I’m quite excited about American’s new 777-300ER aircraft, which will feature a new first and business class product. American has announced that the 777-300ERs be entering service later this year, with the inaugural flight being from Dallas to Sao Paulo on December 13.
I was hoping to get on the inaugural, though as of now they’re not selling any first or business class seats. I don’t think the cabins are actually to capacity, but rather that they’re just blocking off the space for the time being as I’m sure there will be some executives aboard and also some media. I say this because all but three of the business class seats are unassigned. And while seatmaps aren’t a completely accurate indicator of availability, I highly doubt there are 49 business class passengers booked with unassigned seats.
But while looking at other possibilities, I noticed something interesting — American’s flight from Sao Paulo to Dallas on December 13, which departs at 12:55AM, is also scheduled to be a 777-300ER:
This plane lands in Dallas the morning of the 13th so could still make the “inaugural” flight from Dallas to Sao Paulo on the night of the 13th, but does this mean that the real inaugural is from Sao Paulo to Dallas on the 13th? And if so, how is American getting the plane to Sao Paulo? I assumed the first flight would be out of the US since that’s where the plane is being delivered and I assume they’re mostly doing test flights in the US, so I find this strange.
I’m not sure if this is a glitch or if I’m just missing something, but I’m going to go ahead and book an “AAnytime” award on that flight. Am thinking I’ll book business class, though it’s very tempting to book first class since it’s only a modest mileage premium…
Anyone else hoping to book the inaugural?
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