American Airlines has taken delivery of its first two ‘block two’ Boeing 787-9s from the order placed in 2018. These planes are equipped with 51 business class suites as well as a new premium economy. More aircraft should come in quick succession.

We’ve gotten a sneak peak (leak) of the interiors, real photos not just the renderings. And thanks to JonNYC leaks we’ve known that the plane would initially fly Chicago to Los Angeles before transitioning into Chicago – London Heathrow service next month, and that they’d add new 787-9 service to Philadelphia.

American has now shared more details of dates and routes.

Departure	Arrival	Commences
Chicago (ORD)	London (LHR)	June 5
Philadelphia (PHL)	London (LHR)	Aug. 6
Philadelphia (PHL)	Zurich (ZRH)	Sept. 3
Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)	Brisbane, Australia (BNE)	Oct. 26

The first domestic flight will be June 5, Chicago – Los Angeles flight AA2012. The aircraft will then return to Chicago to operate its inaugural international flight in commercial service. American operates Chicago – London three times daily. The flight where the 787-9 will initially debut on June 5 is AA98.

More photos from American Airlines are available in the release.

I’ve been looking forward to this since first writing about the plan for a new business class product on these 787-9s back in early 2020. Slowed by the pandemic and by Boeing production challenges, it’s taken five years but we’ll finally see the Adient Ascent seat in American Airlines specs in person.

This will be a dense product. They’re squeezing as many seats as possible into the real estate of the aircraft and there’s consternation amongst flight attendants over staffing levels and working within the confines of the galleys. Overall, and though the business class screens appear smaller than many expected, this should be a marked improvement over the airline’s current business class. Premium economy may be an upgrade as well. Economy seats look quite hard, though I look forward to trying them out.

American says flights go on sale Monday, but the first flight is actually already loaded for sale. Basic economy is $115, while standard economy is $160 and domestic first (business) class is $662 one-way.

Premium economy is assignable as Main Cabin Extra on domestic flights, which means it’s free for AAdvantage platinum members and above. If your primary interest is the aircraft, or getting a feel for the cabin, rather than the business seat then consider booking cheapest economy. There aren’t many of these seats left, but you can also take a stab at the return Los Angeles – Chicago flight.

Sadly, while I was able to buy tickets for American’s inaugural Airbus A321T, Boeing 787-8, 787-9 and 737 MAX 8 flights, I will be on the other side of the world for this first flight.