We’ve known for a while (unofficially) that American Airlines is planning on refreshing its long haul product, and there’s an exciting update regarding that.
American’s new Boeing 787 configuration
American Airlines already has 46 Boeing 787s in its fleet, and has a further 43 Boeing 787s on order. When all is said and done, American will have one of the largest Boeing 787 fleets in the world. Unfortunately American has been having issues with Boeing 787 delivery delays, so we’re having to wait a bit longer than planned for new jets.
Nonetheless there’s an interesting update regarding that, as the always knowledgable @xJonNYC has some insights about what we can expect. It’s expected that American’s upcoming Boeing 787-9s (to be delivered starting in 2023, hopefully):
- Will feature just 235 seats, compared to the current configuration that features 285 seats
- This will include 51 business class seats, 32 premium economy seats, 18 Main Cabin Extra seats, and 143 economy class seats; for reference, current 787-9s have 30 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, 36 Main Cabin Extra seats, and 198 economy class seats
- These planes will have all new business class seats with doors, plus all new premium economy seats
- These planes will have a business class walk-up bar in the galley near the second set of doors, plus Viasat Wi-Fi
This represents a massive change to how American is currently configuring its Boeing 787s, both in terms of the number of seats, and in terms of the product.
American’s new Boeing 787 business class
There’s still nothing official about what business class seat we should expect on these new American Airlines Boeing 787s. We do know that back in 2020, American was testing new business class seats, and there…