- American Airlines is regaining my trust after a bad experience flying home from Colombia in 2021.
- My recent flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to New York in economy was comfortable and on time.
- The Boeing 737-800 is retrofitted with tablet holders instead of TV screens. I prefer it that way.
I’ll be honest: American Airlines hasn’t been my go-to airline since a last-minute flight cancellation left me stranded overnight in Colombia in 2021 with little help from customer service.
The communication was lacking from start to finish. There was no clear indication of my rights to a hotel, and I never found out why the flight was canceled in the first place.
Nevertheless, the carrier has been slowly regaining my trust.
I recently flew in economy on an American Boeing 737-800 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Like the handful I’ve taken since the 2021 fiasco, the flight was perfectly on time, and I found the communication has definitely improved.
And, although not a fan-favorite, I actually prefer American’s retrofitted narrowbody cabin compared to competitors.
My journey started at American’s giant hub, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
American had dozens of kiosks and counters available, but I went straight to security as I only had a carry-on and checked in online.
From security, an automated train transports passengers between gates and terminals.
I was through TSA PreCheck and onboard the Boeing 737 within about 25 minutes of arriving.
I’ve noticed the TSA PreCheck lines getting longer as we approach the summer months.
I waited about 15 minutes, so I recommend budgeting extra time to clear security, especially at big airports like Dallas/Fort Worth.
The plane offered all basics: 172 seats in 3×3 rows, each with power, a tray table, acceptable padding, and an adjustable headrest.
The aircraft has 16 first-class recliners, 24 main-cabin-extra seats with more legroom, and 132 standard economy seats.
I was seated in 32B, a middle seat in the second-to-last row.
The legroom results from American’s cabin retrofit project meant to standardize its inflight experience.
Known as “Project Oasis,” American retrofitted many of its narrowbody Airbus and Boeing planes with uniform cabins. This simplifies the fleet, and the extra seats generate more revenue — but at the expense of legroom.
According to The Points Guy, the 737-800s were done in 2021, and the Airbus A321s followed.
I understand the frustration of American’s cattle-like economy cabin, but I don’t think the design is a total bust.
I’ve recently flown on American, Delta, and United in economy on their narrowbody planes, and the most noticeable difference is the inflight entertainment options.
Instead of TV screens, American offers inflight entertainment streamed to a personal device that can be propped on a seatback holder.
Tablet holders are something I have started seeing more on airlines.
For example, Breeze Airways has the holders on its fleet of Airbus A220s, while renderings of Southwest Airlines’ new cabin show seatback tablet holders.
This is common across American’s narrowbody fleet and differs from Delta and United’s TV-equipped airplanes.
United Airlines, for example, is welcoming brand new narrowbody aircraft fit with seatback screens and Bluetooth capabilities.
Delta boasts a similar strategy, saying in March that it “leads the industry with over 161,000 seatback screens across more than 850 aircraft.”
I travel with a Kindle Fire 10, which fit into the slot with a little bit of stretch to spare.
American did not immediately respond to a request from Business Insider regarding the holder’s size or availability on planes.
I’m unsure if larger tablets like the iPad Pro series would fit. Regional jets and many of its older-generation narrowbodies don’t have tablet holders.
I prefer the tablet holder because it creates a better viewing angle for people, like myself, who bring our own inflight intertainment.
When I fly, I like to catch up on the various reality TV shows that airlines typically don’t stream, like Big Brother, Survivor, Deal or No Deal Island, The Circle, etc.
I typically have to set the tablet on the tray table to watch my pre-downloaded content, but the holder location on the seatback is much more comfortable.
I may be an outlier, however, as many friends and family say they prefer having that inflight screen for convenience.
Some travelers don’t have a tablet to watch shows on, or they don’t like to use the smaller screen on their phone.
For those reasons, a guaranteed inflight television on a different carrier would be better for those travelers.
Aside from the tablet holder, my American flight was smooth and comfortable.
I browsed American’s inflight entertainment options, which were comparable to Delta, United, and Southwest.
I’m sure I could find something if I didn’t have my own pre-downloaded movies and shows.
I was particuarly happy with the T-Mobile WiFi, which allowed me to stream stuff I couldn’t download.
The Paramount+ app on my Kindle doesn’t let me download episodes (maybe there’s a fix I haven’t found yet), so I use my iPhone for things like Survivor.
However, because the WiFi was so good, I was able to just stream it right from the app on my Kindle.
The T-Mobile partnership is much better than the carrier’s paid and ad WiFi options.
Unlike Delta or JetBlue’s complimentary internet, American offers a limited free WiFi session if you watch a short ad. On my flight, the session was 20 minutes and then shut off.
The strategy is likely to show people what the WiFi is like and entice them to buy a flight pass, but the up to $20 price for internet on my trip may be a little steep for some travelers.
Overall, the fast WiFi, the tablet holder, and on-time arrival made for a solid three-hour journey to New York.
As someone who prioritizes convenience and price over airline loyalty, I wouldn’t be worried about booking American after my recent flight.
Still far from perfect, American’s reliability and customer service have improved since my 2021 fiasco.
I’ve had low expectations for American since 2021, but they’re improving thanks to new customer service tools and a better focus on consistency and proactivity, American’s VP of customer experience, Kim Cisek, told BI in an interview.
For example, I got an email more than 24 hours before departure looking for volunteers to take a different flight.
American told BI during a tour of its dispatch center in mid-May that it has been building its system with better protections against disruptions — like preemptively remedying oversold flights well before everyone is already at the gate.
The gate agent also proactively told customers in groups 8 and 9 that we would be checking carry-ons as the flight was completely full.
The announcement came before boarding, giving everyone time to organize their items or talk to the agent in case there was a problem.
I noticed boarding wasn’t impacted by all of the gate-checked bags, and luckily, my suitcase was small enough to fit under the seat, so I was allowed to take it on.
However, I’m still holding out for one improvement — disruption transparency.
While American has built systems to better manage and communicate things like misconnects, weather-related cancellations, and oversold flights, it still isn’t fully transparent about the reason for flight disruptions.
United, for instance, tells travelers the exact reason for a delay or cancellation, whether it be maintenance or weather — making it easier to know your rights as a passenger.
Cisek said the company is setting the foundation for its communication efforts, noting the chat function it has launched to ease flight changes.
“If we were to come out right now with messaging and it doesn’t land, it could get confusing, so we are trying to be thoughtful in how we build up to it,” she said. “But I know our customers want it, and it’s on the table and something we want to look at and introduce the right way.”
