AA in talks with Airbus..

[Matt Molnar]

Color schemes for the carbon fiber 320s, and 787s? ;-)

Official renderings...

A321:


A319:

[Ari707]

I know at the end they were able to polish the A300, are there any polished A320's? From the looks Jetstar's look painted silver

[Ari707]

also interesting how the media keeps saying how American has an all boeing fleet, and this is a break through for Airbus, They seem to forget that the MD-80s they are replacing weren't originally Boeing,

[JZ]

As AA uses 757 extensively on trans-Atlantic routes, it means we will see 737 or A320 on trans-Atlantic routes in the future. I only know Alaska and Aloha having ETOPS certified 737, not sure if A320 is ETOPS certified.

Another interesting commentary is how the history has come full circle. The jet age began with narrow-body jet planes able to complete Atlantic crossing. Fifty years after that, we began to see more and more narrow-body jets on trans-Atlantic routes. In the future, 707's little brother will likely serve the same routes.

[yankees368]

I only know Alaska and Aloha having ETOPS certified 737, not sure if A320 is ETOPS certified.

From Wikipedia (take its accuracy with a grain of salt): All variants are able to be ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certified.

[PhilDernerJr]

A lot of it, as I understand, is not that the aircraft TYPE can become ETOPS certified, but if the individual aircraft that the airline has can get them certified, and maintain it.

[yankees368]

A lot of it, as I understand, is not that the aircraft TYPE can become ETOPS certified, but if the individual aircraft that the airline has can get them certified, and maintain it.

That is correct. It is just another option that the aircraft can be outfitted with.

[hiss srq]

ETOPS is a program dependant on a multitude of things. First, engine dispatch reliability record of a carrier. Second, vendors, certain part vendors do not qualify for ETOPS, third, proving runs to verify the airlines ETOPS compliance program matches the dispatch reliability program laws. This means developing the correct inspection program or sourcing anothers. AA has a great ETOPS package as it is today. The new triple spool engines are supposed to be ETOPS out of the box which will be a good thing because if they were going to buy V2500's the process would be extensive. No carriers currently operate an ETOPS fleet using the V2500 family engine. The CFM on the other hand is certified. I am still blown away by this order.