In March 2024, American Airlines announced plans to retrofit its Airbus A319 & A320 aircraft, to add more first class seats. This announcement coincided with American ordering 260+ Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer jets. There’s now an update, as it sounds like this project will start in the near future, so we’ll soon start to see these new cabin interiors.
In this post:
American refreshing Airbus jets with more first class seats
American plans to refresh its Airbus A319 and A320 fleet starting in the near future. With this project, we’ll see the planes get power at every seat, larger overhead bins, and new seats with updated trim and finish.
Perhaps most exciting of all is that each of these planes will be getting an extra row of first class seats:
- Airbus A319s will go from eight first class seats to 12 first class seats
- Airbus A320s will go from 12 first class seats to 16 first class seats
American claims that this is in response to customers’ increasing demand for premium cabin seats. A 33-50% increase in first class seats on these aircraft is significant. Hopefully it leads to more AAdvantage upgrades, though in reality, a lot of unsold first class seats nowadays are upgraded with cash.
So, what’s the timeline with which this project will take place? As usual, JonNYC has the scoop, and it sounds like we can expect the following:
- The first A319 will be reconfigured very shortly as a prototype, and then this fall, we’ll see A319s start to be overhauled during their standard heavy maintenance checks
- Starting this winter, we’ll start to see planes sent in exclusively to be reconfigured, so that this project can be completed at a fast pace
- The plan is to reconfigure the legacy American A319s, then then the legacy US Airways A320s, and then the legacy US Airways A319s
Prototype for the 32 legacy American 319s starts next week. They'll do the overhaul during heavy visits in the fall. Then the cabin only visits start in winter. 320s will come after that.
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 9, 2025 at 3:19 PM
LUS 319s coming last since they got the new interiors after the merger
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
American claims that premium seating in the fleet is expected to grow by more than 20% between 2024 and 2026. However, it’s not clear to me if that’s a percentage of total seats, or just an absolute increase. Unfortunately American doesn’t have plans to increase first class capacity on its Boeing 737s (800s and MAX 8s) or Airbus A321s (ceos and neos) beyond the current 16 and 20 seats, respectively.
For context on how these planes fit into American’s fleet, the airline currently has 132 A319s and 48 A320s. Most of these were inherited by American during the merger with US Airways. The A319s are an average of over 21 years old, while the A320s are an average of over 24 years old. While they’re used throughout North America, you’ll find these jets the most in the Northeast.
Sadly enough, the 32 legacy American A319s are first to be reconfigured, and those are also American’s only “standard” narrow body jets with seat back TVs. So expect for those screens to be ripped out.
Expect Airbus A319 & A320 cabins to get tighter
On balance, updates to these aircraft are probably good news, in terms of more first class seats, consistent power ports, and larger overhead bins. For the past several years, American’s focus has been on having a consistent Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 fleet, and soon we’ll see the airline focus on its A319s and A320s.
The thing to keep in mind is that as American reconfigures these aircraft, we’re not only seeing more first class seats installed, but we’re also seeing overall capacity increase, meaning that seating will get tighter.
For example, Airbus A319s currently have 128 seats, comprised of eight first class seats and 120 economy seats. Capacity will soon increase to 132 seats, identical to what you’ll find on Delta, where there are 12 first class seats and 120 economy seats.
I imagine it’ll be the same story on A320s, with American following Delta’s lead. American’s A320s have 150 seats, comprised of 12 first class seats and 138 economy seats. Capacity will probably increase to 157 seats, including 16 first class seats and 141 economy seats. Or maybe they’ll keep it just under 150, so they can avoid adding an extra flight attendant (since one is required for every 50 seats).
No wonder Delta does better with revenue — the airline is great at cramming seats into (largely very old) planes, but mood lighting and seat back entertainment make people forget about that. American could learn a thing or two.
Bottom line
In the near future, American will be adding a row of first class seats to its Airbus A319s and A320s, meaning the planes will have 12 and 16 first class seats, respectively. These planes will get full cabin overhauls, including larger overhead bins, power at every seat, and a tighter cabin. American will be able to increase the overall capacity of the cabin while also adding a row of first class seats.
These changes are a mixed bag, though on balance I’d consider this to be a positive development. I am sad that American will be ripping out TVs from the 32 A319s that have them installed. For American’s domestic fleet, they’re basically the last reminder of American’s brief attempt to become more premium around a decade ago.
What do you make of American’s Airbus cabin changes?
Disappointing because the A320 F seats are the closest thing in the fleet to old school seats with actual padding vs the shite Oasis cardboard thin seats.
After years of elite status with American, I left when they began their "race to the bottom ". I normally fly premium cabin, and the American is an inferior product, both their hard product and their soft product.
Ahhhh..... So add 4 more 'marginally' better seats up front while screwing the vast majority of the untouchables in the back of the bus whether they're seated or pissin' in the further miniaturized lavs. Ditto for the poor F/A's struggling to perform their duties in similarly miniaturized galleys and a mickey mouse lav-mounted jump seat !
So, more "first class" seats with a comparable pitch to Qatar economy while further increasing the DVT risk in economy. Nice.
I don’t understand why AA doesn’t install TVs in first class and MCE. It is another differentiator for premium seats while not wasting weight on passengers who are booking on pure price. No brainer.
That seems like a really good idea.
Have to assume they reduce seat pitch and put in smaller restrooms. Perhaps as these transition - they will not sell the last row of F and open it only near the end when they have a defined tail number.
I would assume AA (and any airline) is not making more first class seats available to accommodate upgrades. Obviously there's more demand for cash upgrades.
I’m not so sure they’ll get to 157 seats on the 320. At 150, they are already at max capacity for FAA mandated 3 flight attendants. At 157, they would be required to add a 4th flight attendant since 1FA is required for every 50 passengers. Not sure the extra 7 seats would help profit lines with labor costs. Considering the new 787 are going from 8 to FAA minimum 7 required FAs to align...
I’m not so sure they’ll get to 157 seats on the 320. At 150, they are already at max capacity for FAA mandated 3 flight attendants. At 157, they would be required to add a 4th flight attendant since 1FA is required for every 50 passengers. Not sure the extra 7 seats would help profit lines with labor costs. Considering the new 787 are going from 8 to FAA minimum 7 required FAs to align with Delta, I don’t see AA adding seats to 320. They are minimizing expenses as much as possible with labor.