Nothing New...
You have to go back years to find a US Carrier that was a launch customer or an inovator....United was the launch customer for the B777; and in years gone by Pan AM was first with the B707 and B747.
Top execs at US airlines are too busy filling their own pockets to think about trival things such as new aircraft orders. By admitting they have money they might have to give the workforce back some of the benefits/salary they all sacrificed post 9/11.
While the rest of the world is moving to more fuel efficient planes, with less co2 emissions (the likes of VS and NZ investigating bio-fuels) the country which is always the first to point the finger at China and India for being cruel to the environment has a commercial airline fleet that produces a great deal of unessessary co2 emissions. Another "Do as I say..." policies from that wise owl and gang that's been at 1600 since 2000...