Since 9/11 2001 the airlines in the U.S. have been extremely careful in ordering new planes. Would it not have been for foreign carriers, both Boeing and Airbus would probably have been out of business by now.
The American carriers are stuck with old fleets, requiring more maintenance and being less fuel efficient. Analysts are worrying that the U.S. airlines are likely to experience difficulties as they will need to scramble to order new planes, not only to replace old once, but also to accommodate growth. And it comes at quite a bad time when the plane manufacturers have record orders on hand and are likely to offer less favorable deals and longer delivery times.
USA Today has compiled the following list showing the average age of the fleet of each airline.
1 Northwest 18 years
2 American 14
3 United 12
3 U.S. Airways 12
5 Delta 11
6 Continental 9
6 Southwest 9