In Europe, most network carriers have long since removed aircraft with 50 or fewer seats from their fleets. There are still a lot of aircraft in use in the USA, but American Airlines is now starting a trend: the small aircraft are to be phased out by 2030.

Formally, the Oneworld member itself does not operate a single aircraft that has 50 or fewer seats. These are operated by subsidiaries and/or subcontractors. American Airlines has now decided that these aircraft will be replaced by larger models by 2030. Scope clauses negotiated with unions mean that the Embraer 175 will play a special role.

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer has not been able to sell an E175 outside the United States of America for a long time. In the USA they have only recently be able to land a larger order again. Background: This model can usually be operated by subsidiaries or formally independent regional airlines in a wet lease for large carriers. However, it depends on the scope clause with the responsible union. The contracts are not uniform.

American Airlines believes the 50-seater has become prohibitively expensive to operate. European providers came to this conclusion many years ago, as the Lufthansa Group, for example, has long since separated from smaller jets and turboprops in this size class. For example, many Embraer ERJ-145s are currently flying for American Airlines, which will be affected by the planned phase-out.

This pattern was removed from the company's own Envoy Air last year. However, it was not until 2022 that some Bombardier CRJ-200s were brought back into the fleet under wet lease. In doing so, they went against the general trend, which they also want to accelerate. However, the carrier now emphasizes that this is only intended to be a temporary solution. From today's perspective, no aircraft with 2030 or fewer seats would fly for American Airlines from 50 onwards.

It can therefore be assumed that both the Oneworld member and subcontractors will procure numerous “suitable” machines in the next few months or years. Both new orders and the purchase of used aircraft come into question. The latter is likely to apply mainly to non-corporate wet lease providers, as they certainly do not want to lose their orders. Incidentally, American Airlines does not rule out the possibility that there could be adjustments to the route network. One or two destinations that only have low traffic could be served less frequently or be completely removed from the route network. These developments are also all too well known to European passengers, as major providers have behaved similarly in Europe.