There’s an exciting update for American Airlines’ long haul fleet, as shared by JonNYC (who is on quite the roll at the moment…).
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, up until now, there has 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. According to JonNYC, 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
Details beyond that remain limited, including how the layout of these aircraft will change, and 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.
Let me of course emphasize that this hasn’t officially been announced, but JonNYC tends to have a pretty good track record. 😉
Why I’m kind of surprised by this development
As I mentioned earlier, up until this point, 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 isn’t necessarily something I was banking on. There has been a lot of talk lately 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 to now hear that these planes are getting new cabins suggests that the 777-200ERs are staying in the fleet 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.
We’ll mark this as “developing” for now, but I’d consider it to be a somewhat unexpected update, especially since these planes don’t have bad cabins as is.
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. 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 could get upgraded before existing 787-8s and 787-9s.
The fact that 777-200ERs are seemingly sticking around for many years to come is a new development as well.
What do you make of American’s Boeing 777-200ER retrofit plans?
I am a little confused about the calculation on the average age of these 772 planes. If they are delivered between 1999-2007, then the oldest one should be 26 years old. How can the average age of these 47 planes together is 25 years old?
We’re adults here, we don’t need a winking emoji in every article you post. Thank you.
(>ᴗ•) !
Someone hates fun.
There are those who post herein that appear not to be aware of one of the idiosyncrasies of the website. People who know, people who have something to contribute to a blog thread, tend to offer the readership the simple courtesy of annotating their comment to the intended recipient. In such a way one knows if the comment is serious, or, just another website troll wasting everyone’s time.
Perhaps Ben’s website host will update the...
There are those who post herein that appear not to be aware of one of the idiosyncrasies of the website. People who know, people who have something to contribute to a blog thread, tend to offer the readership the simple courtesy of annotating their comment to the intended recipient. In such a way one knows if the comment is serious, or, just another website troll wasting everyone’s time.
Perhaps Ben’s website host will update the script to include an automated response notation to accommodate those too lazy to bother themselves.
Ben, I'm a little intrigued why you're apparently having a few problems understanding AA's updated plans for these B777-200's ???
A few days ago, you posted an excellent article contrasting the actual numbers of AA's, DL's and UA's wide-body fleets. It was patently evident that AA's numbers were comparatively wanting, when compared to their competition.
To most people, the move to 'keep what AA has' and do a re-fit makes absolute sense. When you consider...
Ben, I'm a little intrigued why you're apparently having a few problems understanding AA's updated plans for these B777-200's ???
A few days ago, you posted an excellent article contrasting the actual numbers of AA's, DL's and UA's wide-body fleets. It was patently evident that AA's numbers were comparatively wanting, when compared to their competition.
To most people, the move to 'keep what AA has' and do a re-fit makes absolute sense. When you consider the backlog for ordering new / replacement OEM frames, the issues with the supply cycle for seats etc, surely AA's move makes perfect sense. It give them time (and certainty) whilst maintaining and adding to their existing order book. It also provides a viable backstop against existing / future Boeing problems and reschedules, while Boeing wrestles with challenges to their certification problems with the B777-9 / 8's and B737MAX7 etc. Those seem to change monthly of late ...
I'd suggest that AA's move is smart (although I could see some new w/b orders emerge, possibly in the next 6 months). It maintains AA's existing CAPEX spend on new frames and provides a breathing space to accumulate some additional profit from the current and next quarter.
What I will be more interested in seeing (when AA officially announce this refit via a PR) is whether the re-fits will include a dedicated international First Class and or Premium Economy. Surely. a premium-heavy layout would be great for addressing weight issues and help generate addition revenue on these frames. Lastly, while these frames are 20+ years old, they are proven workhorses, with very few issues. The refit will be ideal for an additional 5-7 years .. well within their stated life-cycle.
Would it have anything to do with 1) dissatisfaction of the worn-out Concept D seats and 2) Team Tempe removed seats from the ~40J config and now they regret for not having enough J seats to sell?
In hindsight, it's also interesting that both AA and UA have gone back to "mainstream" seats after developing their own proprietary ones (Concept D for AA, and Polaris for UA).
This is AA we're talking about. I have no confidence that this plan so far in the future is set in stone. Will change, probably to be "enhanced" for the worse to cut some costs (this is AA after all, and cutting costs is the easiest way for the execs to hit their annual bonus targets).
The last AA 777-200ER was delivered in 2002. I think they got one frame in 2007 as a one off, second hand from another carrier (AeroMexico maybe) for spare parts. Anyway, the fleet was ordered in 1996. Deliveries began in 1999 and ended in 2002.
The biggest thing to me is the Viasat WiFi...It's absolutely criminal how long they've stuck with Panasonic.
@Ben
Any idea what Delta is planning to do with their B777-200LR which have been flying for Air India?
Both airlines couldn’t agree on extending the leases/sale and AI is now forced to return the aircraft to DL.
DL has reportedly sold them to another party which is why DL, not AI, chose not to renew the lease.
Maybe Qatar or Thai? The two seem to be willing to take whatever they can get their hands on. Or maybe Philippine Airlines as it'll be cheaper than their A359s?
Potentially QR, as THAI have recently said that they only want to lease widebodies rather than buy them, short term, 3-5 years, to cover the delay for the 787s.
TG is actually in talks right now to lease 7 ex-AA A330s, which will be an interesting addition to their fleet. Let's see how that pans out...
Anything that gets rid of the rear facing seats on the 777-200 is a winner decision!!
Any chance American will retrofit most but not all of the 200’s and retire the very oldest of them?
This is fantastic news. Would rather fly on a 777 than a 787 any day of the week (although these days I think the A350 wins the prize). I have no problem with old planes if they are well maintained - it's been a cornerstone of DL's strategy for years, and if AA wants to copy that, terrific! I think the LOPA for the -300's looks great (including preserving MCE seating) and I personally like...
This is fantastic news. Would rather fly on a 777 than a 787 any day of the week (although these days I think the A350 wins the prize). I have no problem with old planes if they are well maintained - it's been a cornerstone of DL's strategy for years, and if AA wants to copy that, terrific! I think the LOPA for the -300's looks great (including preserving MCE seating) and I personally like it a lot more than the 787-9 LOPA. So here's hoping the -200's are retrofitted well!
One of the biggest strategic AA mistake was to cancel the A350 order. Not only are the airplanes much more comfortable than the legacy 777 and especially the narrow 787, but they would have been delivered. Of course they were motivated by Boeing's cheapness, which backfired spectacularly.
Guess they No faith in Boeing to deliver anything on time. Tack on 5 years + to expected delivery date
Agreed. 200ER are thirsty, but bombproof and AA will make money instead of waiting for the new 777 unicorns.
Thirsty? Maybe compared to the low density they had for the first 10+ years of their lives.... Once they went 10 across and upped capacity.... definitely less thirsty per person.
yes, 772ERs burn about 25% more fuel per seat than the 787-9 or A359 and about 15% more than even the A333 (CEO).
fuel prices are likely going to stay low. even if some people don't like seeing more fossil fuel burned, no party can afford to cut fuel supplies and send energy prices soaring. Not just here but around the world.
Tim, your fuel figures are a little off. At least according to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_aircraft
+1
To me it's a no confidence vote in Boeing's ability to deliver promised planes on time: better safe than sorry.
Not even airbus is delivering promised planes on time.
Delta is about to pull the trigger on 787-10s, delta of all people
And it’s American who doesn’t have the confidence in Boeing because of delivery delays.
Oh please, American just doesn’t have the ability to take on more widebodies right now
Boeing has sold over what? 800 jets this year… that confidence talk is rubbish
Also given the fact that American themselves have said Boeing has improved dramatically
Seat providers have their own timely delivery issues as well.
I don’t think anybody’s 787s are 5 years late besides Lufthansa who actually is to blame for that.
Secondly, American does not have the wherewithal like delta and united to buy more widebodies right now and I think they’ve made that clear.
But the other I don’t know? 800 orders that Boeing has gotten this year, maybe those customers obviously don’t care about delivery times like American does?