As of 2026, American Airlines has no plans to bring back the Airbus A330 fleet to its active operations. The airline retired its entire fleet of A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft in 2020 as part of a fleet simplification strategy accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. By retiring these older wide-body jets, American focused its long-haul operations on the more fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777 families. This "commonality" allows for reduced maintenance costs and easier crew scheduling. While some rumors of a return surfaced during aircraft delivery delays from Boeing, American has instead focused on its massive order of Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which are designed to fly long-distance, lower-demand routes that were previously served by the A330s. The retired A330s have mostly been sold to other carriers or sent to long-term storage ("boneyards"). Travelers looking for the classic wide-body experience on American will primarily find themselves on 787s or 777s for the foreseeable future.