American Airlines said it will receive seven fewer 737-800 airplanes from Boeing Co. this year because of production delays, and expects the first delivery of its 76 new planes near the end of the first quarter.
AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, reported Wednesday a net loss of $340 million for the fourth quarter of 2008, or a loss of $1.22 per share.
Delays at Chicago-based Boeing, caused mainly by a 56-day Machinists’ strike in 2008, means the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline will receive only 29 737s this year compared with 36 that had been expected. It will receive 39 of the Renton-built 737s in 2010 and eight in the first quarter of 2011.
American also announced that it won’t use older MD-80 airplanes to fill in for the seven 737s it won’t receive this year. That means the airline will have 1 percent less mainline capacity in 2009 because of the Boeing plane delay.
In October, American said it plans to buy 42 Boeing 787-9 airplanes worth about $8 billion at list prices, with the right to purchase up to 58 additional Everett-built 787s.
