17 Years Later: A Look Back At American Airlines’ Fokker 100s

American Airlines had a fleet of 75 Fokker 100s. Delivered between 1991 and 1994, they were used when American also had used the likes of the B747SP, DC-10, MD-11, Shorts 360, and other equipment long confined to history. American used its Fokker 100s until 2004 and branded them ‘Luxury Jets.’

A brief introduction to the Fokker 100

Nowadays, the Fokker 100 remains an important regional jet, but really only in niche circumstances. They are mainly seen in remote areas, especially in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Iran, and Africa. Use has changed significantly since American – which operated more examples than any other carrier – had them.

Aside from being strong and sturdy, the Fokker 100 had a lower maximum takeoff weight than comparable aircraft, such as the B737-500, but could carry a similar number of passengers. This meant stronger economics, at least in theory, and would have helped to attract American.

Unusually, the Fokker 100 was operated by American mainline rather than American Eagle. While they had a two-class layout, that changed to a 56-seat, all-first configuration when the carrier, now the world’s largest, used the type from Love Field, Dallas’ downtown airport, in an attempt to remove Legend Airlines.

American’s second most-used aircraft in 1995

By 1995, 26 years ago, all of American’s Fokkers had been delivered. In that year it had 129,303 departures and 13% of the carrier’s flights, according to the USA’s Department of Transportation’s T-100 dataset. No other year would see more flights by the rear-engined jet.

The speed of the Fokker 100’s introduction meant that it had more departures in 1995 than any other aircraft except the MD-80, as shown below in order. Of course, the Fokker’s smaller size meant that it fell to fourth for passengers carried, behind the MD-80, B757, and B727.

1. MD-80
2. Fokker 100
3. B757-200
4. Saab 340
5. ATR-42
6. ATR-72
7. A300-600
8. B767-300
9. B767-200
10. DC-10-10
11. MD-11
12. DC-10-30

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A look back to 1995

1995 was American’s peak year for the Fokker. Some 87 routes with at least 50 departures were operated, and the top-10, shown below, had about a one-third share. When all routes are added, the type had slightly more departures from Dallas, now the carrier’s largest hub, than O’Hare.

1. Chicago O’Hare to Minneapolis
2. Dallas Fort Worth to Houston Intercontinental
3. Dallas Fort Worth to Minneapolis
4. Dallas Fort Worth to Colorado Springs
5. Dallas Fort Worth to Monterrey
6. Chicago O’Hare to Atlanta
7. Chicago O’Hare to Nashville
8. Dallas Fort Worth to McAllen
9. Chicago O’Hare to Newark
10. Chicago O’Hare to Rochester (MN)

Why did American retire the Fokker 100?

American’s Fokker 100s operated for 13 years between 1991 and 2004, not a particularly long time given it was a standalone sub-fleet with a sizeable number of aircraft. Of course, 9/11 happened, resulting in a big recession and huge financial consequences. This cemented the decision to retire them, along with:

• The bankruptcy of Fokker, meaning maintenance costs and lack of support became a problem, especially as the aircraft were used intensively (unlike niche Alliance Airlines in Australia)
• The entry and fast growth of similar-sized and more modern regional jets on regional airline labor contracts rather than mainline. How could American itself compete against more cost-competitive alternatives?
• American’s hubs at Nashville, Raleigh Durham, and San Jose all closed, at which the Fokker 100 was set to provide mainline capacity. Its hub at St Louis also closed, freeing up MD-80s that were redeployed with less need for the Fokkers

Did you fly any of American’s Fokkers? Share your memories and experiences in the comments.