File this under “interesting, not surprising, and a sign of the times.”
In this post:
American will fly 4x daily 777s to Orlando
Understandably American Airlines is flying a lot of wide body aircraft on domestic routes right now, given international travel restrictions and the way that demand has shifted. We’ve mostly seen American fly 777s and 787s between hubs and to Hawaii, though the 777 is getting a new destination for the holidays, as noted by @IshrionA.
Between December 17, 2020, and January 4, 2021, American will fly four daily 777s between Dallas and Orlando. Three of those flights will be operated by the 777-300ER, while one will be operated by the 777-200ER.
American 777-300ER
777-300ERs are American’s flagship aircraft, featuring four classes of service, including international first class.
Presumably this plane is being flown to Orlando because that’s where the capacity is indeed, and not because there’s necessarily any premium demand.
As you’d expect, American isn’t actually selling first class or premium economy:
- Those who book business class can select first class seats at no extra cost
- Premium economy seats are being sold as Main Cabin Extra seats
American is actually flying 777s to Orlando as of December 2, though until the 15th it’s only 777-200ERs being flown to Orlando, with the 777-300ERs only making an appearance during the peak holiday.
American 777-300ER first class
777s are on lots of other domestic routes as well
As noted by @xJonNYC, American will fly 777s on all kinds of domestic routes in December, with a particular focus on Miami and Los Angeles. Among other routes, I see 777s scheduled:
- 2x daily between New York and Los Angeles (replacing A321Ts)
- 4x daily between Miami and Los Angeles
- 3x daily between Miami and Dallas
- 1x daily between Miami and Charlotte
- 1x daily between Miami and Chicago
- 1x daily between Charlotte and Los Angeles
- 1x daily between Charlotte and Las Vegas
- 1x daily between New York and Cancun
Those are a few that stand out, though there are plenty of others as well.
American 777 premium economy
Bottom line
It makes perfect sense that American is utilizing its 777s for domestic routes, given that this is largely where demand is right now. Still, there’s something about 4x daily Dallas to Orlando 777 flights, with three even being operated by 777-300ERs, that can’t help but make me say “wow.”
Taking advantage of RT LAX - MIA in December. 60,000 AA miles for 2 people R/T in biz. We got middle seats in the mini cabin.
Pretty spectacular deal. We can travel while also being smart about COVID. Life is too short to come to a complete spot IMO. I understand everybody has different risk tolerance levels... but I’m not going to stop living life.
Clearly they furloughed so many narrow bodied pilots that they cannot train displaced pilots fast enough to meet the demand of narrow body flying.
Awesome, I might take this from MCO!
AA will have no issues filling a 772/773 to MIA or MCO. I'd think they'd easily fill a 772/773 from DFW/ORD to FLL and TPA. But I doubt they'd make money on it. Some of the fares out of MIA on the 772/773 are outrageously low. I got ORD/MIA the 77W on the departure and the 772 on the return. $70 R/T Main Cabin and my upgrades cleared right at T-100.
AA 777's are awsome!
AA has a great route network and strategic hubs.
ONE WORLD IS AWSOME!
With the addition of Alaska and the Seattle hub, along with jetblues JFK AND BOS HUB.
UNSTOPPABLE!
AA More nonstop to Europe out of MIA once covid is under control!
@Flo - There are no hours requirements for pilots to remain current in the US, but we are required to complete at least 3 landings every 90 days. When we lose landing currency, which is also not uncommon for longhaul pilots even in normal times, we have to go fly the landings in a simulator to regain currency.
I’ve waited this long I’ll wait like a man until however long it takes for countries to open up again to US tourists. Then I’ll fly like 20 ultra long hauls. Stay thirsty my friends.
What happens to all the pilot licenses when entire fleets are grounded for weeks/months? I was under the impression that pilots must fly x hours/year to keep their licenses active/valid (or whatever you call it)
That's awesome!
I'd love to fly one of these flights, especially with some trips to Dallas coming up. But I don't know how comfortable I'd be flying during the holidays with the rise in cases. I still think I'll snag a seat just in case and fly my first "first class" seat :)
In addition to increased capacity these flights also have the benefit of keeping 777 pilots current during a time of scarce international flying.