While this is only a rumor as of now (and has been rumored for some time), we’re getting an increasingly good picture of what premium transcontinental flights could look like at American Airlines in the future.
In this post:
The basics of American’s A321T fleet
American operates a special subfleet of Airbus A321s (known as A321Ts), which operate premium transcontinental routes, including from New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County.
These planes are unique, and among the most comfortable ways to fly within the United States. They feature just 102 seats, and include four seating options:
- There are 10 first class fully flat reverse herringbone seats with direct aisle access, in a 1-1 configuration
- There are 20 business class fully flat seats, in a 2-2 configuration
- There are 72 economy seats, with 36 of those seats being Main Cabin Extra, featuring extra legroom; all economy seats have personal televisions, unlike the rest of American’s domestic fleet
American to replace A321Ts with A321XLRs
For now this is just a rumor, but the always knowledgeable @xJonNYC reports that American intends to eliminate its Airbus A321T subfleet, starting around 2024. While I imagine this is subject to change, here’s what that would likely entail:
- A321Ts would be configured in the standard A321 layout, featuring 190 seats, and would be taken off premium transcon routes; these planes are an average of “only” nine years old, so have quite a bit of life left in them
- American has 50 Airbus A321XLRs on order, which will be delivered starting in 2024; these planes would eventually be flown on premium transcontinental routes, in addition to planned transatlantic service
- American’s A321XLRs are expected to feature business class, premium economy, and economy, so that would mark the end of American offering three-cabin first class on transcons; however, odds are that American’s new A321XLR business class will be at least as good as the current A321T first class
The logic here makes sense for the most part. On the one hand, A321XLRs are kind of “wasted” on transcon routes, which they have a lot more range than standard A321s (which can operate these routes without issue).
On the other hand, American is focused on fleet simplicity, and there is something to be said for having fewer subfleets. Planes could then be operated on both premium transcontinental and transatlantic flights. Furthermore, American’s premium transcon business class isn’t really competitive anymore, with Delta and United mostly offering direct aisle access business class on these routes.
What does that mean for the future of American first class?
American is the only US airline to offer a “premium” first class:
- American’s Boeing 777-300ERs have eight first class seats
- American’s Airbus A321Ts have 10 first class seats
The decision to even offer first class came before the merger between American Airlines and US Airways, and suffice it to say that the US Airways management team (which is still there) has been skeptical of first class ever since.
With the plan allegedly being to eliminate first class on A321Ts, I can’t help but feel like first class is on the way out for 777-300ERs as well. Keep in mind that American allegedly plans to introduce new business class seats on some upcoming 787 deliveries. I imagine these will eventually also be installed on existing 777s, in which case I’d guess first class would be eliminated at the same time.
While I don’t think many people will miss first class as such, I know American’s excellent Flagship First Dining facilities would be missed. Personally I wouldn’t necessarily count on those being cut, though. They’re located within existing Flagship Lounges. I suspect American would just change the way these are monetized, just as we’ve seen the recent introduction of American Flagship Business Plus fares, which include Flagship First Dining.
Bottom line
While nothing is confirmed, it seems that we’re starting to see what the future of American’s premium transcontinental flights could look like. American is taking delivery of A321XLRs starting in 2024, and it sounds like those planes will also be used for premium transcontinental flights. If that’s the case, American will reconfigure A321Ts into the standard domestic configuration.
For passengers this would likely be good news, in the sense that American would have a much improved business class product on premium transcontinental routes. The A321XLR business class product is likely to be better than the A321T first class product.
At the same, this would almost certainly spell the end of “premium” first class at American Airlines, as I can’t imagine American will keep around first class just on its subfleet of 777-300ERs. American has kind of been headed that direction anyway, with increasingly little differentiation between the first & business class soft product.
What do you make of these American A321T rumors?
Recently flew a 321T in June. Major disappointment as is the usual on AA. 2700 for a one way F LAX-BOS, and Flagship Dining was not available! Would have flown DL if I knew this!
Americans losing money and You can bet 3-cabin 1st class is all part of it. Adios to the fairly ridiculous first class dining in the airports. American will be looking to cut anything that doesn’t make money or they are going to be in huge trouble.
This is America West thinking they did the same thing with US when they merged took out all the drop down screens on the airbus they said to save fuel no other airline did so downgraded first class service etc take it from a retiree
I am sure that if the America West tools from Tempe could get away with having just a couple of "big seats upfront" like Spirit and them cram in as many seats as possible in coach at a 28 inch pitch like Spirit they would. They have no desire nor to they know how to offer a true premium product. Right after the "merger" Hector Adler took a knife to AA product and service, his...
I am sure that if the America West tools from Tempe could get away with having just a couple of "big seats upfront" like Spirit and them cram in as many seats as possible in coach at a 28 inch pitch like Spirit they would. They have no desire nor to they know how to offer a true premium product. Right after the "merger" Hector Adler took a knife to AA product and service, his catering came right out of a state prison and tasted as such. AA fliers revolted and he brought some of it back, but still not what it was. Parker said himself he wanted to be more like Spirit then anything else. Its easier to treat them like crap. I saw this coming when I was working for AA and was praying the merger would fall through. AA got stuck with the worst of the worst.
I would be terribly upset if they replace the A321T or reconfigure it in a way that makes it not stand out from the rest of the A321s American has.
@Howard Stern I'm surprised - or maybe not - by those complaining that a FA asked them to lower their window shade. It's nice you want to look out the window, but having some empathy for the rest of the cabin would be simply a nice thing to do. In fact, no one should have to ask - be aware of your surroundings. I'm a flight attendant for a different airline. 90% of the time...
@Howard Stern I'm surprised - or maybe not - by those complaining that a FA asked them to lower their window shade. It's nice you want to look out the window, but having some empathy for the rest of the cabin would be simply a nice thing to do. In fact, no one should have to ask - be aware of your surroundings. I'm a flight attendant for a different airline. 90% of the time First Class is dark - no matter the time of day. It has always seemed to me that those folks fly a lot and don't need to look out the window like a 10 year old on their first flight. Sleepy time is subjective and you making the determination that it's not is just inconsiderate.
I like to look out the window. Being in first class doesnt change that and 2 million miles in 25 years doesnt either.
Sorry, Chris, but Howard is not in the wrong. He picked and paid for a seat by the window so he can do as he pleases. Also, this is an absurd ask during a daytime flight. The other guest should have picked a window seat themselves and they could have jurisdiction over their own shade.
American wants to be Viva Aerobus.
The 321T and the 77W are the last vestiges of Horton's ill-fated premium AA turn-around plan before AmericaWest dba USAir dba AA took over things.
What might have been ... RIP lAA.
Unfortunately, Parker managed to sell AA labor on the notion that he would offer more for labor so AA labor rejected the AA standalone reorg plan. No one can ever go back and replay scenarios that didn't happen but I suspect that there are alot of AA employees that aren't convinced they got the deal w/ Parker they had hoped for.
As a flight attendant at another major airline, I have many friends at AA. In fact, I had been hired by AA right at the merger, so setting up my training class was taking longer than expected and flying charter for military folks all over the world had become tiring. I finally applied somewhere else and was in training in 4 weeks. I was always disappointed I didn't wait it out longer, however my friends...
As a flight attendant at another major airline, I have many friends at AA. In fact, I had been hired by AA right at the merger, so setting up my training class was taking longer than expected and flying charter for military folks all over the world had become tiring. I finally applied somewhere else and was in training in 4 weeks. I was always disappointed I didn't wait it out longer, however my friends who have been their a long time said it's probably best I didn't jump on the AA bandwagon. They all complain that the airline has gotten super cheap (like US Airways cheap). When I hop on them, which is regularly I still find their service to be the best and most logical in the industry.
All that said, we did cancel our Advantage Club cards last month. The Admirals Club simply wasn't worth $495/year each. I wish they would get back American management to help but like all of us. AA is still giving away First Class upgfadss much more easily than the other USl
I never understood the point of lie flat seats on most transcon flights
Unless you're on the eastbound overnight, or the last westbound after a hard day on Wall Street, I would think the people most likely be up front are the people who have work to do.
Who's going back to bed on an 0800 West Coast departure?
You'd be surprised I've had the FA ask me to lower my window shade on a 9:30AM EWR-FLL UA 757 Lie Flat Business Class Trip because the person across the aisle 3 seats away from me wanted to sleep. I told her it's 9:30AM and I want to look out the window, it's not sleepy time. And that was that. The window stayed open. I also had a FA on a AA 777 ask me...
You'd be surprised I've had the FA ask me to lower my window shade on a 9:30AM EWR-FLL UA 757 Lie Flat Business Class Trip because the person across the aisle 3 seats away from me wanted to sleep. I told her it's 9:30AM and I want to look out the window, it's not sleepy time. And that was that. The window stayed open. I also had a FA on a AA 777 ask me to do the exact same thing on a 3:30PM JFK-MIA trip and my answer was the same, it's not night night time and I selected the window seat so it's my call.
An 8am flight means waking up before 6am. I’m definitely taking a nap if I’m getting up that miserably early. Not everyone is an obnoxiously moralistic early riser like “Howard.”
6am is "miserably early"...? The heck are you, a college student?
Yes, 6am is miserably early. The heck are you, a farmer from the 1700s?
I'm a law firm partner in my 40s. Not waking up at 6am has worked out just fine for me, thanks. The moralistic bragging about going to bed and waking up early is so tiresome.
I take these flights a lot
1) Universally, most people in business or first class are sleeping on these flights on the early morning departures. This is especially true on the weekends. If I have business meetings early in the week in California, I sometimes take the 7 or 8 AM JFK to LAX/SFO flights on Saturday or Sunday to maximize time in California. Everyone is sleeping on those flights. And you often see the...
I take these flights a lot
1) Universally, most people in business or first class are sleeping on these flights on the early morning departures. This is especially true on the weekends. If I have business meetings early in the week in California, I sometimes take the 7 or 8 AM JFK to LAX/SFO flights on Saturday or Sunday to maximize time in California. Everyone is sleeping on those flights. And you often see the same things on weekdays
2) My other most common flight times are weeknight flights at 6/7/8 from JFK to the West Coast. Again, many people are sleeping.
3) I never take the redeye on this route, too little time
4) Coming back from the west coast, I am usually on the 3 or 4 PM flights. Here, this is when I am lost likely to work, though I may recline the seat later in the flight. On early morning flights, again, most people are sleep.
This makes sense. Use the 321XLRs for shorter flights to Europe, and then continue the flight to the west coast, then maybe to Hawaii. Get better aircraft utilization.
To take away F on 773 - they would need new seat - not enough room for 5 rows of J in the mini cabin.
@Randy
Install PE in the F cabin on the 77W.
But..but..where will all the non-revs sit? Surely you don’t expect them to be in the back! Aside from an upgrade or two, most of F on these routes were non-revs anyways. AA knows what they are doing!
Delta’s First Class Pods on the Airbus 350’s are so much better. I flew home last week from SEA to ATL. I was expecting the regular FC seats for me and my daughter and we were pleasantly surprised. The pod is about the size of a small sedans cabin. Had large TVs with remote controls, full power seats with power foot rests and lumbar support. The seats laid out flat and the pods had a pull out privacy screen.
You have thar right. Business plus will be the enhanced business class that provides a premium ground experience from flagship check in, to flagship dinning.
I also expect the XLR to offer 1 -1 in businews.
This article has appeared previously and the title is again, misleading and not very clear in how it presents the possible changes.
The 321T was introduced in 2014. It is indeed a sub-fleet of standard 321-CEOs. The product is becoming a bit dated and it makes sense that the 321XLR, which will have a new cabin and a new premium seat, would find its way onto these routes once in critical mass in the fleet.
...This article has appeared previously and the title is again, misleading and not very clear in how it presents the possible changes.
The 321T was introduced in 2014. It is indeed a sub-fleet of standard 321-CEOs. The product is becoming a bit dated and it makes sense that the 321XLR, which will have a new cabin and a new premium seat, would find its way onto these routes once in critical mass in the fleet.
There's nothing new here. And yes, if and when the 321XLR replaces the 321T, the 321T will just be reabsorbed into the broader AA 321 fleet, which is very large in number of frames.
I wouldn't expect any changes for some time though. The first 321XLR at AA is not expected before Q4-2023. AA has no other aircraft right now that can replace the 321T, unless they put 777s or 787s on JFK/BOS to LAX/SFO which is highly unlikely.
The author is responding to a report and labeled it as such.
You have replied about a half dozen times so it clearly is new enough to warrant your attention.
I'm glad he provided the update.
Take a seat. No one was talking to you.
kindly show us in your original post where you directed it to anyone.
This is a little silly. Other than Flagship lounge access (which is nice if you don't mind getting to the airport early, which I prefer not to do -- straight through security and onto the plane is a win), American's "premium transcon First" is not a unique product for those routes in any way other than that AA calls it "First" instead of "Polaris," "Delta One," or "Mint." The seat itself, just like those products,...
This is a little silly. Other than Flagship lounge access (which is nice if you don't mind getting to the airport early, which I prefer not to do -- straight through security and onto the plane is a win), American's "premium transcon First" is not a unique product for those routes in any way other than that AA calls it "First" instead of "Polaris," "Delta One," or "Mint." The seat itself, just like those products, is an International Business Class (not First) seat. And I'd take the Polaris A and L seats, with more privacy from the (also direct-access) aisle, over this 321T hard product anyway.
I really do like the 321T for a number of reasons. The F pods are among the most spacious reverse-herringbone seats on any aircraft, and I prefer the seat on the 321T and 773 to other domestic airline products (I find the Polaris J pods on the United 787-10 to be very claustrophobic and uncomfortable for sleeping). The biz cabin on the 321T is just fine, and the same "premium" seat United flies around most...
I really do like the 321T for a number of reasons. The F pods are among the most spacious reverse-herringbone seats on any aircraft, and I prefer the seat on the 321T and 773 to other domestic airline products (I find the Polaris J pods on the United 787-10 to be very claustrophobic and uncomfortable for sleeping). The biz cabin on the 321T is just fine, and the same "premium" seat United flies around most markets excluding SFO, LAX and EWR. I mostly love that a third of the plane is in a premium cabin making upgrades so easy to come by.
That said, this makes all the sense in the world. A fleet of 50 XLR's is more than what's needed to serve London from BOS and JFK, and should reach more domestic long-haul markets where there's high premium demand. American's honeymoon with Jetblue could soon be over, so I see the XLR necessary out of Boston, Seattle, LAX, SFO to stay competitive. I could even see AA and Alaska deepen their codeshare relationship and base an XLR fleet in Seattle to fend off Delta's rise there.
With the (very welcome) announcement of lounge upgrades in the coming years, I sadly believe that the FF Dining facilities will be a casualty as a result. American is falling right into the slipstream with United and Delta on their premium offerings and won't see the need to maintain any more premium ground experience than the Flagship Lounges.
"I mostly love that a third of the plane is in a premium cabin making upgrades so easy to come by."
Wait, huh? What market are you finding THAT in???
More commonly, especially out of LAX: business is oversold by 2-3seats, and there's a dozen ExecPlats on the wait list.
The only issue, and its probably super minor to them, is that if they take the A321T off SNA-JFK, there is no aircraft that can replace it for a nonstop flight to JFK. The low seating allows them to take off from SNA airport since their runway is very short.
A319 could do it with little issue.
A319............ Yuck!!
The title suggests that the transcontinental service is ending, when in reality the aircraft are just being replaced. It makes perfect sense to me, using the XLRs gives American more aircraft flexibility
What remains to be seen is if AA will install IFE on the 321XLR's
I'm 90% sure they already announced that those planes will have IFE.
@AA70
In this day and age ? 2024 ? I’d say no way. And free wifi should be a given.
Dream about free wifi. There is no thing such free. That's entitled.
It’s been stated time and time again by AA management that the XLR will be ultra premium. Lay flat 1-1 biz, premium economy, and IFE across all cabins. There is no business proposition to fly new planes TATL without screens.
"A321XLRs are kind of “wasted” on transcon routes, which they have a lot more range than standard A321s"
How would they be any more-or-less "wasted" than all the 757s, 767s, and 777s flying the transcons... all of which also have TATL, and some TPAC, range?
They have less cargo space than an A321lr or A321neo. Also kinda defeats the point of the A321xlr, which is great range while still having commonality benefits of the A320/21 family. Why they don't want subfleets is intresting, especially as they are going to have a321s with a different config. So ideally they should've gone for a321neos premium config and less a321xlr, unless of course by using the xlrs for both TATL and transcon they can increase utilisation.
You can believe it or not but very few airlines have multiple versions of more and even more capable models of the same aircraft model.
It sounds good on paper until you are short one of the most capable aircraft (the XLR) and you only have a basic NEO with the same cabin configuration but it either has to make a fuel stop or the longer flight has to cancel.
Either it makes sense...
You can believe it or not but very few airlines have multiple versions of more and even more capable models of the same aircraft model.
It sounds good on paper until you are short one of the most capable aircraft (the XLR) and you only have a basic NEO with the same cabin configuration but it either has to make a fuel stop or the longer flight has to cancel.
Either it makes sense to have an A321NEO on a route or it doesn't. The sub-type of A321NEO is virtually immaterial. Since AA intends to operate A321XLRs it makes sense for any similar cabin configured aircraft to have the same technical specs.
And narrowbody aircraft carry very little cargo; it is because widebodies can carry cargo that Delta adds to its profits using the 767s on JFK transcons while United does it from EWR using multiple models.
"They have less cargo space than an A321lr or A321neo."
Incorrect on the former. The whole POINT of the -XLR is to deliver more range at less cargo-space disruption than the -LR.
The integrated tank in the -XLR holds more fuel than the -LR, while only taking up the space of 2 ACTs, versus the 3 that are certified for the latter at max range.
Ahhh ok, I was mistaken and the a321xlr seems like a much better proposition than the a321lr
In relation w subfleets American will have a big enough a321neo/XLR fleet that it won't have much of a effect, look at United with its 767 subfleets.
"a much better proposition than the a321lr"
All the "A321LR" is now, is a standard -NEO with 2 more ACTs added to it.
Airbus has decided to make 97T the standard for all A321N production, the majority of which will carry a single ACT.
The -XLR on the other hand, will have:
(1) completely different inboard flaps,
(2) an integrated center fuel tank,
(3) a removable forward fuel tank,
(4)...
"a much better proposition than the a321lr"
All the "A321LR" is now, is a standard -NEO with 2 more ACTs added to it.
Airbus has decided to make 97T the standard for all A321N production, the majority of which will carry a single ACT.
The -XLR on the other hand, will have:
(1) completely different inboard flaps,
(2) an integrated center fuel tank,
(3) a removable forward fuel tank,
(4) a TOW increase of 4 tonnes, and
(5) (now, we're hearing) an extended belly faring to provide impact protection to the rear tank in the event of a gear-less landing.
With the extended belly fairing I wonder if there would be any efficiency penalties compared to the standard a321neo when both are operating the same route.
United does *not* mostly offer direct aisle access in J on premium transcon service.
UA flies a whole hodgepodge of aircraft:
- 752s (2-2)
- 787-10s (guaranteed Polaris hard product 1-2-1)
- 777s (a handful of internationally-configured 1-2-1 Polaris seats, but also lots of the old high-density domestic 777s with 2-4-2 seating)
Wait.
No.
Are you saying that there are still UA 777s with biz in the eight-across coffin configuration?
No.
No way.
That’s a crime against humanity.
It's false to say United has a "handful" of Polaris 777s.
The vast majority of 777s have Polaris, including all 22 777-300ERs, and 51 777-200ERs. There are 23 777-200s (mostly non-ER) that have the crappy old business class seats, which are indeed unpleasant. That's less than 25% of the 777 fleet.
Will these 23 -200s eventually be fitted with Polaris, or are they close to retirement?
Most of the 777s with true Polaris don't operate on transcon; they operate on long-haul.
One factor with transcontinental F is that a lot of Hollywood contracts used to require it, which would draw those clients to AA over DL/UA. I'm curious if that still exists. I also wonder if the transatlantic JV is a factor for international F, since BA offers it on so many US flights.
One of the main reasons that DL and UA dropped products such as "BusinessElite" and "BusinessFirst" and went to obscurely-marketed offerings such as "Delta ONE" (see what they did there?) and "Polaris" is to get around that.
It's obviously business class, to an AvGeek, but marketed as a hybrid product with First, and companies bought it.
Not that it really amounts to much, as corporate transcon travel has changed so much since the bonanza...
One of the main reasons that DL and UA dropped products such as "BusinessElite" and "BusinessFirst" and went to obscurely-marketed offerings such as "Delta ONE" (see what they did there?) and "Polaris" is to get around that.
It's obviously business class, to an AvGeek, but marketed as a hybrid product with First, and companies bought it.
Not that it really amounts to much, as corporate transcon travel has changed so much since the bonanza days of the '90s and the post-911/pre-Financial Crisis eras:
(1) the bigwigs who just HAD to have F are now flying in corporate jets;
(2) mid-level execs who used to get J on sub-9hr flights are now squarely in coach; and
(3) companies are open to multiple bidders (UA for example, used to have a lock on Disney traffic; now Disney just goes with the lowest periodical bidder); etc.
I came to say the same thing - like I thought the main reason for there being F on the 321T was to win the SAG contract. But I googled a bit and it looks like the Union backed down from this requirement a few years ago.
if no carrier offers domestic F, the SAG can't use that as a condition against any carrier.
If AA can't make money offering it, they shouldn't be trying to win the business.
It makes sense for AA to exit the premium transcon first class market. The concept of the A321T was conceived when AA still operated 767-200s and before B6 introduced Mint which became a viable discounted lie-flat transcon product.
AA's A321Ts have too few seats on them to be economically viable just as their B777-300ERs also have too few seats to get good economics (UA has 40 more seats on its 77Ws); DL has the...
It makes sense for AA to exit the premium transcon first class market. The concept of the A321T was conceived when AA still operated 767-200s and before B6 introduced Mint which became a viable discounted lie-flat transcon product.
AA's A321Ts have too few seats on them to be economically viable just as their B777-300ERs also have too few seats to get good economics (UA has 40 more seats on its 77Ws); DL has the same number of seats on its A350s as AA has on its 777-300ERs and the A350 burns 35% less fuel.
Part of the reason to keep the A321T seat count down is because the aircraft are A321CEOs which could not reliably make transcon flights on a year round basis with 150 plus seats but the A321NEO fixes that problem. 2500 miles is still more than enough for the NEOs to deliver operational savings compared to the CEOs just on fuel burn.
As for using a "too capable" 321XLR on transcon routes, all airlines use some portion of their fleet at less than full capabilities.
Delta is reportedly also planning to equip its next batch of A321NEOs (which will not be XLRs and are not intended to be used on transatlantic flights) in a 4 class cabin similar to its international widebodies and use those aircraft on transcon routes; AA is undoubtedly aware of that and is preparing to compete not just with DL but also the possibility of having parts of the Northeast Alliance removed. DL has twice as many seats on its 767-300ERs that are used on JFK transcons than AA has on its A321Ts. AA has to close that share gap and can't rely on B6 to do it and AA also has to fix the economics of its transcon routes.
"Part of the reason to keep the A321T seat count down is because the aircraft are A321CEOs which could not reliably make transcon flights on a year round basis with 150 plus seats"
That hasn't been an issue for the CEO since the early '00s. Yes, some of AA's A321s are ex-US birds of that vintage, but they wouldn't be the ones utilized for such.
________________________________
"in a 4 class cabin similar"
DL...
"Part of the reason to keep the A321T seat count down is because the aircraft are A321CEOs which could not reliably make transcon flights on a year round basis with 150 plus seats"
That hasn't been an issue for the CEO since the early '00s. Yes, some of AA's A321s are ex-US birds of that vintage, but they wouldn't be the ones utilized for such.
________________________________
"in a 4 class cabin similar"
DL doesn't operated 4 classes. Premium Select is sold as a separate class from coach, but Comfort Plus is not, despite their ridiculous "upgrade" system.
you would do well to actually look at delta.com for a flight display. They most certainly do sell "main", "comfort +", "premium select", and "Delta One" on transoceanic aircraft with all four classes. They include the RBDs for all 4 designators.
There is difference between classes and cabins.
Except, by that definition, then they're 5 class. Please.
@ConcordeBoy you're trying to gotcha but Basic Economy shares the same "cabin" as Main, so yes, it's still 4 cabins
@Jan, I'm aware, thanks... which is why I didn't say 5 cabin; and stand behind the statement.
What a dumb overdramatic headline.
AA is not ending "Premium Transcon Flights" as the headline implies. It's just (likely) updating them to the more logical aircraft once it becomes available.
Reading comprehension is a great thing.
The key component being "A321T Premium Transcon," in that the three words put together have a different connotation than only the last two viewed in a vacuum.