1 week Ago By Mia Ping-Chieh Chen
On the evening of Wednesday, April 2, 2025, an American Airlines Airbus A319 , registration N823AW, was flown from Phoenix, Arizona (PHX) to Roswell, New Mexico (ROW), where it was landed and sent for storage. This particular aircraft, which had been in service for over two decades, is now being returned to its lessor and is officially leaving the airline's fleet. The move comes despite earlier statements by American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, who indicated that the airline had no plans to retire any of its mainline aircraft in the near future.
A 24-year-old aircraft FlightAware data shows that the Airbus A319 departed Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 19:14 local time and arrived at Roswell Air Center at 21:15, a full 18 minutes ahead of schedule. This information was shared by aviation watchdog JonNYC on social media and the aviation blog View From The Wing . The aircraft, delivered in 2001 and originally to America West Airlines, has had an interesting journey through several airline mergers.
It transitioned from America West to US Airways and finally to American Airlines after the two carriers merged in 2013, Planespotters.net data shows. The aircraft has been in service for over two decades, making it one of the older planes in American Airlines' fleet.
CEO said no retirement plans coming up However, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom stressed that the airline has no immediate plans to retire any of its mainline aircraft in a remark given during American Airlines' Q4 earnings call in January 2025. The airline has made significant investments in its fleet since the merger, giving it the youngest fleet among major US carriers, he added, stating, "We don't have retirements coming up." Isom said: "The good thing about the fleet that we've built up despite the difficulties that we have with supply chain and aircraft deliveries throughout, is that we spent since the merger, $30 billion plus in terms of new aircraft.
We have the youngest fleet. We don't anticipate any big retirements coming up. And we have the ability to flex this fleet in a very economic fashion should we find that conditions warrant expansion.
" Simple Flying has reached out to American Airlines for a comment, but a spokesperson wasn't immediately available. Farewell to some fellows American Airlines said in April 2020 that it would be retiring a number of older, less fuel-efficient aircraft earlier than originally anticipated due to record low demand. The airline's Boeing 767 and Embraer E190 fleets, which were initially scheduled to be retired by the end of 2020, have been formally retired.
The retirement of Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 757s has also been accelerated, while American has retired 15 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft that were flown by PSA Airlines. After years of storage and financial write-downs, the carrier sold the last of the US Airways-acquired widebodies. Economic pressures for the industry The beginning of 2025 is not a good year for the aviation industry.
View From the Wing previously reported that American Airlines has paused hiring flight attendants for the summer of 2025 amid growing economic concerns. Additionally, the blog also highlighted that American Airlines has been cutting staff , particularly at airport gates, where staffing has been reduced. These changes can be seen as a part of the airline's broader strategy to cope with financial pressures while maintaining operations in a volatile market.
The airline industry is also facing economic uncertainty due to new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump. These tariffs, which extend to a wide range of imports, including a 25% tariff on cars and reciprocal tariffs on over 50 countries, have caused turbulence in the markets. Following the announcement, US airline stocks plunged, with American Airlines seeing a 7% drop on Thursday, according to Forbes .
Earlier this year, American Airlines forecast a wider first-quarter loss than previously expected, with a loss per share ranging from $0.60 to $0.80, compared with its previous forecast for a loss of about $0.
20 to $0.40..
