American 216
Sao Paulo (GRU) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Monday, March 12
Depart: 10:30PM
Arrive: 7:10AM (+1 day)
Duration: 12hr40min
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Seat: 6A (Business Class)
While I fly American all the time, this was my first time flying one of their 787-9s, and for that matter my first time flying one of their planes with B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats (they also have these on select 777-200s), which are different than the reverse herringbone seats they have on 777-300ERs and A330s.
I boarded through door L2, and turned left into the business class cabin, which had a total of 30 seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration.
American 787-9 business class cabin
I had assigned myself seat 6A, the window seat on the left side in the third to last row. I find these seats to be really sleek, and I like the dark finishes that American chose, which remind me a lot of Virgin Australia (this is about the only regard in which American is as stylish as Virgin Australia, though).
American 787-9 business class seat
With this type of reverse herringbone seat, the TV is mounted on the seat in front. The benefit of this is that the TV doesn’t swivel, and doesn’t have to be put away for takeoff and landing, as is the case in some other reverse herringbone seats.
American business class seat 787-9
The tray table slides out from underneath the entertainment screen, and can easily be adjusted and also folded in half.
American business class tray table 787
As you can see below, the seat has a shoulder harness, which has to be put on for takeoff and landing.
American business class seat 787-9
The B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats have ample enclosed storage. To the left of the seat were two compartments — the compartment further back was a small storage unit, big enough for a phone or a pair of glasses. The other compartment had the entertainment controller, USB outlet, 110v outlet, and headphone jack. You can also store stuff in there, if you’d like.
American business class seat storage 787-9
American business class seat entertainment controller 787-9
Immediately beneath that was a screen with seat controls, which was easy to use.
American business class seat controls 787-9
Underneath that was a small, exposed storage compartment.
American business class seat storage 787
The literature pocket, as well as a reading light, were behind all of that and to the left.
American business class seat literature pocket 787
On the aisle-side of the seat was another large storage compartment, which doubles as an armrest. This has to be placed down for takeoff and landing, but can then be raised during the flight.
American business class seat storage 787
These reverse herringbone seats are also extremely comfortable in bed mode, and the footwell isn’t too tight.
American business class seat footwell 787
One of the other fantastic things about US airlines is that they consistently have individual air nozzles at seats, which is a feature that I really, really appreciate, since I tend to get warm on planes. Too many foreign airlines decide not to install these.
American business class air nozzles 787
Already waiting at my seat on boarding was American’s fairly new Casper bedding, which I find to be just alright.
American business class Casper bedding
There were also Bose noise canceling headphones, which is an area where American beats their competitors, as there are very few airlines offering such high quality headphones in business class.
American business class Bose headphones
Also at the seat on boarding was the Cole Haan amenity kit, which I consider to be fairly good for business class. It had socks, eyeshades, a pen, tissues, a dental kit, mouthwash, lip balm, lotion, and headphone covers.
American business class amenity kit
There was also a bottle of water at each seat.
American business class bottled water
I could immediately tell that we had one excellent flight attendant in business class. As I got to my seat, flight attendant Rob had a big smile on his face and said “welcome aboard young man.” Seeing his interaction with each passenger was just such a joy. He was one of those people who just seemed to be naturally happy, and can’t help but make everyone he interacts with smile as well.
A few minutes after boarding, pre-departure beverages were offered (water, orange juice, or champagne), and then a few minutes later the menus for the flight were distributed.
American business class menu
Boarding was efficient, and by 10:25PM the door closed, at which point the captain added his welcome aboard, on behalf of himself and his three colleagues in the flight deck. He informed us of our flight time of 12hr12min, and our initial cruising altitude of 31,000 feet.
One interesting thing about this flight is that there were four empty seats in business class. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen an empty seat in longhaul business class, since usually the cabins fill up with those who have upgraded, as well as non-revs. But this flight was different.
Once the door was closed the Brazilian purser added his welcome aboard, and screened the safety video. We pushed back at 10:35PM, and started our taxi at 10:45PM. The Dreamliner has such beautiful mood lighting, which was used for the taxi, as well as initial climb out.
American 787-9 business class mood lighting
As we taxied out the crew took meal orders. It was interesting to see the contrast between how Rob did it (who was working the other aisle), and how the purser did it (who was working my aisle).
As Rob took meal orders he’d say “welcome aboard, once again. Like I said earlier, I’m Rob. Have you had a chance to look over the menu? What can I get you for dinner? And do you want me to wake you for breakfast in case you’re sleeping?” Meanwhile the purser just said “do you know what you want?” Service on US airlines sure is consistently inconsistent.
At 11:05PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 9L. As we climbed out I browsed the entertainment selection. American has a solid entertainment selection.
American Airlines entertainment system
American Airlines entertainment system
American Airlines entertainment system
I decided to watch “Brad’s Status,” which I found to be sort of interesting, though I thought the ending was horrible.
American Airlines entertainment system
Before starting the movie I checked out the airshow for our flight.
Airshow enroute to Los Angeles
One of the other great things about American’s 787s is that they have Wi-Fi, and it’s reasonably priced. A pass for the entire flight costs $19.
American Airlines Wi-Fi pricing 787
The internet speeds weren’t great, though…
American Airlines Wi-Fi speed 787
The service began about 20 minutes after takeoff, with warm towels.
American business class warm towel
At that point the meal service began. The menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
The purser and Rob rolled carts down each of the aisles with drinks to start. I ordered a glass of champagne and some sparkling water, and was offered (really chewy) warm mixed nuts to go along with it. American seems to have recently downgraded their business class champagne to Moutard Brut, which was drinkable, though not great. Drinks were served about 35 minutes after takeoff.
American business class mixed nuts, champagne, and sparkling water
About 20 minutes later the actual food was served. The appetizer, salad, and main course were all served on one tray, which I quite like for a late night flight. It’s one thing if you’re flying an airline like Austrian or Turkish, where the meal service is an experience, but on American you really just want to be fed something edible as quickly as possible.
American Airlines business class dinner service
The appetizer consisted of black-eyed pea hummus with cucumber and tropical fruit chutney. It was possibly the smallest appetizer I’ve been served on any airline ever.
American business class dinner appetizer — black-eye pea hummus
Then the salad consisted of seasonal greens with black rice and marinated hearts of palm, with balsamic vinaigrette, and was quite good.
American business class dinner — seasonal greens, black rice, marinated hearts of palm
For the main course I selected the Brazlian sea bass moqueca with basmati rice, snow peas, and cilantro. This dish was excellent, both in terms of how moist the fish was, and also in terms of the sauce. This was one of the best dishes I’ve had in American business class.
American business class dinner main course — Brazilian sea bass moqueca
Flight attendants roamed the aisles, and as each person finished their dish they’d clear the trays and offer dessert. I selected the cookie crumble ice cream, which was simple but good.
American business class dinner dessert — cookie crumble ice cream
Overall I thought the meal was good and efficient, and less than 90 minutes after takeoff service was done. On a late night flight like this, I appreciate that pace of service. I finished up the movie I was watching, at which point we had about 9hr30min remaining to Los Angeles.
Airshow enroute to Los Angeles
Airshow enroute to Los Angeles
Before going to sleep I visited the lavatory. There are two lavatories behind the business class cabin, though they’re shared with premium economy, so there’s often a queue. One of the lavatories was quite small, while the one on the other side was significantly larger. There’s also a lavatory in the front, but I guess they save that for the crew (I’m not sure if that’s actually a policy, but that’s what I was told).
American 787-9 lavatory
American 787-9 lavatory
At that point I tried to recline my seat, though found that it was broken. The purser spent about 15 minutes trying to fix my seat, though couldn’t. Fortunately seat 7A (right behind me) was open, so I could switch to that. I lucked out that there was an empty seat, as that’s exceedingly rare.
Once reclined I fell asleep almost immediately. As a side sleeper who likes to bend my knees with sleeping, I think the key is to sleep facing the window, because your knees can bend right near the storage compartment. If you face the aisle you have to bend your knees higher.
I woke up with about 3hr30min remaining to Los Angeles, so I got a solid six hours of sleep, and was feeling great. At this point we were approaching the Southern US.
Airshow enroute to Los Angeles
Airshow enroute to Los Angeles
I ordered a coffee, and got some work done on my laptop. The Wi-Fi was a bit faster at this point, as most people were sleeping.
American Airlines business class coffee
About 75 minutes before landing the breakfast service began.
American 787-9 business class cabin
The entire breakfast was served on one tray, and I selected the scrambled egg crepe with sautéed asparagus, chopped tomato salsa, and roasted chicken sausage. That was served with a side of fresh fruit, and a selection from the bread basket (which was described as banana bread or a croissant). The egg crepe was excellent, and a nice alternative to the usual omelet you’ll find on planes.
American Airlines business class breakfast
The “banana bread,” as it was called, was good too.
American business class breakfast — bread
30 minutes before landing the captain announced that we’d soon be commencing our descent. I undimmed the windows, and was treated to a spectacular sunrise.
Sunrise while approaching Los Angeles
Sunrise while approaching Los Angeles
View approaching Los Angeles
As we descended, Rob came around to each business class passenger, shook their hand, and said “it was a pleasure taking care of you today, come see us again real soon.” Class act.
Airshow approaching Los Angeles
Airshow approaching Los Angeles
At 7:20AM we touched down in Los Angeles on runway 25L. I’m surprised we didn’t have any delays, given the limited visibility.
Final approach to LAX
Final approach to LAX
Taxiing LAX
From there we had about a five minute taxi to Terminal 4. While the taxi was quick, we were parking at the far gate, which requires being towed in, so the engines were shut down, and then the process of being towed took a few minutes.
Arriving at gate LAX
American 787 business class bottom line
I feel like American does a good job with the fundamentals of business class. Business class is all about the seat and getting sleep, and in that sense this was an excellent flight, thanks to the reverse herringbone seat, the individual air nozzle, the solid pillow and blanket (though there’s room for improvement there), and the quick meal service. On top of that, American has good entertainment and Wi-Fi.
On this particular flight the food also happened to be very good, and the service from at least one flight attendant was excellent, so I’d say it was an all around great flight. Add in the fact that American is improving their lounge experience in the US with Flagship Lounges, and I’d say the business class experience on American is as good as ever.
I definitely have a slight preference for this reverse herringbone seat over the one on American’s other planes.
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