American Airlines Debuts First Airbus A321neo Acquired From Alaska Airlines

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines placed its first ex-Alaska Airlines Airbus A321neo into revenue service on Thursday. The move comes as the airline will be all hands on deck for the fast-approaching busy summer travel season.

The aircraft is the first of 10 newly acquired planes that will gradually be integrated into its fleet over the next few months. Although they may look similar to American’s existing A321neos on the outside, they will “temporarily” boast a different seating layout.

Hello, American!

Aviation watchdog JonNYC first reported the development on Wednesday, confirming that the first aircraft – N956XV, would enter service after being ferried from San Antonio International Airport (SAT).

According to FlightAware, the plane operated as AA9786 to American’s hub at Miami International Airport (MIA) on Wednesday from SAT. Arriving around 18:30, the plane spent the night at MIA before operating its first passenger flight as AA1932 to Hartsfield–Jackson at Atlanta International Airport (ATL) on Thursday.

The aircraft pushed back from gate D36 at 08:24 and taxied over to Runway 26L, where it departed at 08:40. Flying north at a cruising altitude of 34,000 feet, the plane began its descent at approximately 09:37. Exactly 30 minutes later, it landed on Runway 27L at ATL and taxied to gate T13. The inaugural flight was the first of four flights it was scheduled to operate on its first day of service. It operated under the same flight number returning to MIA before being deployed on an Austin, Texas, turn as AA824, according to flight data.

Based at MIA

JonNYC noted that the subfleet of A321neos will be based out of MIA and will primarily operate between the hub and ATL, Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) this month. Flight data also confirms this development, as N956XV is slated to fly to the three cities from MIA this weekend.

In January, Simple Flying reported on the whereabouts of the ex-Alaska jets. Aged nearly six years, N956XV was formerly registered as N927VA and was officially delivered to American in November of last year. As the US legacy carrier worked to integrate the aircraft, it spent time on the ground in Mobile, Alabama, Amarillo, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico.

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In an internal memo obtained by View From The Wing, American explained that the seating configuration of the acquired planes will not be changed from Alaska’s, at least for a few months.

“To quickly add these A321 aircraft into the busy summer schedule, the seating configuration will
temporarily
remain the same as the previous carrier had it…These planes are planned to be reconfigured in the fall of 2024.”

Still different from its legacy A321neos

Currently, the subfleet accommodates a total of 190 passengers: 16 seats in first class and 174 in the main cabin. This is six seats less than American’s legacy A321neos. Although the subfleet will eventually be synchronized with the interior featured on the rest of the airline’s narrowbody fleet, they will not have the exact configuration as the existing A321neos.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Since the ex-Alaska jets have a lower seating capacity, they only have eight exits compared to the 10 exits seen on American’s current A321neos. Because of this, the acquired aircraft will be updated to feature the seating layout currently on the carrier’s A321ceos as they accommodate the same number of passengers.

The former Alaska planes also have other cabin differences, according to the memo.

• A photoluminescent emergency strip that must be charged by switching the interior lights to the highest setting for five minutes on the first flight of the day
• No extra-large overhead bins
• No closets for stowage of wheelchairs or other items

It is unclear if the extra-large overhead bins and closets will be added when American updates the interior. Although the airline has not officially added the aircraft’s designation on its fleet webpage, the seating maps have been reflected on the flights N956XV is scheduled to operate. The nine remaining acquired jets are expected to enter service within the coming months.

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