American Will Fly A321Ts Between LAX & MIA (For A Limited Time)

American Will Fly A321Ts Between LAX & MIA (For A Limited Time)

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American’s A321Ts are probably the swankiest planes in their fleet, as they’re A321 aircraft in a three cabin configuration.

How American’s A321T aircraft are configured

First class features 10 reverse herringbone seats with direct aisle access from all seats.

Business class features 20 fully flat business class seats, in a 2-2 configuration.

Economy class features just 72 seats, half of which are Main Cabin Extra seats. So it’s a pretty comfy configuration.

Where American flies A321T planes

American flies these planes primarily between New York and Los Angeles and between New York and San Francisco.

On top of that they occasionally fly them between New York and Boston just to kill time.

American has also sometimes flown these planes in other markets:

Well, American now has plans to fly the A321Ts in a new market, but once again only for a very limited time.

American will fly A321Ts between LAX & MIA

Between December 18, 2019, and January 6, 2020, American will fly the A321T on two daily frequencies between Los Angeles and Miami. Specifically, the following frequencies will be operated by the A321T:

AA1473 Los Angeles to Miami departing 9:40AM arriving 5:52PM
AA0914 Los Angeles to Miami departing 2:05PM arriving 10:22PM

AA0914 Miami to Los Angeles departing 10:12AM arriving 12:47PM
AA2289 Miami to Los Angeles departing 7:45PM arriving 10:25PM

Where will these planes come from? Over exactly the same dates, American will be reducing their flights between New York and San Francisco from 5x daily down to just 2x daily.

What’s the logic of this plane swap?

I’d note that American hasn’t officially put out a press release about this yet, but rather it was just part of the weekend schedule update. So it remains to be seen if American will put out a formal announcement about this, or if this is just a quiet adjustment.

One thing is for sure — American struggles with the A321Ts over the holidays. The planes are in spacious configurations, and over the holidays there’s not the premium business demand that they need to make these flights work.

The Los Angeles to New York route seems to still work fairly well that time of year, given the amount of Hollywood traffic flying back & forth. However, American isn’t nearly as strong in the San Francisco to New York market, so it’s not surprising to see them reduce service there over the holidays.

Los Angeles to Miami is an interesting choice, though:

  • American doesn’t seem to know what to do with the Los Angeles to Miami market; the airline mostly offers the “premium” transcontinental soft product onboard on these flights (including printed menus, more than two main course choices, pillows, etc.), but they don’t offer Flagship Lounge access or better seats, aside from a 777 once per day
  • There is a lot of demand to & from Miami in winter, both for those looking to visit Miami, as well as for those looking to connect to the Caribbean

So it seems to me like American is doing this not because they’re committed to offering this on the route long term, but rather because they figure there’s a chance this will perform better over the holidays on this route than between New York and San Francisco.

I wish they’d make this plane a permanent feature on the route, though that seems unlikely, since they more or less own the market. While JetBlue also flies from South Florida to Los Angeles with Mint, they don’t have nearly as many frequencies, and they also fly out of Fort Lauderdale.

What do you make of American’s decision to fly A321Ts between Los Angeles and Miami?

Conversations (12)
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  1. Eskimo Guest

    @John Adams

    I'm pretty sure if AA owns the market they would have more capacity than Delta, which was never the case. JetBlue is also another key player in that market.

    On the contrary, SFO-JFK is NOT a gold mine as capacity is decreasing across every airline, and I think AA lost the market that's why they pulled out more than others.

  2. Robert Scott Guest

    I gave up on AA. I don't know whether they are just revenue aggressive or don't know what they are doing.

  3. Sarah goodman Guest

    Business flight from LAX to Orlando on AA was miserable, literally. Business class was no different than economy.
    The brand new seats on these planes are like sitting on cement.
    Even the flight attendants were hating the entire plane configuration.
    Never again. Plus that nasty bus ride to the terminal after a long flight was unforgivable.
    No thanks.

  4. John Adams Guest

    STUPID MOVE - SFO-JFK is a GOLD MINE, and AA Owns The Market.

  5. Tone Guest

    I hope it easier seating a handicap person who needs assistance, we love flying AA

  6. Nancy McDonald Guest

    I am just curious. Getting older and do not want to be 15 hours on a plane in economy. Are any of those business air discounters legit?

  7. Brodie Gold

    Thanks for posting this! I had a flight that I no longer needed and was able to cancel without penalty due to the aircraft swap.

  8. Eskimo Guest

    Not much related but is NYC-SFO market shrinking?

    I think DL downgauge from few 767 to all 757. Same with UA they decrease few 757 into one 777. Now AA is flying from x5 to x2 daily.

    Or is it the Bay Area. UA pulled out EWR-SJC not too long ago too.

    Is airline RM predicting another tech bubble soon?????

  9. stvr Guest

    Rolling my eyes at their inability to get SFO right

  10. Ari Guest

    Great for those who want to make paid J connections to the Carib. Nicely done, AA.

    Award space unlikely to open on this flight-- except on Christmas and New Year's Day.

  11. beachfan Diamond

    Schedule still looks wonky on line, just on 12/18 but not 12/19 on LAX-MIA.

    But on 12/18, at the expense of the 777 it seems, so not cool

  12. Hiaperture Guest

    Wish they had scheduled a real red eye, but very cool opportunity, especially if they give I flagship lounge/dining access. Are they up now? Any AAnytime awards?

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Eskimo Guest

@John Adams I'm pretty sure if AA owns the market they would have more capacity than Delta, which was never the case. JetBlue is also another key player in that market. On the contrary, SFO-JFK is NOT a gold mine as capacity is decreasing across every airline, and I think AA lost the market that's why they pulled out more than others.

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Robert Scott Guest

I gave up on AA. I don't know whether they are just revenue aggressive or don't know what they are doing.

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Sarah goodman Guest

Business flight from LAX to Orlando on AA was miserable, literally. Business class was no different than economy. The brand new seats on these planes are like sitting on cement. Even the flight attendants were hating the entire plane configuration. Never again. Plus that nasty bus ride to the terminal after a long flight was unforgivable. No thanks.

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