In September 2022, American Airlines revealed its new business class seats, which will be known as Flagship Suites. Yes, I said “seats,” which is to say that there are are actually (at least) two types of new business class seats.
I wanted to go over the details of these products, especially in light of all the new information that has emerged recently, including the delays with the products being introduced. We can now expect American’s new business class products to launch at some point in 2025.
American’s new Flagship Suite business class seats
As of 2025, American Airlines will be installing new business class seats, which will be called Flagship Suites. These seats will be installed on newly delivered Boeing 787-9 and newly delivered Airbus A321XLRs. Existing Boeing 777-300ERs will also be reconfigured with these seats.
Not only that, but American will also be installing a new premium economy product, with completely restyled cabins. However, nothing has been revealed about economy yet, other than that the seats will have new finishes.
Let’s take a look at the details.
New American Airlines Boeing 787-9 cabins
As of early 2025, American will start taking delivery of 30 Boeing 787-9s in an uber-premium configuration, featuring just 244 seats. This will include 51 business class seats, 32 premium economy seats, 18 Main Cabin Extra seats, and 143 economy class seats.
As a point of comparison, American’s current Boeing 787-9s have 285 seats, only 30 of which are business class seats. Clearly these new planes are intended for markets with lots of business class demand, like London, as well as for markets where a lighter jet is needed.
American’s first route for this new jet is expected to be the new Dallas to Brisbane service, which is launching shortly (I wouldn’t call that a super premium market, but US airlines are getting major incentives to fly to Brisbane). However, due to delivery delays, the route is initially launching with a “standard” 787-9, before eventually being swapped.
American Airlines has selected the Adient Ascent product as its new Boeing 787 business class. What makes the Adient Ascent product unique is that it’s highly customizable.
Most business class products can be customized somewhat, but have a general pattern. After all, what differentiates seat types from one another are the space saving techniques that seat manufacturers use to make the cabin efficient. In the case of the Adient Ascent seat, it’s customizable unlike any other product out there:
- The product could come in a staggered configuration, where center seats could be turned into double beds (American didn’t choose this option)
- The product could come in a hybrid reverse herringbone and herringbone configuration, with reverse herringbone seats along the windows, and herringbone seats in the center; this is similar to Virgin Atlantic’s A350 Upper Class, though those seats are the Safran Cirrus NG variety
Qatar Airways was the launch customer for this seat on the Boeing 787-9. The second airline to offer these seats is Hawaiian Airlines, on its new Boeing 787-9s, which recently entered service.
American has selected a configuration where all seats are reverse herringbone, as the center seats don’t face toward the aisles.
American will also be introducing a new premium economy on the Boeing 787-9, which looks quite nice.
New American Airlines Airbus A321XLR cabins
American Airlines has 50 Airbus A321XLR aircraft on order, which will be delivered starting in 2025. This narrow body jet is the latest evolution of the Airbus A321 family, and will have incredible range. American plans to use this plane primarily for transatlantic flights from the Northeast, as well as for premium transcon flights.
American intends to configure its A321XLRs in a three-cabin layout, with business class, premium economy, and economy. The planes will feature 20 business class seats and 12 premium economy seats, so they’ll be pretty premium.
The A321XLRs will get different seats than the 787s, since the requirements for seats are different for narrow bodies than wide bodies. American will be installing herringbone seats in a 1-1 configuration in business class, almost identical to JetBlue’s new Airbus A321LR Mint cabin.
Premium economy also looks pretty elegant, as it will be in a 2-2 configuration, similar to domestic first class. The seats look mighty similar to Delta’s new Airbus A321neo first class seats.
New front row Flagship Suite Preferred seats
For aircraft featuring American’s new Flagship Suites business class, American will have a special product in the first row of the aircraft, known as Flagship Suite Preferred seats.
Nowadays we’ve seen a trend whereby many airlines take advantage of the extra space at the first row of business class to create a special product. For example, you have the Retreat Suites on Virgin Atlantic’s A330-900neos, or the Prime Seats on Condor’s A330-900neos, or the Mint Studios on JetBlue’s A321LRs.
American has now confirmed that it will offer a similar product on wide body aircraft with the new seats. This will offer a larger space with more storage areas, as well as some additional amenities, including:
- A Nest Bedding mattress pad
- A throw blanket
- A memory foam lumbar pillow
- Nest Bedding pajamas
- An exclusive amenity kit featuring additional skincare products from Thirteen Lune by Joanna Vargas and Relevant
It remains to be seen what pricing will be like, though it should be an add-on for any business class passenger.
Will existing Boeing 787s & 777s get these seats?
American Airlines has confirmed that it will reconfigure Boeing 777-300ERs with these new cabins. The current plan is for the aircraft to be reconfigured after the peak summer 2025 season, so we’ll have to wait quite some time before the first reconfigured jet enters service.
When American reconfigures these jets, they’ll feature 330 seats, comprised of 70 business class seats, 44 premium economy seats, and 216 economy seats. As you can see, those planes will have a super premium configuration.
As of now American has no plans to reconfigure existing Boeing 787s and existing Boeing 777-200ERs with these new seats. I hope American backtracks on that, at least for the planes that are sticking around in the long run (I imagine most existing Boeing 787s are).
American Airlines eliminating “premium” first class
With American Airlines introducing a new business class seat, the airline will also be eliminating its “premium” first class, most likely as of some point in 2025:
- Three-cabin Airbus 321Ts currently used for premium transcontinental flights will be reconfigured into a standard domestic configuration, and will be replaced on these routes by other jets with flat beds (probably A321XLRs)
- When Boeing 777-300ERs are reconfigured with the new business class, the first class cabin will be eliminated
This is the end of an era not only for American Airlines, but this also marks the end of international first class for any US airline. It remains to be seen what happens to American’s first class ground services, including Flagship First Check-In and Flagship First Dining. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them stick around, but just monetized differently.
My take on American’s new business class
It’s nice to see American investing in its long haul product. At the end of the day, there’s nothing earth shattering here, in the sense that American is using products that other airlines already offer. However, these are among the best existing products out there, and on top of that, I think American’s cabin finishes are tasteful.
Equally exciting is generally seeing how American is increasing premium capacity, as that should be great for upgrades, and marks quite the departure from what American’s strategy has otherwise been for years. American will also be eliminating first class, but I don’t consider that to be much of a loss, given what a lackluster product it was.
Bottom line
American Airlines has two new business class products coming soon, and they should debut in 2025 on the Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 777-300ERs, and Airbus A321XLRs.
Boeing 787-9s will get reverse herringbone Adient Ascent seats with doors, which should be a nice improvement to the passenger experience. These same cabins will be installed on reconfigured Boeing 777-300ERs. Meanwhile Airbus A321XLRs will get herringbone seats with doors, almost identical to what you’ll find on JetBlue’s A321LRs.
Along with that, American is introducing a new premium economy product, and generally restyled cabins. The airline is also eliminating its premium first class product, though is adding a premium business class product in the first row of the cabin.
What do you make of American’s new Flagship Suite business class?
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