American Retrofits Boeing 777-300ERs With New Cabins

American Airlines will soon be rolling out a new passenger experience on long haul flights, as the airline introduces its new Flagship Suite business class, and front-row Flagship Suite Preferred. While this product will be offered on newly delivered Boeing 787-9s (which are unfortunately delayed), we’re also going to see existing Boeing 777-300ERs reconfigured.

I wanted to provide an update on this, as the first aircraft is now starting to be reconfigured. Let’s take a look at what we can expect from these planes, including the (dense) configuration.

American will soon retrofit first Boeing 777

American has a fleet of 20 Boeing 777-300ERs, and these are the only existing wide body planes that American has firm plans to reconfigure with new interiors. This is partly because they’re used for the carrier’s most premium routes, and also because they feature first class, which is a cabin that American is eliminating.

There have been a lot of questions about when American would reconfigure its first 777-300ER, especially given the delay with new 787-9 deliveries. Are the Dreamliner delays impacting the timeline with which American will retrofit existing planes?

Well, there’s an exciting update. On September 4, 2024, the first Boeing 777-300ER was flown to Tulsa (TUL), where it’s undergoing maintenance. For what it’s worth, this is the eight year old jet with the registration code N735AT. This timeline also exactly matches what @xJonNYC had predicted.

American’s Boeing 777-300ER retrofit project will be known as “Olympus” (similar to how the airline referred to its 737-800 retrofit project as “Oasis”). While the first plane is now starting to be reconfigured, it’s anyone’s guess when the plane enters service with new interiors. This is a prototype, and the aircraft will need to be certified with the new interiors, and that’s a process that could take weeks or even months, depending on how it plays out.

While I’m sure the goal is to reconfigure jets pretty quickly for the sake of fleet consistency, there are lots of variables here. For example, American continues to deal with delivery delays on so many jets, so the airline may not want to take more planes out of service than it has to.

Speaking of taking planes out of service, a reader points out that American is currently operating with zero spare 777-300ERs in its fleet, because the jet with the registration code N724AN is also currently in maintenance (but not for new cabins). So don’t be surprised if American’s operational reliability with this fleet is pretty bad in the months to come. American only has a single spare 777-200ER, so that would be quite a downgrade, especially in terms of premium capacity.

American’s updated Boeing 777-300ER configuration

So, when American reconfigures its Boeing 777-300ERs, how will the seat count change? While the airline hasn’t publicly announced this, a recent filing with the Federal Aviation Administration discloses American’s updated configuration.

For context, currently American’s 777-300ERs feature 304 seats, comprised of:

• Eight first class seats
• 52 business class seats
• 28 premium economy seats
• 216 economy seats

Once reconfigured, American’s 777-300ERs will feature 330 seats, comprised of:

• 70 business class seats
• 44 premium economy seats
• 216 economy seats

As you can see, the jet will be losing eight first class seats, but will be gaining 18 business class seats and 16 premium economy seats, all while economy capacity stays the same.

I’m honestly puzzled by how this is possible. Trading eight first class seats for 18 business class seats and 16 premium economy seats is a heck of a “deal.” Let’s actually look at this a bit more closely. According to regulatory filings, there will be 22 business class seats in the forward “zone,” between the first and second set of doors (compared to the current eight first class seats and eight business class seats):

• With the current configuration, there are 44 business class seats behind the second set of doors, plus 24 premium economy seats, plus 216 economy seats
• With the new configuration, there will be 48 business class seats, 44 premium economy seats, and 216 economy seats, in that same space

@xJonNYC reports that business class seat pitch is being reduced by one inch, Main Cabin Extra seat pitch is being reduced by one inch, and there’s plenty of other optimization with lavatories and galleys. As a result, I’m guessing the plane will be less pleasant for crews to work, in terms of the space allocated to them.

I am delighted to see that there will be 70 business class seats. That’s fantastic for upgrades, as that’s way more business class capacity than we’ve seen on any plane up until now.

Just to compare this to the only other US airline flying this jet, United’s 777-300ERs feature 350 seats, including 60 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 266 economy seats. So United has 50 more economy seats, but 10 fewer business class seats and 20 fewer premium economy seats.

When will American eliminate international first class?

We know that American has plans to eliminate its international first class product, instead introducing an improved business class experience, plus a new front row premium business class experience. What remains to be seen is exactly when that will happen.

Previously we had heard that American might stop selling first class for flights as of some point in late 2024. However, that seems to be a moving target, and as of now, American is continuing to sell first class through the end of the schedule, well into next summer.

I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into that. My guess is that American just doesn’t yet know when it will stop selling first class.

I mean, most people booking first class way in advance are doing so with miles and/or are upgrading, and I suppose American thinks it’s easy enough to rebook them in business class when the airline finally has a better sense of the timeline. For that matter, American swaps planes on routes all the time, so that would be hardly be the first time the airline has dealt with such a thing.

Presumably there will be some period where American stops selling first class, but continues to offer the hard product on some planes, and will just seat some business class passengers here. After all, the 20 777-300ERs can’t all be reconfigured overnight.

Bottom line

American is starting to reconfigure its Boeing 777-300ER fleet, with the first jet having just flown to Tulsa to get new cabins. It’s anyone’s guess when the first plane with new interiors actually enters service, though. You can expect it’ll take more time for the first aircraft to be reconfigured, compared to subsequent aircraft.

What’s perhaps most interesting is how American plans to reconfigure these planes. They’ll feature a massive business class and premium economy cabin, and somehow American is still considerably increasing capacity.

What do you make of American’s plans to retrofit Boeing 777-300ERs?