American Airlines makes largest purchase in airline history

There was deep speculation in the airline nerdery about whether American Airlines was going to be making a purchase at the Paris Air Show, and though the event came and went without a spark of activity, a palpable sense of excitement has been humming ever since. After all, with one of the oldest fleets on the planet, there was no doubt that American needs to freshen up -- it was just a matter of when.

American Airlines broke that tension that week in a big way by announcing the order of a whopping 460 new medium and narrow body aircraft, the largest order in aviation history.

Perhaps more surprising was the way in which the order was split. For the first time, American begin flying equipment from European manufacturer Airbus, causing several in the community to question the "American" value of American Airlines. But the bottom line is the bottom line in this economy, and the official Flyertalk entity of @AmericanAir probably put it best:

"..as we are operating in a global economy, this investment makes the most sense for our airline and is in the best interest of our employees and customers. We are very proud of our heritage and home in the U.S."

If you want to learn more you can check out the official release over at American's news page. Otherwise, AP did a great job of wrapping up the events in the below video.

Filed under: Business, North America, United States, Airlines, News