American Airlines debuted its brand new 787-9 yesterday with a pair of domestic flights between Chicago and Los Angeles. I had the chance to tour AA’s new flagship aircraft and am excited to share some pictures and first impressions with you.
American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Tour – My First Impressions
I was unable to attend a media event in Dallas last week that offered an advance look a AA’s latest 787-9 Dreamliner, featuring all-new seats in each cabin of service. That aircraft entered commercial service yesterday, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles (then back to Chicago and on to London). During its brief layover in LAX, American Airlines arranged for me to take a quick look onboard.
Arriving at LAX around 11:30 am, I picked up a gate pass (which meant no TSA PreCheck) and cleared security.
The aircraft arrived about 20 minutes later from Chicago: I watched as it landed and pulled up to the gate.
Cleaning and catering crews were waiting to quickly turn the aircraft around: boarding was scheduled to commence in less than 30 minutes.
As soon as the last passenger alighted the aircraft, I was invited to board (a couple of my colleagues were there too, including Johnny Jet and Cranky Flier). I did not have long onboard, but did manage to get a look at each cabin.
Flagship Suites Preferred
Business class is divided into cabins. The first row of each cabin (rows 1 and 10) is branded as “Flagship Suites Preferred” and has extra room (42% more), a larger table (with faux marble), and 19% more bed space. Yes, the screens look small, but the suites are very comfortable.
Flagship Business
There are a total of 51 Flagship Suites configured 1-2-1 spread across each cabin (43 when you exclude the eight preferred suites). The seat is based on the Adient Ascent platform and styled by Teague. Each converts to a flat bed or chaise lounge and features a sliding privacy door, though the door has not yet been certified and is locked in the open position.
51 seats is a huge business class cabin and AA thoughtfully invested in it with accents like the seat stitching, wireless charging, and a lamp at each seat.
Premium Economy
Premium economy features 32 Recaro R5 recliner seats (configured 2-3-2). Each includes adjustable calf rests and foot-bars, and winged headrests…the seat is quite comfortable and the seat is sufficient for a daytime flight.
Main Cabin
Economy class features 143 Collins Aerospace Aspire seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. The “Main Cabin Extra” seats (those with extra legroom) are designated by lighter brown headrests. Seats have universal A/C, USB-A, and USB-C outlets, plus Bluetooth connectivity (all cabins have this).
CONCLUSION
AA did a beautiful job on the cabin interiors of this new aircraft. The premium-heavy configuration ushers in a new era of competitiveness for American Airlines and the quality of the seats also look top-notch (though of course, on that note, only time will tell).
I look forward to flying on this new aircraft soon.
Ha. nice review. Regarding Premium Eco….”and the seat is sufficient for a daytime flight”, leads me to believe that main cabin is a “thanks, but no thanks.” Overall, it’s a nice-looking plane, but will be interesting were the soft product goes. Hope to see improvements and elevation in F&B really and curious if anything extra comes with Suites Preferred beyond a little more space, e.g., flagship first dining, first class lounge access, PJs, etc.
I wish Clint would have reported on seat width, as narrow seats in bus. class are not comfortable for
sleeping, even on a flat bed; it’s just too narrow; on United’s 787’s, seat width is only 20″ in bus. I
hope on AA, its greater than that.
Did AA install espresso makers in the galley?
Galleys were to small, so they crammed ’em in the lav’s ! … Plus easier access to ‘blue juice’ creamer !
I appreciate the hard touch items. However, the devil is in the details.
What will food, beverages, and cabin service be like. This is an area that AA needs to make great strides if it wants to climb out of the rabbit hole.
The next item is who will have access to the front half of the plane. Many loyal AAdvantage members will be looking for upgrades; let alone reasonable redemption values. Very irritating to be a million mile member only to see empty seats in the forward section transcontinental or TALT.
“I look forward to flying on this new aircraft soon.”
How soon?
the biggest miss in the normal suites is that AA didn’t opt for a storage compartment in the armrest. i know the ascent offers it since QR’s newer 789s have it available. the seats don’t have much storage as it is which will be interesting to see onboard for an IPD flight
The last row of economy ; some non revs shitting bricks will be relieved they didn’t get bumped and stuck another day in a foreign country. LOL
Thanks for ‘feeling our non-rev pain’ … We are/were also victims of airlines’ duplicity !
A seat is a seat. Sometimes as a non rev I would be worried about getting into first or business class. Other scenarios the stress was real. You’re waiting for a flight overbooked and number 10 on the standby list. The relief of getting your middle row seat and knowing you won’t have to stay in Hawaii another night at the least expensive $400 hotel is euphoric.
AA generally does a good job with cabins on their widebodies.
They don’t do as good of a job in keeping them maintained esp. when they have found the “next big thing” and lack even more in the personal service.
Goodness… After much ranting about AA, you could take some time to compare it to the Polaris debut. It’s interesting how United has been going all out to communicate what they after doing and AA is only hosting influencers upon request.
That’s how it’s always been. UA was marketing its original Polaris seat on every billboard and commercial break before even a single plane had the seats. Same thing with NEXT, as in 2022UA was marketing how they would have “Bluetooth-compatible TVs at every seat” when in truth it would be years before that would come even close to fruition, and even today the retrofits are still at least a year (and that’s an extremely optimistic estimate) from being complete. A big part of UA’s “premium” image is just because it markets itself as premium. If AA just announced *plans* to install IFE at every seat, they would be largely competitive with United. There’s no such thing as a “premium” U.S. carrier. Only carriers that market themselves as premium.
Joe,
the media buzz lasts for a couple days.
These interiors will likely be in service for a decade before the next refurb.
AA is putting its new business class cabin on its 777-300ER fleet. UA hasn’t even committed to having their new Polaris cabin on anything other than new delivery 787s. Not even refurbs of existing products.
DL has been ahead of the big 3 in suite products for a decade and is expected to roll out their 2nd generation suite on their A350-1000s.
AA is going to be 2nd among US carriers with a suite product.
UA will be at the back of the pack in terms of suite availability for years to come.
meanwhile DL might have run out of lipstick to put on its poor 767 ‘pigs’ !
Its beautiful, however, I give it a month until it’s flying around with at least one suite door INOP. Also, there’s still zero investment in customer service.
Any idea of they changed the entertainment setup offering both seat back and on personal devices?
DYKWIA?
AA knows who Matthew is! Good that they invited him for photos!
I once was on a domestic first class seat of a plane in service for 2 weeks. Already, a pen caused a linear ink stain.
I rode PE from Chicago to Los Angeles. Each flyer received a bag of items, including a custom embroidered 787-9P zipper pull. The fanfare was palpable. The seats are indeed comfortable for 5 hours or less.
Our flight arrived some 30 minutes tardy so there was a 25-minute turnaround. Returning to Chicago in business suite 8A, a window seat, was a purposeful contrast. The seat and surroundings are comfortable, although not posh. While the darker colors feel more elegant, the seat felt slightly narrower than it’s predecessor in the 777-300ER. Service in both premium economy and business was spirited and attentive. The bottom line: I would ride this product to Europe without hesitation.
Nothing like that ‘new aircraft’ smell…. ( Before any pax board ) … And amazing to see the exterior, so clean & sleek, devoid of any exhaust stains, deicing fluid residual stains, chipped paint & scratches (even in the luggage compartments ) …but yet
So fleeting, give ‘er another couple of sectors and those pax ( & crew ) will break ‘er in and it’ll look like a poor AA A321-T in no time !
Will they give out binoculars to see the screen in the suites?
Strictly BYOG – ” Bring ya own glasses ” ..And they won’t cover an eye exam / prescription, neither will the non-existent Americanuniversal health care system ?
Thanks for the shoutout!
Would like to get a better view of that “ANA Green Jet ” special livery in the background….
Is AA paying people to shill this? How many news stories am I going to have to see about this? Its the same plane with the same seats as we’ve seen before, they just have doors in them and some brown fake leather. There isn’t anything ground breaking or impressive.
These are the most sophisticated looking cabins that we have seen from a US airline. The new united cabins simply don’t look as sophisticated to me – especially the beach chair look of the economy seats. Delta suites are nice and all but have a bit of a bland look to them. I’m personally not a 787 fan so I’m excited for these to be rolled out on AA’s 777 fleet.