringing to an end the airplane's career with American. 

"(I)t's a good time to take them out of the fleet," said American spokesman Tim Smith. "One, we are in the process of cutting capacity. Two, these airplanes are a likely candidate for retirement, in that they are older than most of the airplanes in our fleet," he said Tuesday.

The A300 requires different training and maintenance from the other airplanes in American's fleet, according to Smith.

Smith told The Dallas Morning News that American bought their first A300's almost by default. "we were in a growth mode," Smith said. "We needed wide-body aircraft for a broad number of missions, and we could not get 767-300ERs as quickly as we liked. All that came together to have us look at the A300." Smith also said the A300's cargo capacity made it an attractive aircraft for American's Caribbean routes. The two aircraft were similar: two engine, dual aisle jets with international range, but the A300 had a greater capacity for cargo.

The Dallas Morning News reports that American eventually intends to replace the A300 with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is at least two years behind schedule. American hopes to be flying its first B787 in 2013.

FMI: www.aa.com