#Firstclass trouble plus

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.

Personally I think it’s likely that they’ll stick around.

It would of course be a shame if these were eliminated. The only aspect of American’s first class that has been excellent is Flagship First Dining, which are some amazing restaurant-quality dining facilities inside Flagship Lounges.

The soft product was only marginally differentiated back then, and there’s even less of a difference now than in the past.

Service in first class is highly inconsistent, and there are no standards when it comes to providing “premium” service.

The first class seats are only marginally better than current business class seats, and lack privacy.

Just check out my review of American’s first class from Dallas to Hong Kong: The reality is that the airline has taken a really half-you-know-what approach to this cabin. I wish I could say that American eliminating first class would be much of a loss, but… it wouldn’t be much of a loss. It could easily be 2025 or beyond when that happens. American is expected to introduce its new business class product in mid-2023, and it’s anyone’s guess when 777-300ERs will be reconfigured. Of course let me note that this is subject to change, and for that matter we don’t know about the timeline here. So unless American also planned to introduce a new first class (which isn’t in the cards), it would be strange to have doors in business class but not first class.ĭoesn't seem to be any doubt at this juncture when those AA 773's go in for cabin refit, they will come -out- with no first class seats in 'em.- 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 August 25, 2022 After all, the new business class product is expected to feature doors. I’ve speculated this before, and has the same take, which is that when these Boeing 777s are reconfigured, American won’t keep first class around.

American plans to introduce a new long haul business class product in 2023, which will initially be installed on newly delivered Boeing 787s however, this product will eventually be retrofitted on some existing planes, including Boeing 777-300ERsĪmerican Airlines Boeing 777-300ER first class.

American eventually plans to reconfigure its premium A321Ts in a standard domestic configuration, and instead use Airbus A321XLRs for premium transcon flights, which won’t feature first class (instead they’ll feature a business class that’s probably better than the current first class) these planes will join American’s fleet starting in 2024.

It looks increasingly likely that the airline will eliminate first class altogether in the coming years, on both the A321T and 777-300ER:

#Firstclass trouble full

In many ways, the failure of first class has been a self fulfilling prophecy - American’s first class product is incredibly mediocre, with little differentiation compared to business class, and it’s typically full with employees, so of course most people aren’t willing to pay a fortune to fly in it.

The decision to offer first class was made before the merger between American Airlines and US Airways, and suffice it to say that the current management team (originally from America West) has been skeptical about first class since the merger. We’re not talking about domestic flights, where the forward cabin is often marketed as first class (but there’s no business class). To be clear, this “premium” first class refers to planes where there’s also a business class cabin, and first class is a cabin above that.

American’s Airbus A321Ts have 10 first class seatsĪmerican Airlines Airbus A321T first class.

American’s Boeing 777-300ERs have eight first class seats.

American will eliminate first class (eventually)Īmerican will eliminate first class (eventually)Īmerican is the only US airline to offer a “true” first class product:.