American Will Fly A321Ts Between BOS & LAX

Hope to see more 321T out of SFO!

I’m an AA loyalist and the SFO -> JFK F service is what won me over. I used to fly the route weekly pre-pandemic

United is back to flat beds, ps style service on SFO-BOS now (or at least it starts again very shortly). They never had it on LAX-BOS.

What’s interesting to me is that SF-BOS commands a decent premium to the NY flights simply due to lack of competition.

AA has briefly operated the 321T out of BOS to LAX before on one frequency, before the pandemic. They routinely would fly the 321T up from JFK and back. This is a full scale charge on DL's retreat, since DL is going all 737-800 on BOS-LAX, none of which have flat beds. Not sure it really matters whether there are flat beds on transcons right now as business travel isn't picking up steam.

Definitely interesting to see them try it again but happy to see it happen. It almost would seem like running the 788 on this route would make more sense albeit more seating in the back My assumption would be that this is a better market for Flagship Business than Flagship First on this route. Another option would be to sell and operate the first class pods on the 321T as business for this market but tack on an extra fee to reserve those seats as JetBlue is doing with their new Mint Studio.

@adam - interesting. I will have to try it out if I fly to BOS.

I like that AA has 1-1 seating in F, but UA has 2-2 seating in a 757 to EWR. I really like the extra privacy and I think AA should do a lot more to compete in premium markets with aircraft like those.

They are a high cost carrier by virtue of their debt load, and customer centric culture (at least pre-2014). Naturally would make sense to go for premium experiences.

If they don't upgrade the food and beverage to Mint standards AA will fail. Savvy HVFs aren't stupid.

@Lucky - uh, start date?

"The airline will also operate all flights to Los Angeles (LAX) on its signature Airbus A321T aircraft beginning Nov. 2. "
https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2021/American-Airlines-Uses-Partnerships-to-Grow-Its-Network-Offer-Customers-More-Choice-and-Provide-a-Premier-Travel-Experience-in-the-Northeast-NET-ALP-04/default.aspx

According to US DOT data, American's average fare in the BOS-LAX market was the lowest of all carriers serving the market pre-covid except for AS which has apparently dropped out of the market -and that includes when AA operated A321Ts in the market.

The A321T is the highest unit cost mainline aircraft in the US carrier fleet. Aircraft like B6' Mint A321 and DL or UA's premium cabin 757s which have "normal" sized coach/economy cabins have lower unit costs even with less fuel efficient engines.

Capacity for June in the market is down 33% with Delta the only carrier that has increased capacity and also is the largest carrier based on seats scheduled. United is the only carrier not scheduling multiple flights per day in the market.

American and JetBlue do not and cannot share revenue but can coordinate schedules. They can buy seats on each other via codeshare and exchange loyalty and lounge benefits.

A similar dynamic is playing out in JFK-LAX with AA and B6's individual capacity down from 2019 .

@lucky Will they be priced the same as before(same as current recliner seats), like when they put a321t's bos-jfk and charge the same as a crj/ejet? The very late NOV 2ND start date suggests no.

Defining a premium market upfront should determine whether a route will be successful. In my mind it means two or more carriers can operate profitably with lie flat seats. Boston does not seem to fit.

This has previously operated on BOS-LAX. Interesting to see if they do the nightly JFK-BOS repositioning flight with these, it's a really fun and cheap way to ride the A321T.

@ROBERT J FAHR

Both B6 and DL have operated lie flat business class consistently for several years on LAX-BOS. DL recently temporarily stopped because of the pandemic, but during normal times the Boston route is absolutely a premium market with two carriers offering business class, now soon to be three.

@greg Your point laughable. Customers who purchased first class on those routes rarely eat. They could maybe have an appetizer and go to sleep/ work and desire not to be interrupted. They appreciate the privacy, the flagship check in, and the flagship lounge access.
The thought that a customer would base a purchase based on food, says a lot on what kind of customer that is. Jetblue, does not offer any club access, and do not offer a meal oboard. It is more of a cold tapas style refreshment.

@AdamH United had the B757-200 with flat beds LAX-BOS from late Fall 2018 until at least June 2019. I fly that route often, usually on the eastbound red eye and westbound evening flights. They started out on both daily non-stops in both directions between the two airports. Then they tried just the later non-stops in both directions. It wasn't treated as a true premium route like EWR-SFO/LAX and BOS-SFO, so Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs) were available. I was lucky enough to get upgraded quite a few times. I was sorry they were discontinued. I hope they're offered again.