Several weeks ago, JonNYC shared a scoop about American Airlines’ plan to reconfigure its most flown wide body aircraft. This has now been confirmed by the airline, with an additional exciting detail.
In this post:
American 777-200ERs getting new business class & more
We recently saw American introduce all-new cabins for its long haul aircraft, including a new business class, premium economy, and economy. These cabins have so far been installed on newly delivered Boeing 787-9s (designated as 787-9Ps), and we know American will start retrofitting Boeing 777-300ERs in the near future.
However, there had been a big question mark regarding what would happen with the rest of American’s long haul fleet, including retrofitting all aircraft except the 777-300ERs. That’s where the latest update comes into play. Major changes are coming to the 777-200ER fleet:
- As of the fall of 2026, American will introduce Viasat Wi-Fi on these planes, replacing the existing Panasonic system
- After that, American will introduce all-new cabins on these planes, including the new business class seats, premium economy, and economy
This has been officially confirmed today by American. Not only that, but the airline has also stated that we’ll see a 25% increase in premium cabin capacity on these planes. The 777-200ERs currently have 37 business class seats and 24 premium economy seats, so it sounds like we could see around 46 business class seats and around 30 premium economy seats, give or take.
Details beyond that remain limited, including whether all 777s will get these cabins, or just some. American has 47 777-200ERs, which are an average of nearly 25 years old. They were all delivered between 1999 and 2007 (a large number of deliveries came in 1999, 2000, and 2001, which is why the average age is pretty close to the maximum age).
It wasn’t a sure bet that 777-200ERs were sticking around
As I mentioned earlier, up until recently, American had only announced plans to reconfigure its Boeing 777-300ERs with new cabins, in addition to taking delivery of new 787-9s with these cabins.
So there was no confirmation that 787-8s, 787-9s, and/or 777-200ERs would get the new cabins. It would be logical for 787-8s and 787-9s to eventually get updated interiors, since we assume these planes will stick around in the fleet for well over a decade.
However, the 777-200ER fleet retrofit wasn’t necessarily something that everyone was banking on. There had been a lot of talk about what American’s long term plan would be for this fleet, given that the planes are anywhere from 18 to 26 years old.
There had been rumors that American might consider ordering 787-10s to eventually replace many of these older planes. So it’s now confirmed that at least a good number of 777-200ERs are sticking around for many years to come
If the retrofit project starts after 2026, one assumes it’ll take at least a couple of years to complete, and then you’d want the planes to stick around for at least five years (and ideally a lot more) for the cabin investments to make sense.
So if this all ends up being accurate, it sounds like American has plans to fly these 777-200ERs well into the mid-2030s, at an absolute minimum, if not substantially beyond that. Of course we’ll see if only some of these planes get the new cabins while others are retired, or what.
I do find it interesting how American hasn’t revealed plans to reconfigure existing 787-8s and 787-9s, since those have the same types of seats as the 777-200ERS, and are guaranteed to stick around for a lot longer.
Bottom line
American Airlines plans to invest in its huge Boeing 777-200ER fleet. The planes are expected to first get Viasat Wi-Fi in late 2026, and then get cabin upgrades after that. Not only that, but premium capacity is expected to increase by around 25%, so that translates to a lot more business class and premium economy seats.
It’s nice to see that American has plans to introduce new cabins on more of its wide body planes, though it’s interesting that 777-200ERs will get upgraded before existing 787-8s and 787-9s. Confirmation that 777-200ERs are sticking around for many years to come is an interesting development as well.
What do you make of American’s Boeing 777-200ER retrofit plans?
I hope they upgrade the dreaded 787-800. Tose rocking chairs are not great.
AA needs to acquire some used 777-300ER from Cathay.
Back when Boeing could actually build a great plane, that worked!
The 777-200ER's are tanks!
So well made, powerful, fairly economical, given that they are paid off. These planes easily have another 10+ years of life on them. BA has the same mindset, given that they are neutral metal across the Atlantic, it makes sense.
and the best part is that fuel prices are very likely going to stay low so the fuel cost disadvantage is much smaller than the acquisition price.
These planes will likely stick around until the mid 2030s which will make them 35 years when they are retired
Great news - given AA's balance sheet, it's good to see them get the mileage they can out of their aging airframes. The last thing AA needs for the next 20 years is new high-capacity planes. Getting another 10 years out of the 772s makes a ton of sense - they're a great aircraft with plenty of life left.
My view is that the lack of small widebodies and large narrowbodies has hamstrung AA's...
Great news - given AA's balance sheet, it's good to see them get the mileage they can out of their aging airframes. The last thing AA needs for the next 20 years is new high-capacity planes. Getting another 10 years out of the 772s makes a ton of sense - they're a great aircraft with plenty of life left.
My view is that the lack of small widebodies and large narrowbodies has hamstrung AA's ability to pursue more creative routings and higher frequencies the way UA has. At the same time, DL has positioned themselves firmly atop the Big 3 by flying their 767s into the grave while investing almost everywhere else on the PX, both on the ground and in the air. If not for my strong preference for the AAdvantage program, I'd fly Delta exclusively despite the older fleet.
I'd like to see AA add more 788s and replace the 772s with 787-10s a decade from now. Save on the fleet and elevate the experience - it seems this is slowly starting to land with AA's leadership.
I'd be surprised if they refit the Super Diamond cabins on the Dreamliners for now - aren't we still seeing those seats installed in new aircraft at BA? Personally, I vastly prefer the sleeping comfort of the "dreaded" Zodiac Concept D configuration. Despite the awful storage and lack of privacy, it's my favorite of all AA's J cabins for a good snooze.
And now for the most popular post of the day ….
The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards 2025: this year’s winners are …..
Best city (worldwide)
Winner New York
Runners-up Sydney, Vancouver
Don’t you just love a winner? …. :-)
Well done Esk, you spotted my deliberate omission. I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to wind up the neigh sayers, such a wheeze and you were the only one paying attention …. :-)
And now for the most popular post of the day ….
The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards 2025: this year’s winners are …..
Best short-haul airline:
Winner British Airways.
Runners-up easyJet, Jet2.
Best long-haul airline:
Winner Emirates. Runners-up British Airways, Singapore Airlines.
Best city (Europe)
Winner London. Runners-up Rome, Lisbon.
Best country or region (worldwide)
Winner New Zealand. Runners-up Canada, Caribbean.
Don’t you just love a winner? …. :-)
Loser.
:-)
you're a gigantic asshole
…. and you JonathanNYC, are nothing short of a humourless third rate Walter Mitty wannabe. You bite like a Florida snapper. All that I need to do now is to thank you for your gullibility and the laugh …. :-), :-), :-) ….
P.S. Do look into your mirror …. Yes! That is your rear orifice staring back at you …. :-)
@JonNYC
There’s so much winning right now . All wars are being stopped and countries are lining up begging to do business with US. $20 trillion is being invested into our economy.
I don’t care what you do.
Hopefully you and your grandmother enjoy swanky American on a 28 yr old 772 once travel resumes to Kyiv.
Beautiful. These 'Flagship Suites' are long-overdue. The 789, a321XLR, and 777s, should each have them. The 321T for transcon are so dated, broken seats, etc. I can live with Soho over Chelsea at JFK if they consider the most premium cabin on that aircraft to be Business. Besides, First Dining has been closed indefinitely at LAX anyway (and there are no special lounges at SFO). AA really should bring those new birds for MIA-LAX at...
Beautiful. These 'Flagship Suites' are long-overdue. The 789, a321XLR, and 777s, should each have them. The 321T for transcon are so dated, broken seats, etc. I can live with Soho over Chelsea at JFK if they consider the most premium cabin on that aircraft to be Business. Besides, First Dining has been closed indefinitely at LAX anyway (and there are no special lounges at SFO). AA really should bring those new birds for MIA-LAX at least (so there can be lie-flat again for Ben!)
Team Tempe barged in taking out J seats from LAA 772/788, only to walk bAAck later. Sounds familiar? Penny Wise Pound Foolish for a decade.
On a side note, I wonder if the 772 retrofit (ahead of 788/789 decision) is simply due to the age of the cabin. 787s got the Concept D and SuperDiamond seats later than those on 772s, closer to the retirement/refurbishment point.
Great to hear American officially announce it. Also stellar to see they’re not jumping on the Starlink train that enriches illegal immigrant Elon Musk.
Viasat on the 787-9P was stellar in August!
Why not starlink?
This would have been a great opportunity to do so. Starlink blows Viasat away. It's cheaper and quicker for an airline to install. My recent QR AKL-DOH had flawless connectivity with Starlink. I can't say the same about my average AA Viasat flight. While Viasat is better than ATG or Panasonic, it still suffers from latency issues and dropouts.
Had many great flights in F on the 777-200 to EZE, NRT and LHR. Pretty easy award redemptions back when it was available. Too bad they decided to eliminate F.
Flagship First is overrated. We don't need swivel chairs. These new Flagship Suites are a major improvement for everyone in 'premium' cabins.
Great news. 777s are terrific planes. Looking forward to the new suites. And my recollection is that the leaked LOPA had the MCE seats being retained as well.
@ Peter -- Was there a leaked 777-200ER LOPA that I missed?!
My bad, I'm thinking of the leaked 777-300 retrofit LOPA where MCE went from 28 seats to 30 (although pitch was reduced by 1"). Sorry, feel free to remove the comment!