US airlines have dozens of excess wide body aircraft right now, given all of the China flights that have been suspended for the coming weeks. For example, as of now American has suspended China flights through late April, though I’d be shocked if at least some of the cancelations weren’t extended beyond that.
For the most part airlines have just parked these planes rather than upgrading existing routes, and in some cases have gotten started on maintenance early. With just days of advance notice, it’s hard to generate additional demand, so for the most part it doesn’t make sense for them to fly these planes.
Well, it looks like American will be deploying some additional 777s and 787s on domestic routes in the coming weeks, as noted by JonNYC.
"- JFK-LAX, on a 772 April 7-24
– SFO-ORD, on a 788 March 28-April 24
– LAX-ORD, on a 789 March 29-June 3"— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) February 18, 2020
In this post:
American upgrades domestic routes
American will be deploying 787s and 777s on some domestic flights in the coming weeks. As far as I know these are fairly new additions, while American already had quite a few wide bodies in the schedule before that.
For example, being based in Miami, there are tons of 777s flying to Dallas, New York, etc.
Which wide body routes have been added?
777-200 between LAX & JFK
American will fly a 777-200 on the following frequency between April 7 & April 24, 2020:
AA56 Los Angeles to New York departing 7:30AM arriving 3:42PM
AA55 New York to Los Angeles departing 6:00PM arriving 9:22PM
American ordinarily exclusively operates this route with A321Ts in a three cabin configuration, so there are a couple of things that make this interesting:
- There are reverse herringbone seats in business class on the 777, which are very similar to the first class seats on the A321T
- The premium economy seats are just sold as standard Main Cabin Extra seats, so this is an awesome opportunity to snag a premium economy seat for a comfortable flight across the continent
American Airlines 777-200 premium economy seats
777-300 between LAX & MIA
American will fly a 777-300 on the following frequency between March 29 & April 24, 2020:
AA1314 Los Angeles to Miami departing 11:10PM arriving 6:47AM (+1 day)
AA1228 Miami to Los Angeles departing 9:45AM arriving 12:24PM
This is in addition to the daily 777-200 that American flies between Miami and Los Angeles. The 777-300ER also has first class, so you can expect to find that on this route.
American Airlines 777-300ER first class
787-9 between LAX & ORD
American will fly a 787-9 on the following frequency March 29 & June 3, 2020:
AA1598 Los Angeles to Chicago departing 6:00AM arriving 11:57AM
AA245 Chicago to Los Angeles departing 8:55PM arriving 11:15PM
American Airlines 787-9 business class seat
787-8 between SFO & ORD
American will fly a 787-8 on the following frequency March 28 & April 24, 2020:
AA1253 San Francisco to Chicago departing 11:45PM arriving 5:54AM (+1 day)
AA2798 Chicago to San Francisco departing 5:05PM arriving 7:39PM
What a treat to have a 787 on an otherwise very unpleasant redeye!
American Airlines 787-8 business class seat
Bottom line
If you’re flying American over the coming weeks, be sure to keep an eye on the aircraft types on various routes, as I wouldn’t be surprised to see some more 777s and 787s loaded into the schedule.
This is great for those in a premium cabin, since you could be going from a standard domestic first class seat, to a fully flat business class seat.
Even in economy it’s potentially good news. One of the best values in domestic travel is being able to snag a premium economy seat at the cost of a Main Cabin Extra seat. For AAdvantage elite members, this is basically a way to get a near domestic first class seat at no extra cost.
Has anyone noticed any other American wide bodies loaded into the schedule in light of the China cancelations?
And despite all this, CLT still get tired, old A333-300s (that were supposed to be retired 2 years ago) on their 2x a day flights to LHR.
Still, with those A321Ts lying around, maybe we’ll get one of those for a transcon. Nah, maybe not.
I'm also seeing JFK DFW on a 772 in April -- not sure if this is normal though.
This are great news; what I fail to understand is why AA does not consider MIA - LAX and vice versa a transcontinental route for the added perks offered as for other transcontinental routes such as JFK - LAX and JFK - SFO. Anyone knows ?
Any additional flights with/different aircraft being used on other airlines around the world?
"United, the 777 with 10 across seating is the worst option that should always be avoided."
Amen brother. It is an absolute crap product. Unfortunately it's the way a lot of carriers are going.
@Aniro- guess I picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue
Ummmm.....whaaaat?
Truly pathetic.
QR should be allowed to operate JFK LAX with 5/6th freedom rights. Say bye bye to old aircraft, terrible seats, food and 82 year old grandmas serving you. Young gals from QR are more resistant to Corona too.
Finnair have put a few A350s on HEL CPH and HEL JFK. Not sure how Corona related but the first one is unusual for sure.
Dallas to Las Vegas March 6th. Surprise upgrade to 787 business suite from my normal 737
@Aniro
AA is decent internationally, and actually quite good in premium cabins. Most of the complaints about AA are about the domestic product. Though honestly, all domestic US flying is pretty bad.
@MKLDH your ticket will only access Flagship Lounge, not Dining.
So the 77W departs MIA at 9:45am. MIA Flagship First Dining does not open until 1pm. Will AA open Flagship First Dining earlier for these flights, or are First Class passengers on this 77W just SOL?
@Chris, the typical A321's on this route don't even have seat power up front. The last one I was on looked like it hadn't been cleaned in 5 years. While still old and dumpy, an A330 on this route is several orders of magnitude better. God, AA just sucks.
I just booked my ticket for this special JFK-LAX route in April. On the sales page there is only Flagship First and no Flagship Business so I went ahead purchasing it, expecting to visit the Flagship First lounge at JFK. What bothers me now is the fact that the fare class on my receipt is I, which is for normal domestic first and Flagship Business, instead of A for Flagship First. Does it mean I...
I just booked my ticket for this special JFK-LAX route in April. On the sales page there is only Flagship First and no Flagship Business so I went ahead purchasing it, expecting to visit the Flagship First lounge at JFK. What bothers me now is the fact that the fare class on my receipt is I, which is for normal domestic first and Flagship Business, instead of A for Flagship First. Does it mean I will no longer be eligible for Flagship First ground experience? If so I think AA is intentionally putting misleading information on the sales page.
the 772 is probably coming from DFW- NRT which is replaced by 773.
I don’t understand the criticism of Americans Airlines by many, they are one of my favourite airlines with great hard product, staff and food in premium cabins. And I say this as a global traveler not a US citizen, when I can I fly American.
I don’t understand the 772 on JFK-LAX - is AA going to pretend half of the J cabin is actually F and half is J or are they just going to downgrade F passengers booked on certain flights?
The A330-300 IS an old dirty US Airways plane (still much better than the ratty pmUS 321s, though)
They're flying an A330-300 from PHL to PHX tomorrow night. Somebody must've fallen asleep drunk in a planning meeting? Phoenix & Philly only get old dirty US Airways planes.
AA also has a daily 777-200 on MIA-BOS, looks like it's the aircraft they rotate in to fly BOS-LHR
I rarely fly LA.
As an Economy passenger, on United, the 777 with 10 across seating is the worst option that should always be avoided. The 757 is best, with the 787 in the middle.
Is this true in AA? Is this also a downgrade for the majority of us?
Part of the problem is ramp space to park that many large aircraft that are usually in the air going somewhere, not requiring any ramp space.
Currently there is a 77W on the DFW-NRT route being used as 2 class cabin with 60 business class seats.
Interesting news that American would shuffle a 772 onto JFK LAX because American doesn’t use a 772 to China or Hong Kong.
Dfw-nrt 175 and 60 on the return are upgauged from 772 to 773.
I noted my DFW - SFO last weekend of March has a 787. As EXP could select Y+ seats. Here's hoping for an upgrade to biz!
re. 787-8s, Had an interesting experience on AA 93 ZRH-PHL on Tuesday. Halfway across Atlantic, most cabin power failed. Business class seats were stuck in whatever position they were when power failed and each seat had to be manually raised into position by flight attendants prior to landing. Of course the entertainment system was down, cabin lights mostly out, etc, etc.
I have NEVER had such an experience before.
Are the whistle blower complaints reported...
re. 787-8s, Had an interesting experience on AA 93 ZRH-PHL on Tuesday. Halfway across Atlantic, most cabin power failed. Business class seats were stuck in whatever position they were when power failed and each seat had to be manually raised into position by flight attendants prior to landing. Of course the entertainment system was down, cabin lights mostly out, etc, etc.
I have NEVER had such an experience before.
Are the whistle blower complaints reported last April about shoddy workmanship at the Boeing SC plant correct? 3 inch razor sharp metal shavings on wire bundles? Qatar Airways refuses to accept planes built in SC.
I had thought have the 787 base in PHL was a great thing. Now I wonder if the 787 is safe.
Looks like 787 on DFW-CUN starting in late March as well.
I wonder where the 321Ts will end up? Take advantage of downtime for maintenance? BOS-LAX?
Aha, so this is indeed something new. Saw a 777 service as one of the options the other day when checking for schedule, did consider this service to grab the 777 but on the other hand since I am in First, there should not be too much difference to the usual A321 seats - so decided to spend more time in the First dining (as I am coming from a connection).
Cheers!
LAX - MIA red eye in April is 777 too! Usually on the morning/midday gets 777.
@ Tommy -- Wow, VERY nice catch! Adding that now, thanks!