American Holds Talks With Airbus on Fate of A350 Deal
- Airline’s president sees cost hurdles tied to small order size
- Jet deliveries already have been delayed twice after 2005 pact
An Airbus A350 at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 12, 2016.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
American Airlines Group Inc. is stepping up efforts to decide if an Airbus SE A350 order still makes sense for its fleet, forcing the European planemaker to try to defend another U.S. sale of its marquee wide-body jet.
The two companies have restarted talks about a twice-delayed deal for 22 of the A350-900 planes, a person familiar with the discussions said. A predecessor airline placed the order in 2005 and got a good value on a purchase that at current prices would carry a list value of $6.8 billion. But American President Robert Isom said the modest number of jets probably isn’t suitable for the world’s largest carrier.