Although I agree conceptually with much of the feedback from One Mile At A Time about the new American Airlines A321XLR, my own anecdotal experience onboard in business class was very different.
The Positive American Airlines A321XLR Feedback I Overheard
I too recently flew the brand new American Airlines A321XLR in “Flagship” business class. Ben flew from JFK-LAX and I flew the opposite direction from LAX-JFK, writing about my flight here.
As I said in a previous post:
I found a swanky cabin with mood lighting…it immediately reminded me of JetBlue. Stepping into my seat (1F), I found it narrow, but not at all uncomfortable and very private. Padding was excellent and there was enough room for my feet. I like the suite finishes as well, though I hope they will age well!
I did not personally run into the issue of the monitor being a hindrance to service. I had it open during breakfast and when my drink and later breakfast tray was served, the flight attendant simply moved it aside for a few seconds. There was some talk about what a design flaw this was, but it just struck me as minor annoyance.
In summary, I like the A321XLR and prefer it to the 2-2 B/E Diamond seating on the AA321T in business class. Yes, I don’t like being seated with my back to the window, but I understand the efficiency of such a cabin layout and appreciated the privacy of the seat.
Ben points out the deficiencies in the seat, but more interestingly flags the reaction of his seatmates, saying that after landing, some of the “business class passengers just started talking with one another. What were they talking about? Well, how much they hated these new seats.” They said things like:
- “This is the worst business class seat I’ve ever been in”
- “I can’t believe this is their new business class, what were they thinking?”
- “Who designed this seat, this is so tight?”
And I don’t doubt that folks said that, because the seat is narrow, the aisle is narrow, and it’s not ideal to be facing away from thew window. Yes, it does feel to some extent like a coffin, not that I’ve ever laid down in one.
At the same time, my experience was very different. I was seated in 1F, so everyone who boarded the aircraft walked by me. I heard several “oohs” and “aahs” and “must be nice” comments while boarding. No one complained about how bad the seat was, at least within earshot of me. On the contrary, after landing as I stood up waiting to get off the plane, Mr. Wanker in 1A was chatting with his seatmate in 2A and they were talking about how much they liked the seat:
- “This is a cool new seat. A little weird, but I slept great.”
- “Yeah, I like that there’s no one next to you. This was worth getting up early for.” (it was a 6:00 am flight)
There’s no doubt flight attendants hate this new aircraft and there’s no doubt that cabin arrangement is poor…at least one mid-cabin lavatory should have been installed.
But I just would not draw any profound conclusions based on the feedback of Ben’s seatmates (or mine). As I said above, I do prefer this aircraft to the A321T in business class, which is 2-2 meaning passengers seated in the window seat do not even have direct aisle access.
Obviously, widebody planes are preferred, but even then product matters. United operates 777-200s on its premium transcontinental routes but those “HD” business class cabins have eights seats across in a 2-4-2 configuration. Delta’s 767-300s/400s all have direct aisle access, but I find those seats particularly uncomfortable and even more coffin-like when reclined.
These seats on AA are very nicely-padded and comfortable in any position. Compared to the Aer Lingus, SAS, and older JetBlue A321s with lie-flat seating, I greatly prefer these new AA seats, even though it means I’m facing away from the window.
I also did not run into the tray table issue Ben did (I had my laptop out and was working for almost the entire flight) and really liked how thoughtfully the wireless charging port and A/C outlets were positioned.
CONCLUSION
Without discounting One Mile At A Time’s experience onboard the American Airlines A321XLR, I just want to point out that mine was very different. Not only did I genuinely like these seats (compared to other narrowbody seats), it appears my seatmates did too.
I do think AA erred in not adding an additional lavatory to this aircraft, but I don’t think that this business class seat is the dumpster fire that some seem to be suggesting.
> Read More:
- My First Impressions Of American Airlines’ New A321XLR Flagship Business Class
- American A321XLR Business Class Has A Privacy Problem…I Found Out The Hard Way
- American Airlines Flight Attendants Tell Me Why They’ve Lost Faith In Leadership…And Why They Hate The A321XLR
Grabbing my popcorn. The AA321XLR debate begins
It’s certainly a debatable issue – I just don’t see it nearly as bad as Ben’s seatmates did.
Hardly a debate. More of an AA-bashing session for those who already loathe the airline.
I think more lie-flat on narrow-bodies is an improvement. And the a321T was getting so dated, something needed to change. I’ve had several experiences were my seats were broken on those older planes. Either they fix them, or newer aircraft/cabins. I also much prefer the option to fly between secondary cities. Like, for TATL, at least from NYC, instead of connecting in LIS, fly direct to OPO; instead of FCO, fly to CTA, nonstop. That’s the beauty of these XLR.
But this isn’t really expanding lie flat seating, it’s just replacing broken lie-flat seating with functional lie-flat seating, at least as far as AA is concerned.
On TATL… get excited because AA announced OPO from PHL today beginning in 2027, so… finally some competition for New Jersey fliers to OPO between an XLR from PHL or a 757 with lie-flat seating from EWR. Or, of course, can fly a DL 767 to OPO from JFK, a widebody with lie flat seating. So even if this was from JFK (it’s not), why would I choose an XLR over a wide body plane?
If the price was right, ok, but AA is pricing the XLR to compete with D1. I mean, you can literally fly AA on 777-200s from JFK-LAX for half the price on some dates versus the XLR. I’ll take the 777 please. And D1 on the ground > Greenwich.
The only TATL XLR route so far is JFK-EDI? Again can fly a DL 767 or a UA 757 on the route – is the XLR really that much of a game changer? On a non-business premium route where folks may actually not mind sitting next to and being able to see their spouse?
I just don’t think this is as much of a game changer as AA wants to believe it is. And it may not be a dumpster fire in business, but do I really want to sit in economy on an XLR versus on a DL 767 in a 2-3-2? With C+ seats that families can purchase?
I will be flying this seat in a couple weeks. Will be interesting to see how I like it. Flew the JetBlue version already and it was fantastic.
Agreed. B6’s newer Mint is excellent. Better food, too. As much as some belittle jetBlue, I think they’ve excelled at presenting a better experience for passengers, both in-front and in-back. (And they finally have a lounge at JFK T5!)
Matt, you are not old enough to remember “New Coke”, but I think some designer will end up ridiculed like Robert Goitzueta. The functional lack of windows is unfortunate and will make the cabin more dark than necessary. And the design of the screens is quite unfortunate. I have not experienced the product myself, but it strikes me that a customer of size would need to grease their hips and back into the seat to use it.
But the product is usable. I’d characterize this as a missed opportunity to install something better.
Guess it’s a personal preference thing, but I side more with the “it’s actually pretty good” camp. I thought it was a little cozy, certainly private, but not cramped, and the seat itself was very comfortable. The lack of MCE and lavs are a problem, yes, and I get the FA’s complaints about the layout, but that’s more an indictment of AA’s lack of foresight than the Business Class product itself.
Some guests will miss the old Flagship First…
I so appreciate your polite phrasing of the areas with which you dissent with OMAAT-if only we all (myself included) could all couch our disagreements so prudently. Thanks for the alternative view.
Well said, Matt. No idea why Ben and some of the others have been so ‘uppity’ against this new product. Did you find it much different from JetBlue’s newer Mint?
Debatable takeaway: JFK-bound pax are glass-half-full, and LAX-bound pax are glass-half-empty.
Sounds ’bout righ’… New Yorkers are used to riding the subway; Angelinos drive everywhere. Yet, Matt’s based in California; Ben’s in Miami. Huh. Probably just coincidence.
If it means more long haul flights to more locations I am for it. I’m willing to sacrifice a little space, though admittedly I am not a large person.
The old you can’t please all the people all the time story with the added fact that the majority of the “rich” in America are just assholes that will bitch about anything. Instead of being thankful they can afford or their company allows it, they want to complain about a product 99.9% of the public will never get to enjoy.
Like the lunatic lady at the Grammy’s rant, stolen land for you but my house isn’t built on it. Oh yea F ICE!
Have seen comments already indicating that FAs are admonishing passengers to keep monitors stowed throughout the meal service. Certainly if this becomes the protocol in practice vs your experience, it will detract from the offering.
I’ve been dubious about this product from the start and honestly nothing I’ve read really makes me view it any more favorably. As @jfhscott says, American had a chance to do better but didn’t.
So, Matthew, AA will be flying these to Europe in the future. Which would you prefer, this or a DL 763 (the least favorite international widebody gor me) for a flight across the Atlantic?
I don’t think the seats on Delta are comfortable (they are hard and I don’t like the faux leather padding), so I would choose AA…but it would be hard becuase the D1 Lounge is so much better than anything AA offers.
Thanks, Matthew. DL gets bashed for the 763. I didn’t like my one J leg in it (replacement flight). But, as Tim points out, often the choice is DL on a 763 or a narrowbody with 2-2 J on another airline to Europe. The 1-1 narrowbody seems like a decent choice. Obviously, it should be better than a 2-2 narrowbody. And, fairly soon, the 763 won’t be an option. Thus, my curiosity: a 321xlr in 1-1 or the DL 763. It seems clear the 321xlr loses to most any other widebody. Of course, I have a problem; I neither loath nor love any of the legacy 3.
I flew this a few weeks ago and my experience matches Matthew’s more than Ben’s. I felt it was a nice step up from the A321T’s and did not hear anyone complaining about their experience.
They definitely are going to need to work out the service issue relative to screens. I do think it’s possible to serve “over the screen” so that the only time your screen would need to be stowed would be when they first present the tray and later remove it, but FA’s have been instructed not to do any kind of service when the screen is out, which is unnecessary and puts both customers and FAs in an awkward position. I think they’ll fix this and retrain agents on how to safely serve with minimal interruption, but at the moment it does take away from the experience.
u shud just kiss n make up