American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) is in negotiations with Boeing over the potential deferral of eighteen B737-8s due in 2021 and 2022, although no firm decisions have so far been made, Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr said during a presentation at the Cowen Global Transportation & Sustainable Mobility Conference.
Kerr clarified that the proposed delivery delays do not relate to the 18 aircraft already built by Boeing and awaiting delivery once the type's recertification has been done, but to another batch of aircraft which have yet to be built and which were due to deliver during the next two years.
"[We are] making sure that all of those 18 that still need to be delivered are financed and that there is flexibility in the other 18 that are supposed to be coming in 2021 and 2022, such as deferral rights or other," Kerr explained.
In its last published quarterly report, as of June 30, 2020, American Airlines expected to take deliveries of sixteen B737 MAX 8s through the end of 2020 and another ten in 2021. These aircraft were to have come on top of 24 narrowbodies delivered to the carrier prior to the March 2019 global grounding of the type.
Kerr added that American Airlines hoped to conclude talks with Boeing and other suppliers in time to announce a potential change in the delivery schedule during its third-quarter earnings call in October 2020.
In total, American Airlines has 100 B737 MAX 8s on firm order from Boeing, including the 24 already delivered. President Robert Isom confirmed the airline remained committed to the type, saying that once recertified, the B737 MAX would be "the safest aircraft that is flying" and would help American Airlines meet its performance and fuel-burn reduction goals.
