American Airlines will be modifying their Airbus A319s to have an additional row of first class. They won’y 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.