No New Aircraft for U.S. Airlines

From Northwest Airlines to American and Continental, it seems that all the major carriers are postponing the purchase of new planes. The nation will continue flying on aging, and sometimes filthy and noisy, aircraft until the airlines can afford the newer and therefore cleaner and roomier models. Any additional cash earned recently is being used to pay down post-9/11 debts. However, the carriers are planning on eventually replacing older fleets, but one industry analyst estimates that cost to be nearly $280 billion during the next 20 years. Also, so many international carriers already have the newer aircraft on order and therefore it will be difficult to even find new aircraft once domestic carriers are ready to buy. For related news