Did Anyone Test This? American Airlines New A321XLR Suite Forces Screens Closed For Meal Service

Today was the inaugural commercial flight for the first American Airlines Airbus A321XLR, flying between New York JFK and Los Angeles. I had a chance to see the plane last week in New York but that’s not the same as actually flying it. We had just a short period on the aircraft, ushered on and off in groups.

That meant I could see the plane and sit in the seats but not really try it out. I did things like check the sinks in the lavatory – was the water pressure set properly? Back when American Airlines first launched the Boeing 737 MAX, the lavatory doors opened into each other and the water sprayed back on passengers because the sinks weren’t deep enough.

American hadn’t built mock ups of their new standard domestic cabin before releasing it into service back in 2017, so a lot of problems like the way the galley worked and how first class passengers lacked underseat storage due to how the seats were mounted to the floor came as a surprise. The airline pledged to do better – specifically with this plane.

However, there seems to be one problem that’s already coming up based on reports from the air.

• The way this herringbone seat works, passengers have their backs to the window and face the aisle.

  

• The TV is – naturally – in front of them. So it’s between the passenger and flight attendants serving them from the aisle.

  

• That means the TV is in the way every time a flight attendant comes to offer them meals, drinks, or snacks.

Someone didn’t think this through. The flight attendants can’t set the tables or serve meals without stowing the TV monitors. So every time they come by, they need to push them back. You can clearly tell the FAs are frustrated at the design. pic.twitter.com/ZSyr0diDWu

— Jamie Larounis (@TheForwardCabin) December 18, 2025

That is exactly what the purser just told me. He looks absolutely baffled about how to serve folks with the TV’s open because closing them each and every time is not exactly a great option either. Did anyone not test this design before installation?

— Jamie Larounis (@TheForwardCabin) December 18, 2025

This is a medium deal operationally. It’s an annoyance. It’s probably a bigger deal for the product reputationally, because it’s happening as part of American’s high-visibility “premium pivot.” Meal and drink service is soemthing premium flyers notice.

If flight attendants really have to ask for screens to be stowed each time they offer service, from drink to tray and dessert, service gets slower and feels clunky and interrupting. It begs the question, “how did they not test this?” even when they got 20 things right. It’s going to be a bigger deal on transatlantic flights with more service.

This is more an issue with the architecture of the seat than an American Airlines customization issue. Collins Aurora uses a wall-mounted, swing-out monitor. The tray table is folded into the sidewall. The Thompson Vantage Solo seat used in JetBlue Mint and the Iberia A321XLR is the closest comparable inward-herringbone narrowbody product. The screen isn’t mounted in the same way.

There are design choices with this seat that create challenges. The seat manufacturer markets that this layout allows crew to serve without reaching over customers. True! And I can see why American might prefer cabin crew not to serve over open screens, to avoid spills and potential damage moving the screen.

I suspect that service flow is going to need to shift. I wonder if there’s something that can be done with smaller plates, or different trays, that make it possible to place on the tray with tongs from a lower angle? This is outside my area! But ultimately, I expect American can figure out how to manage this in a way that annoys business class passengers and crew less.

Plenty of top-tier premium products have a quirk to them, from Singapore angling seats underneath the one in front so that passenger legs are at an angle to Etihad’s First Apartment have a hard bed (which I never minded).