Finally it seems as though AA is going to be installing a gorgeous new interior on its new deliveries! It’s nice to see some new finishes that aren’t just drab and grey.

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2022/A-Private-Premium-Experience-in-the-Sky-American-Airlines-Introduces-New-Flagship-Suite-Seats-FLT-09/?utm_source=News_Alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsroom_Alerts

Notably, no mention of Flagship First in the press release. 77Ws will get 70 of the new suites, surely replacing First.

Also, confirmation that the A321T will be phased out. Assuming A321XLRs will replace them? Disappointing to see the last true First Class in the US be eliminated, even if the product wasn’t competitve.

Almost certainly the end of Flagship First. The finishes look stunning, was not expecting something so high-end looking from AA.

A shame true first seats are gone, but AA’s current offerings aren’t competitive. I would have liked to see a huge, lux suite for the 77W, but the industry is gravitating away from F.

I wonder what’s in store for narrowbody domestic jets, new seat covers to match the latest offerings?

-Rowen

Well done AA. Nice and stylish improvements!

Well done AA. I don't love the color palette, but this is a huge leap for AA and great news.

I get it but interesting that there is no changes for Y??? All premium upgrades.

A page out of United’s premium-heavy playbook… Quite a change in strategy from reducing premium cabins just a few years ago! Looks great.

Wonder why not on the 772s…

TWFlyGuy wrote:

I get it but interesting that there is no changes for Y??? All premium upgrades.

Y will be getting the same new seats that are on the most recent 788 deliveries, but will have new seat covers. Some photos in the press release linked above show a glimpse of the Y cabin.

interesting the similar feel of the 789 and A321XLR... looks very oppulent.

Obviously color schemes are relative, but I think the new look and feel of the cabin looks fantastic. So much lighter/brighter than the current dull cabins with their dark navy and gray interiors.

The light blue tones of the Y cabin look especially nice IMO. I just wish the seats covers were cloth over the uncomfortable vinyl...

ERJ170 wrote:

Wonder why not on the 772s…

Because the 772s ain't getting any younger. By the time these seats are introduced in 2024, the oldest 772 will be 25 years old, and the youngest will be 19. There really isn't anything wrong with the 772 now (other than the horrible Zodiac Concept D seats)...they have lie flats in J, relatively modern IFE systems, and premium economy.

I would be surprised to see a widebody order to replace them within the next 3-5 years.

Is the 321XLR premium economy seat the same/similar seat as the Delta 321neo first? They look very similar.

How many Y seat will have these airplanes

77W : 70 C + 44 W + ? Y
789 : 51 C + 32 W + ? Y

USAirALB wrote:

Because the 772s ain't getting any younger. By the time these seats are introduced in 2024, the oldest 772 will be 25 years old, and the youngest will be 19. There really isn't anything wrong with the 772 now (other than the horrible Zodiac Concept D seats)...they have lie flats in J, relatively modern IFE systems, and premium economy.

I would be surprised to see a widebody order to replace them within the next 3-5 years.

I could see replace the 47 777-200ER with an mix order of 20+ 787-8 and 30+ 787-9. Makes most sense to me so as to increase the flexibility of the 787 fleet as the mix could completely take the place of the passenger and cargo aspects of the 777-200ER.

Just another crazy question, but would it make sense for AA to just drop First all together and make their narrowbody fleet Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.. for consistency?

The premium economy class looks stunning!

Also the new Business class really do look like JetBlue A321LR seats except it is reversed. I can't wait to see it.

So AA will have 2 layouts in B789s in future it does appear.

Pottok wrote:

How many Y seat will have these airplanes

77W : 70 C + 44 W + ? Y
789 : 51 C + 32 W + ? Y

789 will have 18 Y+ and 143 Y for a total count of 244 seats on board.

77W hasn’t been fully announced yet.

Pottok wrote:

How many Y seat will have these airplanes

77W : 70 C + 44 W + ? Y
789 : 51 C + 32 W + ? Y

My calculation is
77W Y will be reduced from 218 to 188-192 (assuming 6 rows of J between door 1 L/R and 2 L/R and the whole J section is within 1 L/R and 3 L/R)
789 will be reduced from 224 to 153. (3 rows of Y before door 3L/R [with window side only 2 rows] and assuming Y seats count is the same between door 3 L/R and 4 L/R)

Looks nice in the promo photos. Too bad it's more than a year away before we can experience the real thing. Seems a little premature to announce, what's the marketing purpose of such an early teaser?

Looks amazing!

It looks like the seat is the Adient Ascent, which QR and HA also use on their 787's. I wonder if UA is looking at a Polaris plus mod to add doors? I believe that it is an option that sanfan offers on the Optima.

The premium economy in the A321 looks very nice. Finally some headrest wings, instead of simply using the man’s shoulders next to you.

Continental767 wrote:

789 will have 18 Y+ and 143 Y for a total count of 244 seats on board.

77W hasn’t been fully announced yet.

Currently AA squeezed 132 Y seats between door 3 and 4. Judging from the AA's released photo on B789 with 3 rows of Y before door 3 (21 seats with first row only 3 seats), it means AA now have to squeeze 140 Y seats into that section, increase of 8 seats. I guess the aft section of wardrobe and galley by door 4L/R will be gone to make room for the additional 8 seats (2 rows of 2 seats each side of the aisle).

Still have to admit I miss the old “Barkalounger” seats from years ago. They were like sitting in your living room recliner. Wide and soft unlike the padded boards of today. I flew an AA 787 recently in first. Was not impressed with the comfort at all. Hope this will be an improvement!

Interesting to see even Y is getting a brown-toned headrest. Wonder if that'll also be carried over to the rest of the narrowbody and RJ fleet.

Sigh. Another nod to the obnoxious dolts who carry the proper-color credit card whilst the folks who scrape together enough money for an occasional vacation get further crammed into "seats" in the back, undoubtedly further burdened with more fees and indignities.

IFlyMGN wrote:

Still have to admit I miss the old “Barkalounger” seats from years ago. They were like sitting in your living room recliner. Wide and soft unlike the padded boards of today. I flew an AA 787 recently in first. Was not impressed with the comfort at all. Hope this will be an improvement!

Couldn't agree more. Sadly, this is consistent across pretty much all carriers I have flown recently and I doubt that the new AA product will be an improvement. I think we lost the industry's "war on cushions"......

IFlyVeryLittle wrote:

Sigh. Another nod to the obnoxious dolts who carry the proper-color credit card whilst the folks who scrape together enough money for an occasional vacation get further crammed into "seats" in the back, undoubtedly further burdened with more fees and indignities.

Sadly, I have to agree with that as well. As a broad shouldered 6'5" guy, I actually can't fly long haul Economy on a good share of carriers any more. The increased use of 321XLRs across the pond won't make that any better, either. So far, Delta is my "safe haven", let's hope that'll last.

Regardless, seeing a 2-2 Premium Economy on AA's 321s is actually a welcome improvement. I think it will easily beat FI's "Business Class", and hopefully be priced better.

ERJ170 wrote:

Just another crazy question, but would it make sense for AA to just drop First all together and make their narrowbody fleet Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.. for consistency?

No, it wouldn't make sense for marketing purposes.

First is the highest cabin of service on HA/AS/UA/DL/AA domestically, and if AA were to rename their Domestic First cabin to Business, it would make it seem as if the product was somewhat inferior to everyone else's First product.

Pottok wrote:

How many Y seat will have these airplanes

77W : 70 C + 44 W + ? Y
789 : 51 C + 32 W + ? Y

Have they announced the seat count breakdown for the 321XLR?

So that 70C 777 just screams JFK to LHR route

Lovely product anyway

Opus99 wrote:

So that 70C 777 just screams JFK to LHR route

Lovely product anyway

Yup, similar to UA's J-heavy 76L aircraft type.

ERJ170 wrote:

USAirALB wrote:

Because the 772s ain't getting any younger. By the time these seats are introduced in 2024, the oldest 772 will be 25 years old, and the youngest will be 19. There really isn't anything wrong with the 772 now (other than the horrible Zodiac Concept D seats)...they have lie flats in J, relatively modern IFE systems, and premium economy.

I would be surprised to see a widebody order to replace them within the next 3-5 years.

I could see replace the 47 777-200ER with an mix order of 20+ 787-8 and 30+ 787-9. Makes most sense to me so as to increase the flexibility of the 787 fleet as the mix could completely take the place of the passenger and cargo aspects of the 777-200ER.

Just another crazy question, but would it make sense for AA to just drop First all together and make their narrowbody fleet Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.. for consistency?

I’m thinking full 787-9 replacement of the 772s particularly if you think about the updated 260T 787-9 which American takes delivery of from 2024

dmstorm22 wrote:

Opus99 wrote:

So that 70C 777 just screams JFK to LHR route

Lovely product anyway

Yup, similar to UA's J-heavy 76L aircraft type.

Exactly, can’t wait to experience it

Continental767 wrote:

Notably, no mention of Flagship First in the press release. 77Ws will get 70 of the new suites, surely replacing First.

I'm not convinced AA ever understood the value of Flagship First. There's been numerous articles written about the place that First has in today's super-premium Business product world, but if it is to exist it's core role is as a halo affect that positively impacts perception of the brand and willingness to pay to experience it, even if for lesser products. For example, Emirates Economy and Business products aren't all that special, aside from the A380 lounge/bar setup, but it's opulent First Class product leads many to assume that every product offering they have is also superior. Air France's First makes us think their Business must also be nicer than the average product. Lufthansa's First helps overshadow its completely subpar Business experience.

AA never backed up an okayish hard product with a really good soft product, which made it uncompetitive to the other First Class products and undesirable for many, which meant it had most of the costs with few of the benefits to the rest of their offerings. Especially since, on shorthauls, they are a full-service airline that delivers products like an LCC.

Huge digression though. This hard product looks fantastic, in both PY and J and wide- and narrow-bodies. Very nicely done.

The new finishes remind me a lot of QF and LX. Current cabins have very uninspiring interiors so this is a huge upgrade, JFK-LHR will be amazing on the OW side of things with both partners having similar products.

70J and 51J for the 77W and 787-9 respectively. It’s like AA finally understood that they have partners in almost all the important business destinations they might need to serve and that brings in tons of premium demand. I know experts are predicting a huge downturn in terms of premium demand but with AA and UA with their high premium configs it feels like a big bet is being made.

Feels like for the first time DL is a laggard, I wonder if a new high J cabin is in the works over in ATL or if they’re happy with the current breakdown.

When i started flying in the late 70s, the 707s and 727s had orange seats with dark brown accents. When F/C was just two wide seats next to each other, on a 707 you just sunk into them. They were enormously comfortable and i remember looking out at the strobes flashing against the engine at night.
Then it became leather in first and blue in coach (we didn’t change to the “main cabin” for awhile”. )Forward years ahead to the 777-300. I worked it to GRU, HKG, and had the privilege of deadheading twice in FC from LHR. To me, the most beautiful section was business. The f/as had tons of work to do before boarding. Water, menus,blankets,pillows, amenity kits. There was so much stuff that it was difficult to find a place,for it all. I cannot remember if we placed the Bose headsets prior to boarding or after. The Bose cart was like an armored car. Inventory was extremely strict.
People have said the on the 300, first was just like business with more amenities. But just 8 people in individual pods. On the outside of the pod, your seat number was lit up. It was truly a lovely experience.
My reaction to the new interiors is i think they are amazingly beautiful.The lie flat bed looks cozy . I am very pleased with the large reduction in blue. The brown leather headrests combined with the slightly darker, classier blue .Wow. That A321X is something else. Could someone tell me the expected seating capacity with those installed? Also i sure would appreciate seat width and seat pitch comparisons. I am glad to read the positive comments about their choices. It is really rough to start with an airline that you were SO proud of, and retire with it in the category of Spirit.
Also, and i promise this is my last comment, I believe i have read where AA ranks behind DL and UA in terms of product. ( lets not get into the staff). Do either UA or DL have something like this now? Or will AA move up to the best interior ( i know, they will begin developing their own competitive interiors)? Also did they go ahead and remove IFE from the 319 and 320/321? The 737 didn’t even have them did they? Thanks for your patience everyone. I give a huge star of approval to the photos above.I apologize for getting off topic at times. Have a great day.

764 wrote:

IFlyVeryLittle wrote:

Sigh. Another nod to the obnoxious dolts who carry the proper-color credit card whilst the folks who scrape together enough money for an occasional vacation get further crammed into "seats" in the back, undoubtedly further burdened with more fees and indignities.

Sadly, I have to agree with that as well. As a broad shouldered 6'5" guy, I actually can't fly long haul Economy on a good share of carriers any more. The increased use of 321XLRs across the pond won't make that any better, either. So far, Delta is my "safe haven", let's hope that'll last.

Regardless, seeing a 2-2 Premium Economy on AA's 321s is actually a welcome improvement. I think it will easily beat FI's "Business Class", and hopefully be priced better.

AA and the other airlines know the price conscious people will cram themselves into Y pretty much no matter what. They will keep it incrementally competitive with other airlines but no more than that. Recall AA tried increasing pitch in coach in the 80's or 90's and found they couldn't charge more for more room so they scrapped the idea.

Until there is a firm metric showing people in Y are willing to pay more to get more, there will not be anything beyond a cramped seat and minimal service in Y.

Interesting - looks like panel flooring for the 78 galleys? Have to wonder how noisy that will be with carts in action.

Wow, this looks really nice. Impressive! Love the red touches.

ozark1 wrote:

Also, and i promise this is my last comment, I believe i have read where AA ranks behind DL and UA in terms of product. ( lets not get into the staff). Do either UA or DL have something like this now? Or will AA move up to the best interior ( i know, they will begin developing their own competitive interiors)? Also did they go ahead and remove IFE from the 319 and 320/321? The 737 didn’t even have them did they? Thanks for your patience everyone. I give a huge star of approval to the photos above.I apologize for getting off topic at times. Have a great day.

Delta certainly has a competitive product on the A350 and A330NEO already flying now (Delta One Suites). Their A330 fleet remains competitive with AA's current business class and UA's Polaris seat, though some would argue the Polaris seat offers more privacy. As for the 767 fleet, the -400 is pretty good, the -300 is falling behind UA and AA's current offering, though having all-isle access is better than the 2-2-2 layouts found on some of UA's international fleet in my opinion.

As suspected, business class is being branded as Flagship, and will be more about the overall experience than the cabin, similar to Delta One and Polaris.

AA bets there is no slow down in premium demand and that business travel will get back to normal. UA did also with 60 J seats on the 77W.

chonetsao wrote:

Also the new Business class really do look like JetBlue A321LR seats except it is reversed. I can't wait to see it.

Actually it's not reversed, B6 has them oriented the same way. Pretty sure it's the same product in different finishes.

mikejepp wrote:

Pottok wrote:

How many Y seat will have these airplanes

77W : 70 C + 44 W + ? Y
789 : 51 C + 32 W + ? Y

Have they announced the seat count breakdown for the 321XLR?

In the link above they breakdown the C and Y+ numbers as 20 and 12 respectively.

questions wrote:

As suspected, business class is being branded as Flagship, and will be more about the overall experience than the cabin, similar to Delta One and Polaris.

I thought the same as well, but if you look on AA's site they already call their long-haul lie flat product 'Flagship Business', so the fact that it's shown in the cabin isn't necessarily new or indicative, just in line with their current branding.

That said, I chance that Flagship First is dead.

Continental767 wrote:

Also, confirmation that the A321T will be phased out. Assuming A321XLRs will replace them?

According to the PR "American will continue to offer lie-flat seats on its transcontinental routes departing New York and Boston"...
Only the new A321XLR will feature lie-flat, isn't it?! So it seems the most logical consequence...

Opus99 wrote:

So that 70C 777 just screams JFK to LHR route

Lovely product anyway

Well, let's wait and see. For the hard product for sure, I agree. But with 70 Premium seats, will the service as personal and attentive as before in First which it replaces, I doubt...

SonomaFlyer wrote:

764 wrote:

IFlyVeryLittle wrote:

Sigh. Another nod to the obnoxious dolts who carry the proper-color credit card whilst the folks who scrape together enough money for an occasional vacation get further crammed into "seats" in the back, undoubtedly further burdened with more fees and indignities.

Sadly, I have to agree with that as well. As a broad shouldered 6'5" guy, I actually can't fly long haul Economy on a good share of carriers any more. The increased use of 321XLRs across the pond won't make that any better, either. So far, Delta is my "safe haven", let's hope that'll last.

Regardless, seeing a 2-2 Premium Economy on AA's 321s is actually a welcome improvement. I think it will easily beat FI's "Business Class", and hopefully be priced better.

AA and the other airlines know the price conscious people will cram themselves into Y pretty much no matter what. They will keep it incrementally competitive with other airlines but no more than that. Recall AA tried increasing pitch in coach in the 80's or 90's and found they couldn't charge more for more room so they scrapped the idea.

Until there is a firm metric showing people in Y are willing to pay more to get more, there will not be anything beyond a cramped seat and minimal service in Y.

Agreed, but since there seems to be no ceiling on what people will pay on the top end, why not use that to finance making things better for the great unwashed?

ERJ170 wrote:

USAirALB wrote:

Because the 772s ain't getting any younger. By the time these seats are introduced in 2024, the oldest 772 will be 25 years old, and the youngest will be 19. There really isn't anything wrong with the 772 now (other than the horrible Zodiac Concept D seats)...they have lie flats in J, relatively modern IFE systems, and premium economy.

I would be surprised to see a widebody order to replace them within the next 3-5 years.

I could see replace the 47 777-200ER with an mix order of 20+ 787-8 and 30+ 787-9. Makes most sense to me so as to increase the flexibility of the 787 fleet as the mix could completely take the place of the passenger and cargo aspects of the 777-200ER.

Just another crazy question, but would it make sense for AA to just drop First all together and make their narrowbody fleet Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.. for consistency?

I would expect the 772 to be replaced by the updated 787-10. Similar capacity & closer to the 772's range. Are there many 772 routes at AA that the 787-10ER cannot do.