American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has bought ten second-hand A321-200Ns from Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International), the latter revealed in its quarterly earnings report.
Alaska Airlines retired the ten aircraft, which are just 5.6 years old on average, at the end of September 2023, as it pursues its fleet unification strategy centred on Boeing narrowbody jets. The aircraft were initially contracted by Virgin America on lease from GECAS in 2015. Only four were delivered to the low-cost carrier before its takeover by Alaska Airlines, while the other six entered into service directly with Alaska Airlines.
The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows that Alaska Airlines owned one of the ten aircraft, while the other nine were leased - four from Jackson Square Aviation, two each from AerCap and SMBC Aviation Capital, and one from Merx Aviation Finance. The carrier recorded a USD14 million gain on the "interest expense associated with certain A321neo lease agreements which were modified as part of Alaska's fleet transition".
American Airlines already operates seventy A321-200NX and has four more on order from Airbus (as well as fifty A321-200NY(XLR)s). All of its current A321neo were delivered directly from the manufacturer.
