Shortly after the start of the pandemic lockdowns, airlines responded to record low demand by retiring many older and larger aircraft types. American Airlines, after merging with US Airways and acquiring subsidiaries like PSA Airlines, was among them. On March 13th, 2020, Governor Greg Abbot of Texas declared a state of disaster in Texas as a result of COVID-19, and on April 30th, Dallas-headquartered American Airlines announced the retirement of five aircraft types in its fleet.