NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 20, 2011--AMR Corp. announced today that its American Airlines Inc. subsidiary (both rated B-/Negative/--) has placed orders for 460 narrowbody aircraft from Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS. The order has no effect on the ratings of AMR or American. American's commitment continues an aggressive program of replacing its large fleet of fuel-inefficient MD80 series planes, and includes the airline's first order from Airbus since the 1980s. The Boeing order includes a new version of the B737 with a more fuel-efficient engine, a project that we expect Boeing's board of directors to approve shortly. American will have access to about $13 billion of lease financing from Airbus and Boeing that cover the first 230 deliveries.
