American Airlines is putting an additional row of first class into its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. They’re about the start work on the prototype A319. They expect to retrofit the first group of planes in the fall – the ones due for heavy maintenance checks – and then will proceed with the ones that only need cabin interior work. That’s according to aviation watchdog JonNYC.
Prototype for the 32 legacy American 319s starts next week. They'll do the overhaul during heavy visits in the fall. Then the cabin only visits start in winter.
320s will come after that.
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
LUS 319s coming last since they got the new interiors after the merger
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Jon says that the legacy American Airlines A319s will get new interiors first ‘because the legacy US Airways 319s got new interiors after the merger’ – they were configured like the American planes, but without seatback entertainment screens.
Legacy American Airlines Airbus A319 First Class, With Just 8 Seats And Entertainment Screens
Going first with the A319s that American had in its fleet before the merger means ripping out the last seatback TVs that remain in the airline’s standard domestic aircraft. That’s sad.
It’s also notable that American will be adding a third row of first class to its Airbus A319s, and a fourth row to Airbus A320s (these are all ex-US Airways planes, some that date to America West), but they will not be removing any coach seats in order to do it. On the A319s two lavatories are being moved to where galley space used to be at the back of the aircraft. They’re even putting a flight attendant jumpseat on one of the lavatory doors to make room.
American has been talking about adding first class seats for four years. It looks like it is finally going to happen. And it needs to happen – 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. However they may have forgotten that most of heir customers are in coach, and that product will get stuffier.
I thought they were adding TVs not removing them?!
I’ll miss the small 8 seat first class cabin. It means a much higher percentage to get PDBs and better service versus F20 on a 321. Of course it was only a matter of time before the last of the screens would be ripped out.
This is laughable. The quality of AA’s product is moving relentlessly lower and lately they have been pricing flights I looked at, higher than competitors. And now they’re going to add more “premium” seating.
Well at least EXP’s will have a better chance of not getting their upgrade bumped by a deadheading pilot.
Well, an extra row of First is nice.
@Daniel — Seriously, this is a hill I’ll die on: IFE is a good thing, even if you, personally, don’t use it. There are pro-AA hawks on here that keep trying to pitch BYOD as ‘premium.’ It ain’t.
@George Romey — Thank you for the special attention to PDBs. What would we do without that G&T or Jake & Coke while the peasants fight for overhead space in the back…. /s
Are coach customers really customers though, or just cattle you move around to sell FF miles?
On IFE, I’ll accept the loss of seatback screens as long as a movie I don’t really want to see is projected on the bulkhead wall at the front of the cabin, or maybe on smaller screens that drop down from the bottom of the baggage bins..
Seriously though, I’m OK with BYOD as long as it’s coupled with solid charging options and solid WiFi interface to the plane’s server. In my experience, neither of those things happen in practice.
@Christopher J Raehl — Yeehaw. Apparently, best AA can do is charge for WiFi that works less than half the time. Take it or leave it.
The proud inauguration of the latest variant/sequel from a vaunted lineage.. “Project O-I-ACHE-sis !”
Is there any rationale why they need six jump seats for FAs on the 319?
BYOD vs IFE. My stance is simple. With IFE people who prefer utilizing seatback screens can use them and those that prefer BYOD can BYOD. I very much prefer IFE as it’s just a lot easier to use and does not get in the way on the tray table when I am eating or when I want to do some stuff on a laptop.
Back then when AA (among others) made the original decision to remove seat back screens the savings were significant due to the weight of those screens. Now they are much lighter.
@1999 no PDB in a “premium cabin” when that is the airlines service standard leaves Parker very unamused, especially what I’ve paid for that premium seat and it’s not an UG.
I really hate autocorrect. Makes me sounds more like a fool than I normally sound.
I wish Delta would remove screens, I don’t enjoy seeing a different movie at every seat around me, many of them completely inappropriate. The only good reason to have a screen provided is to let me use it as an external monitor, and to my knowledge, no airline had yet thought of doing that.
@Parker — I’ve learned to ‘stop worrying and love the (autocorrect).’ More more…Yee-hawww! (Dr. Strangelove, anyone?)
American removing the last of its seat-back screens? As a passenger, I’m not pleased. As a shareholder, I’m not pleased. As a person trying to schedule 3 vacations within the next 11 months, this is good info. I need to make more of an effort to buy better experiences, not just the cheapest seats.
The seatback display makes up for MANY other seating discomforts. Can’t imagine why American thinks removing the TV screens is an improvement. What a disaster.
@1990 I agree.
I didn’t think it’s a big deal until I traveled on AA on a couple of flights two years ago. It was torture.
My theory is that with IFE AND free Wi-Fi the cattle class passengers (I’m mostly in that class) are entertained, distracted and otherwise kept subdued to have a positive experience for them and overall easier to manage for the crew. Why wouldn’t you do it.