My upgade did not clear on my connection to New York LaGuardia, but the economy class experince on the American Airlines A319 was not bad at all.
American Airlines A319 Economy Class Review
After a short layover in Charlotte Airport (I love the treees inside the concourse), it was time to board my connection to New York.
American Airlines 1722
Charlotte (CLT) – New York (LGA)
January 2024
Depart: 4:25 PM
Arrive: 6:10 PM
Duration: 1 hr, 45 min
Distance: 544 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Seat: 19A (Economy Class)
American is in the process of refreshing its A319 fleet to add four more first class seats as well as larger overhead bins…but also reducing legroom in economy class. My flight, a legacy US Airways aircraft with no seatback screens, was not yet reconigured.
Seat
Economy class features 120 Recaro CL3620 leather upholstered seats in a 3-3 configuration. Standard economy class seats are 17.5 inches wide, recline up to four inches, and have a pitch of 31 inches. There are no screens behind seats, but there are universal power outlets. Rows 8-10 and 14 are “Main Cabin Extra” seats and have 34 inches of seat pitch.
While 31 inches is not eaxctly comfortable, I thought the seats were acceptable for a flight that was only in the air for about an hour.
There are personal air vents (and reading lights) above every seat.
Food + Drink
At 544 miles, I figured that flight attendants would remian seated…but flight attendnats quickly sprang up after takeoff and the two woring economy class efficently went from front to back ofering each passneger a choice of drink and snack (pretzels or Lotus Biscoff cookie).
I had club soda and was offered the full can (that made the service go faster) and a lime wedge. The cups Aemrican uses in economy class are much bigger than the cups I am used to on United Airilnes.
I also had grabbed some hummus from the Admirals Club (the lounge was pakced and under construction) and enjoyed a little snack onboard.
Serivce
Flight attendants were very pleasant depsite having to hustle to complete the beverge service on a full flight that was in the air for less than an hour.
Lavatory
Thre is one lavatory in the front of the aircraft for first class passngers and two in the rear for economy class passngers. I did not get up to use the lavatory.
IFE + Wi-Fi
While the flihgt had no seatback screens, wi-fi was available for purchase (I enjoyed free wi-fi thanks to my T-Mobile account) as well as streaming content.
The weather was bad in New York so while we took off on clear winter day in Charlotte, there was not mcuh to see out the window.
CONCLUSION
American Airilnes economy class may not be fancy, but I appreicated the power outlets, beverage service (weven with lime wedge) and the ability to earn miles that I can apply toward internaitnal travel. Those are three points of differnetiate between flying American and flying a budget carrier…I don’t think the carrier’s doemstic strategy is totally bonkers…
