American Airlines to Retire A330-300

American Airlines to Retire A330-300

BY BEN S AGO 0 COMMENTS

American Airlines is retiring their A330-300 series which they inherited from US Airways when they merged in 2013. American Airlines has a total of 9 A330-300 in their fleet. The A330-300 served as the flagship for US Airways for many years flying mostly on routes out of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). They were flown on mostly international transatlantic routes and occasionally high demand domestic routes.

 

 

American A333
An American A330 departing CLT. Credit: Jack Goldberg

 

 

The American Airlines A330-300 was equipped with the "Envoy" suite and main cabin (no premium economy like on A330-200). All of the American Airlines A330-300 are currently sitting in storage at Roswell. According to Flightera.net the average age of the American Airlines a330-300 is 14 years. The American Airlines A330-300  was scheduled to be phased out by 2024 and replaced by the 787-9, but with Covid-19 affecting all airlines financially, American Airlines is retiring them to save on cost. Rumor has it that American Airlines will also retire the A330-200 but that is unconfirmed at the moment. The 777-200 will replace the A330-300 on some of its previously flown routes. 

 

 

American Airlines A332
An American A330 Landing at PHL. Credit: Jack Goldberg

 

 

There a lot of mixed feelings about the retirement of the A330-300 and its replacement by the 777-200 on some routes. While it was in service, the A330-300 was instrumental to the growth of US Airways and enabled it to become a truly global airline. We can only hope we get a few more years with the A330-200, and that possible the A330-300 might get a second life with another airline.

Ben S
-Charlotte based plane spotter -Queen City

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