US Airways has placed a firm order for 92 Airbus airliners, including the first ever for the A350XWB by a U.S. airline. Re-vealed as an unconfirmed commitment during June’s Paris Air Show [Airbus sales boost confidence], the order for the A350XWBs includes 18 A350-800s and four A350-900s, all scheduled for delivery between 2014 and 2017. The contract also calls for delivery of 10 A319s, 40 A320s and 10 A321s by 2012, as well as 10 long-range A330-200s in 2009 and 2010. The order for the XWBs replaces an earlier commitment by US Airways for 20 of the original A350s, since superseded by the wider and more technologically sophisticated offering. [A350XWB more than catch-up effort]

Along with the backlog represented by this latest order, US Airways holds positions on another 37 A320-family airliners from earlier orders.