The airline said the move involving 10 aircraft was an acceleration of already announced plans, and was not related to safety questions arising from the crash of an American A300-600 in November in New York that killed 265 people.
American, a unit of AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR - news), said the last of its Airbus (ARBU.UL) aircraft dedicated to transatlantic service flew from Boston's Logan airport to London's Heathrow airport on Wednesday.
John Hotard, a spokesman for the U.S.-based airline, said the carrier would boost seating capacity on those planes and use them for domestic and Caribbean service.
The company said in May it had planned to replace the A300s on transatlantic routes with Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - news) 767 and 777 aircraft by the end of 2003.
But because of schedule cuts after Sept. 11, the airline said there were enough 767s and 777s available to complete the switch now.
The airline vigorously denied the move was in any way related to recent calls by dozens of Airbus pilots at the airline to ground the A300s because of unanswered safety questions.
U.S. safety investigators probing the crash of the AmericanA300-600 are focusing on potential mechanical problems, a possible structural flaw with the tail fin, and actions by the crew.
Flight 587 bound for the Dominican Republic crashed Nov. 12 in a residential area shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. All 260 aboard were killed as were five on the ground.
The decision to complete the transition of the 10 A300s by the end of January was made in December, Hotard said.
American said its fleet of 34 A300s are better suited to domestic routes and service to the Caribbean and Latin America because of their range and capacity.
The airline said it would temporarily take the 10 A300s out of service to boost seating capacity from 178 to 232 on each plane. This is done by removing the business class seats needed for transatlantic flights.
``Any suggestion that the Airbuses are being put on the ground for any other reason is completely and categorically untrue,'' the airline said in a statement.