1,000 aircraft and counting: The American Airlines fleet in 2025
September 6, 2025
American Airlines recently took delivery of its 1,000th mainline aircraft. The latest addition to the fleet comes as the carrier prepares to mark its centenary year in 2026.
The newest aircraft to enter the American Airlines fleet was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with registration N849AN. The aircraft was delivered factory-fresh from Boeing’s 787 Charleston final assembly line to American Airlines’ mega hub at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on 29 August.
While it’s currently undergoing entry-into-service checks, when it enters service, the Dreamliner will feature the carrier’s premium configuration, including the Flagship Suite Preferred product.
American Airlines has joined United Airlines (1,046) in the exclusive club of carriers with more than 1,000 mainline aircraft, with Delta Air Lines close on their heels at 990.
American Airlines itself has grown from the humblest of beginnings. In 1926, legendary US aviator and pioneer Charles A. Lindbergh, who was the chief pilot of Robertson Aircraft Corporation, stowed bags of mail in his DH-4 biplane and took off on a flight from St. Louis to Chicago on a flight on behalf of the US Postal Service. Robertson’s is considered to be one of the foundation companies that make up the modern-day American Airlines.
From that single DH-4 biplane to today’s giant fleet of 1,000 airliners, the company’s fleet has grown beyond measure. Operating a huge range of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, alongside smaller jet and turboprops operated by affiliates under the American Eagle brand, the fleet is by no means at its peak.
With over 400 aircraft yet to be delivered to the carrier, and a pledge not to retire any more jets until 2030, American is still growing.
In this article, Aerospace Global News takes a deep dive into the current fleet of American Airlines. From the smallest single-aisle aircraft to the largest members of the widebodied fleet, we review all the current types in the fleet as of September 2025, as well as looking at what comes next for the world’s second-largest airline company.
(All data sourced from the aircraft data website ch-aviation, or American Airlines.)
The American Airlines fleet today
With the 1,000th aircraft recently joining the fleet of American Airlines, the carrier’s overall mainline fleet comprises the following single-aisle types:
- Airbus A319
- Airbus A320
- Airbus A321
- Airbus A321neo
- Airbus A321XLR
- Boeing 737-800
- Boeing 737 MAX 8
Unlike the short and medium-haul narrowbody fleets at the carrier, the airline’s widebody capability rests solely on the shoulders of Boeing-built aircraft of the following types:
- Boeing 777-200ER
- Boeing 777-300ER
- Boeing 787-8
- Boeing 787-9
The airline’s oldest widebodies, the 777-200ERs, are gradually being replaced with new incoming Dreamliners. Like all other US airlines, American has not ordered Boeing’s newest widebody, the 777X. It did inherit an order for the Airbus A350 when it merged with US Airways in 2013, but cancelled its commitment in 2018.
The American Airlines narrowbody fleet
Airbus A319-100 – 133 aircraft
American’s fleet of Airbus A319s currently stands at 133 aircraft with no further aircraft on order. The aircraft currently in operation have an average age of 21.5 years of age, many of which were acquired during the US Airways merger.
Each A319 fleet member seats 128 passengers (eight in business class and 120 in economy class).
Airbus A320-200 – 48 aircraft
While the Airbus A320 makes up the backbone of many airline fleets worldwide, the same cannot be said of American, which operates just 48 examples, with an average fleet age of 24.4 years.
Like the A319s, many of the examples still flying for American were formerly operated by US Airways and also America West Airlines, itself taken over by US Airways in 2005. In American Airlines’ configuration, the aircraft generally accommodates 150 passengers in a two-class configuration, with 12 seats in business class and 138 in economy class.
Airbus A321-200 – 218 aircraft
The largest of the original trio of Airbus narrowbodies, over 20% of the current American Airlines’ fleet is made up of Airbus A321-200s, with 218 currently in service with the carrier.
The average age of the type in service with the carrier is 13.1 years, making this type the youngest of the original A320 family of aircraft in the fleet.
The carrier’s A321-200s are configured for 190 passengers in a two-class layout featuring 20 in business class and 170 in economy, although the latter contains 35 seats in an economy plus cabin.
Airbus A321neo – 84 aircraft
Currently in the process of replacing older aircraft in the American Airlines fleet as well as allowing for fleet and route network expansion, the carrier has a growing fleet of newer Airbus A321neo narrowbodies.
Seating up to 196 passengers (20 in business class and 176 in economy), the average age of the A321neo fleet is just 5.8 years, with the first example arriving with the carrier in April 2017.
Airbus A321XLR – 1 aircraft
The newest member of the company’s single-aisle Airbus fleet is the A321XLR, which the carrier is hoping to put into service by the end of 2025. Seating 155 passengers in a new three-class layout, the aircraft will feature a premium economy cabin for the first time on an American Airlines narrowbody aircraft.
While the airline took delivery of its first aircraft in late July 2025, the aircraft (to be registered N300NY) remains in Europe due to supply chain issues related to a shortage of seats. As of the time of writing, American Airlines says that its first A321XLR will arrive with the carrier and enter service sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Boeing 737-800 – 303 aircraft
The workforce of many airlines worldwide, the venerable Boeing 737-800 makes up almost a third of the entire American Airlines fleet currently, with 303 examples in service. Each seat 172 passengers across two classes, and the average fleet age is 15.8 years old.
The type has formed the backbone of the carrier’s short-haul fleet even before the arrival of the Airbus narrowbodies (mostly through mergers) and is due to remain in service for some years to come, despite the arrival of newer Boeing 737 MAX 8s into the fleet.
Boeing 737 MAX 8 – 87 aircraft
The modernised and updated version of the Boeing 737-800, the MAX 8 variant, has begun arriving in the American Airlines fleet in greater numbers, now totalling 87 airframes.
With an average fleet age of just 4.1 years, the type is likely to be serving the carrier for many years to come, with many more on order. The MAX 8s accommodate 172 passengers – 16 in business class, 30 in economy plus, and 126 in economy.
The American Airlines widebody fleet
With the single-aisle aircraft already reviewed, our attention turns to the twin-aisle arena where American Airlines operates an exclusively all-Boeing line-up of widebodies, with 137 aircraft currently operating revenue flights for the carrier. The fleet is split between four types – the Boeing 777-200ER and -300ER, as well as the -8 and -9 variants of the newer and more modern 787 Dreamliner family.
Boeing 777-200ER – 47 aircraft
The oldest members of the carrier’s long-haul fleet, the airline’s 47 Boeing 777-200ERs, have an average fleet age already reaching 24.8 years. Aircraft are slowly being replaced by modern 787 Dreamliners.
Seating up to 273 passengers in a three-class configuration, the aircraft accommodates 37 in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 212 in economy class, including 66 in economy plus seats. The type is used on many of the carrier’s long-haul flights from the US, as well as some domestic transcontinental routes across the US.
Boeing 777-300ER – 20 aircraft
The longer version of the 777ER family, the airline uses the type on higher-density routes from its US hubs to Europe and across the Pacific.
The -300ER seats 304 passengers in a three-class layout, and the aircraft are still relatively young, with an average age of 11.6 years.
Boeing 787-8 – 37 aircraft
The smallest of the three Dreamliner variants currently in service worldwide, the 787-8 has found a niche at American Airlines, which operates 37 of the type currently. With an average fleet age of 7.3 years, this type accommodates 234 passengers across three classes.
The type operates the 787-8 on many of its international routes from its US hubs in Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, and Charlotte.
Boeing 787-9 – 33 aircraft
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the current flagship of the American Airlines fleet. As of 2025, the carrier operates 33 of the type, with another 26 on order.
American flies the aircraft in two layouts. The standard international configuration seats 285 passengers in three cabins: 30 Flagship Business, 21 Premium Economy, and 234 in Economy, of which 34 are Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom.
More recently delivered aircraft, including the milestone 1,000th 787 (N849UN), feature American’s latest premium-heavy configuration. The airline has 30 of this subtype on order, with eight more due to arrive before the end of 2025.
These aircraft seat 244 passengers across four classes. This layout includes eight seats in the airline’s Flagship Suite Preferred, 43 Flagship Suites, 32 in premium economy, and 161 in economy, including 18 ‘Main Cabin Extra seats.
The sub-type entered service with the carrier on 5 June between Chicago and Los Angeles while simultaneously commencing international service on the same day between Chicago and London-Heathrow (LHR). It has since been in service on other international routes between Philadelphia and London, Philadelphia to Zurich, and will begin Dallas to Brisbane services in the winter of 2025/6.
What is coming next into the AA fleet?
Despite reaching the 1,000 aircraft mark, American Airlines is not stopping there. The carrier has a further 408 aircraft on order, which includes those earmarked for operation by American Eagle, its regional affiliate.
The bulk of these new aircraft were ordered in 2024 as the company took steps to prepare itself for the next stage in its development. All these aircraft will be delivered in the coming years and into the next decade.
The new upcoming arrivals due to arrive in the fleet in the coming years include 151 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, 141 of the Boeing 737 MAX family, 26 further Boeing 787s, alongside 90 Embraer E175 regional jets earmarked for American Eagle affiliates. As mentioned above, its first A321XLR should be in service with the carrier by year-end 2025.
With the number of new aircraft continuing to enter the fleet, American Airlines currently operates the youngest fleet among the major US network carriers at 11.7 years, versus 16.3 years for Delta and 16.8 years for United.
