American Airlines plans to buy 250 new airliners to replace about 38 percent of its existing fleet of narrowbody airliners, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 30. The airline is negotiating with Boeing and Airbus in what will be seen as a major test for Boeing as it seeks to keep American as a customer. AA is looking to replace its fleet of 220 MD-80s and a portion of its fleet of 757-200s with new aircraft with a mix of either Boeing 737s or Airbus A320 family aircraft. The Journal cited two people familiar with the talks who said that AA first made a tentative deal with Airbus several weeks ago without Boeing's knowledge, then went to Boeing looking for a counter-offer. The proposed deal from Airbus included appealing financing terms, which will force Boeing to make an aggressive offer. Based upon the huge success enjoyed by Airbus at the Paris Air Show with its PW1000G and LEAP-X powered A320neo, Airbus could be considered to have the upper hand.
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