American Airlines orders 460 new planes from Boeing, Airbus

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines is buying at least 460 new planes over the next five years in what it calls the biggest airline order in history.

And in a victory for Airbus, it's splitting the work between the European plane maker and Boeing.

American said today it will buy 260 planes from Airbus and 200 from Boeing Co. It expects the new, better-mileage planes to provide much-needed savings on fuel costs. American's current fleet is among the least fuel-efficient in the industry.

The jets carry a sticker price of more than $38 billion, although big airlines routinely get discounts. And American might have played one aircraft maker off the other to get a better deal.

AMR Corp., American's parent, also announced that it plans to spin off its American Eagle regional-flying subsidiary as a separate company.

The twin announcements overshadowed the news that AMR lost $286 million in the second quarter, as rising fuel prices wiped out an increase in revenue. The loss equaled 85 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 77 cents, according to FactSet. Still, AMR shares rose almost 4 percent to $5.11 in premarket trading.