American Airlines will be modifying their Airbus A319s to have an additional row of first class. They won’t be taking out coach seats – they’ll net be adding seats to the planes and reducing legroom.
The A319s that had been ordered by American Airlines prior to being taken over by US Airways management had seat back entertainment screens. These new, densified aircraft will no longer have seat back screens.
The planes have only 8 seats up front, compared to 16 on Boeing 737s and 20 on Airbus A321neos.
American has limited its revenue potential without enough first class seats to sell to passengers. It’s not that upgrades are tough on these planes – buying first class can be tough on many routes.
Legacy American Airlines Airbus A319 First Class, With Just 8 Seats And Entertainment Screens
It’s not just legroom that’s going to be squeezed on Airbus A319 planes to fit in more seats. They nip and tuck everywhere on the aircraft. For instance, this is the last row of the ‘densified’ Oasis configuration 737 that American Airlines flies.
They squeeze the lavatories for space. They squeeze the galleys for space. They’re even going to stick a flight attendant jump seat on the lavatory. Here’s a sketch from the crew manual:
And here’s the layout, showing the number 4 jump seat attached to the lav in the rear galley:
When American Airlines introduced smaller lavatories, with sinks nost deep enough so water sprayed back onto passengers and with doors that slammed into each other, then-CEO Doug Parker defended their cabin layout decisions as being not as bad as Delta’s, whom he mocked for a lavatory setup he thought was worse… putting in jumpseats that blocked the lavatory.
What did Delta do with these same lavs though, Delta had like the crew seat on the door or some ridiculous thing (cackles) that’s not a threat, I just.. I don’t know why I felt.. that’s really funny.. I don’t know why I felt compelled..
United now does this, with the Spaceflex lavatories they use on their Airbus A321. Here’s what it looks like:
With the A321N becoming more frequent, please keep this in mind.
byu/InformalCommittee507 inunitedairlines
Parker, though, doubled down and promised American Airlines would never do something like this,
Delta has done an amazing job with their product and their customer service. They get more seats on the same size airplane than we do. They do things for example like put flight attendant jump seats on the door of the restroom. I promise. You can’t sit in your jump seat if someone wants to use the restroom. We’re not ever gonna do anything like that.
Yet that’s exactly now what they’re doing. It’s not just customers who get squeezed at American Airlines – it’s flight attendants, too.
AA doesn’t innovate. They follow.
Doug is gone, promises broken. But in practice, that jumpseat will rarely be used unless another is broken, flight is staffed above min crew, or a nonrev flight attendant uses a jumpseat on a full flight.
Best practice sharing by easyJet with their industry colleagues.
lavatory fluids leaking out 8 inches from galley surfaces…
Yeah , never eating on THOSE planes.
I’m confused why they need that many jump seats. Presumably there are some up front, will an AA A319 ever have more than 4 (or even more than 3) crew in the cabin?
American Airlines is not recognizable from its pre-US Airways take-over. What a shame for AA passengers, and AA employees who made AA once great. We have moved 80% of our business to Delta, to/from Boston; Delta dramatically outperforms the AA of today.
There is one policy this pathetic industry has implemented for decades
“Monkey see monkey do”
From cramped seating where your blood can’t move within your legs while
feeling your neighbors knees digging into your back as their knees have nowhere to go
This is why we have 500 k one way redemptions as every airline tries to rip off the traveling public the best they can.And now joining the Frey the once respected Southwest
Joining thenLegacy Carriers disguised as thieves aka (ELLIOTT Management)
Truly sad state of affairs
Just put a seatbelt in the lav. Problem solved.
Who puts a toilet in the kitchen? Unsanitary and just disgusting
I am not in favor of this configuration, but once again, Gary has run with the ball in a different direction than the facts. It has nothing to do with putting in more seats. It has to do with FAA required visibility of the cabin by a flight attendant sitting in their jumpseat.
@MattB +1
It will not matter, you know why,? because is just business for them, do you think they care for you? Nope, after you payed your ticket they are done with you, there money is already secure in the bank, passanger quality care? None whatsoever
Could we start regulating air travel again? All we need are minimum standards for pitch and width, and they need to be higher than current “sardine” sizes.
Here they go again! I commented the other day that American is in the race to see which airline can get to the bottom of the pile first! They are rapidly catching up to Frontier and Spirit!
Airline travel keeps getting worse and worse and worse. One way to describe this horror is as follows:
“The airline industry has us by the twin engines.”
How do they get away with this? This is very dangerous for the flight attendants. FAA is bought and paid for.
AA was not taken over by US Air ! Quite the opposite , this author is not an expert on anything other than BS
Seat count goes from 128 to 132. That jump seat will probably never get used since the number of FAs required isn’t changing. Typical clickbait from this site.
There is no limit to the torture that airline execs inflict on passengers. Although “first class” costs (NYC / PAR) $14,768 vs $648 coach, the front of the plane is still an insult to the luxury in the Golden Age of Flying. In fact coach on the first 747’s puts today’s First Class to shame.
But hey Gary, keep on extolling their new lounges. As far as I know, you can’t fly on the lounges.
If the bathroom is to small or tight, I just pee on the floor.
@Garrett – “AA was not taken over by US Air ! Quite the opposite , this author is not an expert on anything other than BS”
US Airways Group was the acquiring company in a reverse-merger, even though the combined carrier kept the American Airlines name, livery, and headquarters. And the management team from US Airways took the top operating roles at the combined airline.
Most of them deserve to sit inside the bathroom.
I think it’s great. They need more First on the A319s. Who cares if the FA sits there.
Why they keep calling it American Airlines ??? That brand was destroyed, it’s gone. Now it’s American Airways, an hybrid between a once leader in the industry, and a low cost carrier pretending to be a premium carrier.
Agree with others… who cares where FA’s sit! If they don’t like it, quit!
Make America Great Again!!
The door-seat is still better than somehow getting FAA approvals for turning the actual toilet into a seat. Economy Minus!
Michael O’Leary famously said “my planes are full of people who said they will never fly my airline again”.
Until that behavior stops, I’m not 100% convinced you’ll ever see substantial changes in the airline industry.
“Could we start regulating air travel again? All we need are minimum standards for pitch and width, and they need to be higher than current ‘sardine’ sizes.” Sure, just so long as you are willing to pay across-the-board higher airfares. But, wait, if you are willing to pay more today, you can buy an extra-legroom seat. So, problem solved without additional regulation.
If you’re not buying at least Y+, you are part of the problem.
Just more seats for the pilots to use up front over revenue passengers. Dumbest entitlement ever. Never has a company put employees ahead of their paying customers in such a disrespectful manner. Without customers there won’t be a reason to fly the birds.
I’ve done my part and haven’t flown on a USA-based airline since 2010.
Pity that others continue to show the airlines that they’re okay with the way they’re treated by continuing to pay money for transportation on airlines such AA, UA and DL.
This is all just talk. Nothing will change for the better because you’re meekly accepting everything on their terms. It’s irrational to think things will get better without regulation.
The two commenters who said that this jumpseat will rarely get used because of the extra jumpseats are wrong. That jumpseat is labled #4. Minimum crew on narrow body aircraft on American are positions 1,2, and 4. Not 1,2,, and 3, It will be occupied every flight. by FA4. That jumpseat has direct view of the cabin. All that being said, this is a non-story. Delta and United already have jumpseats attached to the door. To me the real story here is that AA declared they were going to become premium again but these retrofits will not have seatback screens according to the article. Let’s hope that’s because the screens on these existing planes are outdated and an announcement about new screens is still coming.
As all the others have stated or intimated, “None of the airlines care about any of us, the paying customer.” It’s not all their fault. Much of it can be blamed on Wall Street and investors wanting more and more of a return on their money. Why do you think Southwest is making all their changes? Always remember, “Follow the money.”
Is it sanitary w personnel serving food & liquids…?
I try avoiding us airlines when possible..!I find them unsatisfactory..
You can see the problem at AA thinking. Yes, AA was in bankruptcy and got approval from bankruptcy judges to be bought and taken over by USAirWays. There egos still won’t admit it . They also added extra row of seats partially blocking 2 L door exit on some models of Airbus 321 to increase revenue and seat count. How FAA ever approved that!
A lot of stuff has gone downhill since US Air took us over
I really think American Management missed something in the redesign.
If they turn Lav’s F and G into first class seats, this would be the first A319’s in the fleet to offer first class with a real door!
Come on American. You can do it!
Faa rules 50-101 seats 2 fa, plus 1 fa for every other 50 seats
American Airlines recent flight was awful. It was uncomfortable. You can hardly walk. While walking down the aisle your suitcases get stuck on the aisle. I traveled with my mom, 91, and my son, 15. Trust me when I say that it is not comfortable. It is far from creating a world-class customer experience, building the airline to thrive forever and making culture a competitive advantage with an equal workplace for. And airlines have the nerve of charging for seats!!! The airlines are the ones that need to pay the customer for the terrible customer experience. It makes me not wish to fly American Airlines anymore!
I used to like AA better but not anymore! I find Delta much better! Unfortunately I have to take AA when I travel to see my son. Always a problem and customer service is bad! Not to mention the seats! And no screen for entertainment!
How are they going to make these smaller seats? Im 5’5 and weigh 130 lbs and im so squished as it is! Comfort is not their top priority!
Parker made the promise and he is no longer an AA employee. I never liked Parker or his way of managing but this is all on the current management and has nothing to do with Parker. AA has plenty of former CEO’s that made promises that have been broken.