July 21, 201115 yr American Airlines has finally announced the start of its fleet replacement, and the winner is – Airbus. Well, not only Airbus, but the European planemaker comes out well on top. In what American is calling the “largest aircraft order in history”, the airlines will purchase 260 Airbus A320neos and 200 Boeing 737s. The order includes additional options for 365 Airbus planes and 100 737s. The deal comes with another twist for Boeing, though, as it has forced Being to upgrade its 737 to remain competitive. But details of the upgrades have not been announced. For Boeing, analysts said the decision to upgrade the 737 was absolutely necessary and will go some way to ease investor nerves, especially given that the medium-haul segment is the largest and most hotly contested in the industry . . . Christophe Menard at Kepler Capital Markets noted however that details of the upgraded 737 still have to be fixed and even if it is cheaper than going for a completely new plane, there remain serious technical challenges ahead. "We know that it is more difficult to put new engines on the 737 because it sits lower to the ground than the A320, so they will have to lengthen the landing gear to fit the new engines," Menard said. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/1142121/1/.html
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