End of an Era: The First ‘Stripped Down’ American Airlines A321T Is About To Enter Service
The best American Airlines domestic aircraft is the one that it flies on premium cross-country routes like New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Airbus A321T (T for transcon) features first class, business class and economy.
American Airlines Airbus A321T First Class
However that plane is on the way out, with the premium cabins being dismantled and even coach being made worse. The first of these – the aircraft registered as N115NN – has already been converted into a standard domestic plane with regular first class, TVs removed, and less legroom. It will soon re-enter service as a stripped-down experience.
American Airlines is ending its Flagship First Class product over the next few years. Only two plane types have it today.
- When new Boeing 787-9 planes are (eventually) delivered with business class suites with doors, they will also retrofit their Boeing 777-300ER planes – eliminating international first class, and adding these new business class seats.
- They will drop first class from these A321T planes. In fact they are going to modify the aircraft to a standard A321 Oasis domestic configuration with just recliner seats up front and coach in back. For premium cross country flights they’re expected to use new Airbus A321XLR planes which, once (eventually) delivered, will have business class suites with doors as well.
While the Airbus A321XLR is still in the future – the aircraft hasn’t been certified yet, so Airbus can’t deliver any – American is already in the process of switching its existing fleet of A321T planes into the standard, less luxurious configuration called “A321R.”
American Airlines Airbus A321T Business Class
Already down to just 16 planes in service, these aircraft currently have 10 first class; 20 business class; and 72 coach seats – half of which are extra legroom “main cabin extra” seats. In the new configuration they will go from 102 total seats up to 196 – 20 first class and 176 coach.
Even though American Airlines will be replacing these planes on cross country routes with a new aircraft featuring business class suites and premium economy, there are several losses.
- These Airbus A321T aircraft will get far less comfortable
- There will no longer be a true ‘first class’ cabin
- That also means the premium cabin will no longer come with access to American’s Flagship First Dining and to the Chelsea lounge at New York JFK
- The biggest difference will actually be in economy, where there will be less legroom, no TVs and fewer Main Cabin Extra seats.
Meanwhile the big changes to the current fleet of aircraft will be:
- removing seatback entertainment screens
- Less padded seats and smaller lavatories
- Even removing a galley – passengers won’t be fed as much
American Airlines A321T Economy
American Airlines planned to eliminate true first class when US Airways management took over a decade ago. US Airways was used to being the low cost leader, rather than a premium airline, and couldn’t fathom selling those seats. They quickly learned that there was demand, especially from corporate buyers out of L.A. That’s dried up somewhat since the pandemic.
On the aircraft’s inaugural flight, right after the takeover, a Vice President that had come over from the US Airways side told me they expected to rip out first class from these new A321Ts back then. There’s always been a bias against premium from this management team.
American Airlines First Class Cabin On The A321T Will Disappear
They’ve believed that if they could only become operationally reliable, they’d be profitable. It turns out that reliability is just table stakes rather than enough, and a high cost airline needs to generate a revenue premium which requires quality product. The Airbus A321XLR should offer a premium product up front… but no longer in back.