American Airlines orders 260 aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and Embraer

American Airlines said Monday it had ordered 260 new planes in roughly equal numbers from Airbus, Boeing and Embraer. It is the airline’s largest aircraft order since 2011 and reflects strong demand for air travel.

The order includes 85 Airbus A321neo aircraft, 85 Boeing 737 Max 10 jets and 90 smaller Embraer E175 aircraft. Boeing’s equal position in the deal suggests American remains confident in the manufacturer following an incident in January in which a panel exploded from a Max 9 aircraft during a commercial flight. That episode did not result in major injuries but renewed concerns about the safety and quality of Boeing aircraft.

The Boeing deal includes an existing order for 30 smaller Max 8 jets, which have been upgraded to the Max 10. That larger plane, which has not yet received regulatory approval, can seat about 200 passengers. The American A321neo aircraft usually seat about the same number of passengers.

The Embraer aircraft are a workhorse of American’s regional subsidiaries, which typically use the jets for shorter trips, often between smaller airports or to connect those locations to larger hub airports. The E175 typically seats around 76 passengers in economy and premium class.

Embraer, the third-largest aircraft manufacturer, is based near São Paulo, Brazil, and Airbus, the largest, is headquartered in Toulouse, France. Boeing, the second largest, is based in Arlington, Virginia.

“Over the past decade, we have invested heavily in modernizing and simplifying our fleet, which is the largest and youngest among U.S. network carriers,” U.S. CEO Robert Isom said in a statement. “These orders will continue to supply our fleet with newer, more efficient aircraft so we can continue to provide our customers with the best network and record-breaking operational reliability.”

American said the planes would help it achieve two goals: flying larger planes within the United States and on shorter routes and offering more premium seats, which are much more profitable and for which demand has grown in recent years. The airline said it would also upgrade existing Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft from 2025, expanding first class, adding power to every seat and installing larger luggage compartments.

The order announced Monday is the largest placed by a U.S. airline since 2021, when United Airlines announced plans to buy 200 planes from Boeing and 70 from Airbus. American’s last major aircraft order came in 2011, when it bought 260 Airbus planes and 200 Boeings.