Hastily-Retired American Airlines Boeing 757 Being Shipped To China
At the start of the global pandemic United Airlines decided to keep its options open on its fleet. No one had been more cautious about what Covid-19 would mean for travel than United. No one pulled down their operations faster to conserve cash. On March 10, 2020 – when other airline CEOs were talking up their awareness of the SARS-COV-2 virus, United’s Scott Kirby was planning for revenue to drop 70%. Yet United didn’t retire fleets of aircraft.
American Airlines, on the other hand, retired:
- Boeing 757s
- Boeing 767s
- Airbus A330s
- Embraer E-190s
Now, with Boeing behind in 787 deliveries, they haven’t had enough planes to fully rebuild their European network. They don’t have old, cheap planes that can fly long distances while experimenting with new routes. And the Airbus A321XLRs, narrowbody aircraft which will fly U.S. East Coast – Europe, are delayed as well and won’t arrive this year.
Many of those Boeing 767s went off to Amazon Air to work as cargo. Some of the 757s went to Northern Pacific (the startup which keeps changing its business model, and which has failed to see its cryptocurrency gain traction).
In late March American Airlines got much of its fleet on the ground for storage in a hurry. Boeing 757s, along with 777s, 787s, and 737s, went to Tulsa.
Planes Parked in Tulsa, Credit: American Airlines
Planes Parked in Tulsa, Credit: American Airlines
Now one of those retired Boeing 757s – which eventually made it from Tulsa to the desert in Roswell, New Mexico – has been opened, as though it were a time capsule. It’s headed off to China for a cargo retrofit. And while the plane has been painted over to obscure its previous owner, the interior is completely preserved.
Ok you 757-loving weirdos… Here’s the 1 min tour of this B752 heading into conversion at Xiamen. We will be #OMD345. Currently in ROW heading to HNL first. #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/tu58Wg5aAg
— Steve Giordano 🇺🇦 (@JTTsteve) January 30, 2023
At 20 seconds into the video you see the 2020 APEX airline rating sticker still beside the boarding door. American Airlines became an APEX 5 Star Airline in late 2018.
Inside the Boeing 757 you see the old Collins Diamond business class seats. They lie flat, but the plane lacked direct aisle access for these seats. There were no seat back entertainment screens, either. There was still material in the seat back pockets!
Here’s more from the trip:
Yet another @Nomadic_OMD op for what’s looking like the busiest January in a long time! OMD345 is a 757-200 heading to XMN for Cargo Conversion. ROW-HNL-GUM-XMN pic.twitter.com/W4CbLzzjX7
— Steve Giordano 🇺🇦 (@JTTsteve) January 30, 2023
— Steve Giordano 🇺🇦 (@JTTsteve) January 30, 2023
Quick-turn in HNL tonight for OMD345 pic.twitter.com/0JViitWluq
— Steve Giordano 🇺🇦 (@JTTsteve) January 31, 2023
Visual approach into Xiamen with an empty B757-200 (Ex American Airlines) – Part 91 Ferry Flight into HAECO for Cargo Conversion. Uniforms make clearing customs easier in China (hence no hoodie and ball cap 🧢) #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/uYMy5XI6WW
— Steve Giordano 🇺🇦 (@JTTsteve) February 2, 2023
(HT: AirlineFlyer)
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