I’ve been at least an Executive Platinum with American Airlines each year since 2012. Since I’m sitting over 3.8 million miles on my lifetime status counter, I’m thrilled that they’ve introduced higher lifetime status tiers.
While I don’t fly American as much as I once did – AAdvantage was once so rewarding that going somewhere meant just looking for flights at AA.com – they’re still a major player at my home airport. And there’s a lot that I am looking forward to with them in 2025.
In fact there are five things I’m very excited for from American Airlines in the new year. We should see several big improvements have been years in the making.
- New business class widebody suites. These were supposed to debut in 2024 on new Boeing 787-9 delivery aircraft. The first international route was supposed to be Dallas – Brisbane. American Airlines is introducing business class suites with doors, and bulkhead rows that offer extra space and more premium amenities as well.
Credit: American Airlines
Flagship Suite Preferred Seat, Credit: American AirlinesThe attention to detail also looks to be far greater than their current business class seats, which are already better than Delta’s transatlantic workhorse 767 seats and better than United’s Polaris seats.
What’s more, American is going premium-heavy on its 787-9 aircraft with these seats, and with its Boeing 777-300ERs when it reconfigures those (losing Flagship First Class).
- Arrival of the first Airbus A321XLR. American will be taking delivery of Airbus’s new long range narrowbody aircraft, allowing them to convert some seasonal Europe flights to year-round and to reach thinner markets non-stop, flying to secondary European cities.
What’s more, they will have a 1-1 configuration in business class, and business class seats with doors, as well as a new premium economy product on these planes.
Credit: American Airlines
Credit: American Airlines - The Philadelphia Flagship Lounge. American Airlines has business class lounges at New York JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Miami and Dallas – Fort Worth. They’ve been promising a lounge for their primary transatlantic gateway, Philadelphia, for many years and it’s finally in sight.
Construction was set to begin in 2019 for a 2020 opening but was delayed by the pandemic. I wrote exclusively in summer 2023 that the Philadelphia Flagship Lounge project was green lit to return. It’s finally coming in 2025.
There’s a sense in which this may be worth the long wait. They were going to design the space in the old Flagship template which is ok at best. Instead, here’s a rendering of the entryway to the Flagship and Admirals Clubs showing that they’re in the new design template – which have made for truly special spaces at Washington National (E Concourse), Denver, and Newark.
Credit: American AirlinesFlagship lounges are for customers flying long haul business class or first class on American and its oneworld partners; American Airlines Platinum members and above flying international regardless of class of service; and for oneworld sapphire members and above (from airlines other then American and Alaska) and American Airlines ConciergeKey members even when flying domestically.
Passes for Flagship lounge access are available as choice benefits for achieving various loyalty point thresholds each year, and as an ‘Enhance With Miles’ redemption option. (There’s also an option for elites to redeem miles for Flagship First Dining in Miami and Dallas.)
With the new design template, the Philadelphia Flagship lounge will depart from all the rest of the American Airlines business class spaces – and will be a more elevated experience. The A West Admirals Club will similarly be the nicest at the airport, and one of the four nicest in the system. The only other announced ‘new template’ club is Austin, but that one is no longer even slated to be in the same location in the airport – and the new portion of the terminal where it’ll be located isn’t even built yet.
- More first class seats Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft. American plans to retrofit its Airbus A319 and A320 fleets starting this year, including adding 4 first class seats to both aircraft. That will bring the A319 to 12 first class seats and the Airbus A320 to 16.
I’ve been writing for years that American wanted to add first class seats to its Airbus A319s but first needed to make progress on retrofits of its other aircraft and I’ve been harping on the need to refresh or retire the Airbus A320s for some time.
This will give American more first class seats, and there often aren’t enough available even to buy on many routes. It also helps a little bit with upgrades.
- Satellite WiFi on large regional jets. In a two-year process, American is installing high speed internet in its two-cabin regional aircraft. That means Embraer E-175, Bombardier CR7 and CR9s. (Their 50 seat Embraer E-145s will remain dark.)
Regional jet wifi will be provided by Intelsat, which acquired Gogo’s commercial business. This is the provider for American’s Airbus A320 and legacy US Airways A319 aircraft. They’re upgrading the old Gogo air to ground systems currently on these aircraft. It’s gotten to the point that I avoid American’s regional jets whenever I can because I don’t want to fly without functional internet. That will change as these retrofits progress.
Since these are the things I’m looking forward to the most from American Airlines in 2025, it seems fitting to offer suggestions for 5 things American could do to further improve and give me new things to look forward to this year and beyond!
- Offer food for sale. American ostensibly only offers food for sale on flights at least 1,300 miles, and there’s not hot options, but the last time I flew New York JFK – Austin they didn’t have any onboard. Flying United Airlines was a revelation. There were copious options to choose from on routes where American offers nothing.
American West under-then CEO Doug Parker is credited with the innovation of moving from free meals in coach to offering food for sale instead so you’d think American Airlines would be a leader here!
Plus, a free item is ostensibly a benefit of AAdvantage Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum status, and the AAdvantage Aviator Silver credit card offers a statement credit for these purposes, so they should actually stock food for sale on flights!
- Price WiFi competitively. American Airlines wifi is more expensive than on any other domestic carrier – by a lot. Delta and JetBlue offer it free. United’s will be free – they’re installing Starlink which is also the fastest. Until then United prices like Southwest and Alaska, with all hovering around $8. You might pay as much as $29 for wifi on a single American Airlines flight – and American is removing the last of their seatback television screens on narrowbody aircraft, too.
By the way, did you know that WiFi doesn’t actually stand for anything? It’s not an acronym or shortening of a name. It’s just something a marketing agency came up with to roll off the tongue better than “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence.” American’s inflight ViaSat wifi offered industry-leading speed at one point but Delta uses ViaSat, too, and StarLink is faster with less latency. It’s no longer defensible to charge so much more for an average product. And while faster wifi is coming to regional jets, their 50-seat RJs will remain dark. They never even kept their 2017 promise of free messaging!
- Offer more extra legroom seats to sell. Their Boeing 737-800 and MAX 8 aircraft, for instance, have just 3 rows on “Main Cabin Extra” seating aside from the two exit rows. If you aren’t booking months in advance you may not find Main Cabin Extra seats together, or a Main Cabin Extra aisle. Delta and United have learned they can actually sell these.
American decided to offer fewer seats as part of squeezing in more seats – chasing Spirit and Frontier on legroom rather than chasing revenue. They should reconsider their LOPA, since premium seating isn’t just more first class seats.
- Reverse customer-unfriendly policy changes. American operates hubs throughout the country, but in promoting the size and scope of their domestic network changed its standby policies to keep customers from benefiting from those. After current management took over, standby rules changed to prevent a customer from changing their routing. They must still connect through the same hub if standing by for a different flight. That completely eliminates the standby option in many markets, where there aren’t numerous flights a day through each hub.
Further cracking down on standby, the option to have a human add most customers to the standby list has been eliminated. It’s now self-service for all but Platinum Pro members and above and must be doen 45 minutes or more prior to departure. That’s punitive. Seats can go out empty with passengers just standing there, making American and unfriendly airline for the business traveler whose meeting ends early and hopes to make it home for dinner or bedtime with the little ones.
Meanwhile, in imposing more draconian baggage interline rules than competitors, they waste customer time. To avoid having to share checked bag fees with other airlines, they refuse to interline bags on separate tickets – even onto close partners and even when it’s two American Airlines tickets.
American’s elites don’t pay for checked bags, though, so why impose this rule on them? And why impose it on award tickets, including awards on non-oneworld partners where members can’t circumvent the rule by buying paid tickets inside the existing reservation made for an award?
The airline should restore standby at the gate, improve standby rules, and restore through-check bags on their own separate tickets and where a partner airline is involved – in other words they should match competitor policies.
- Update clubs to current standard. The newest American Airlines Admirals Clubs are gorgeous – the E Concourse club at Washington National airport, and new clubs at Denver and Newark. While American’s improved food offerings still don’t compare to Delta or United, the spaces are exceptionally nice. I’d rather sit and work in that E Concourse club than in any other U.S. airline club, anywhere.
Unfortunately, American doesn’t have a slew of new clubs in the offing. And there are no announced plans to retrofit existing clubs with the new design template. There are too many clubs that haven’t seen a real refresh since US Airways days (the main Charlotte and Philadelphia B/C especially) and the 2018-era style is best dubbed ‘modern hospital’.
American has among the very best lounge aesthetics in its new clubs, and some of the worst beyond that. An aversion to non-aircraft capital spending notwithstanding, American should consider investing in its existing lounge footprint.
While I’m making wishes, I’d love to see American keep its current partner award chart (AAdvantage Director Chris Isaac told me last month they have no plans to announce changes) and re-open its LAX Flagship First Dining now that there’s a revenue stream possible with miles redemptions. I liked it better than the Miami and Dallas locations, though not as much as New York JFK which is no longer as special as the Chelsea lounge.
How about doing something to the 1984 style lounges at CLT, ATL, and PHX.
@ Gary — When it comes to AA, I believe only when I see. It’s like Delta and their massive imaginary fleet of A350-900s.
Wifi is already free. All you have to do is enter ANY tmobile phone number and its free every flight, you don’t even have to have tmobile!
Gene,
you wouldn’t know that AA, DL or UA fly widebodies at all if you didn’t go to a hub or gateway city – and none of them have regular widebody service to AUS.
DL’s fleet of A350s is current at 34 and will be at 65 when all of the firm orders are taken and could/likely will be 75+ when options are converted. That hardly seems invisible.
It was funny reading Gary’s list. DL already does most of the stuff that he says AA will be adding including having suites with doors on those imaginary A350s for the better part of a decade.
I think Gary is trying to justify why he will stay loyal to AA given that DL is now the 2nd largest airline at AUS even if they don’t fly to DCA which is apparently one of his top routes.
It’s the passengers’ behavior that needs a major upgrade!
Item 4 should be implemented immediately. Costs nothing and vastly improves customer experience.
Also, @YourDaddy, they seem to be fixing that loophole by requiring a text message confirmation when logging on. Seen it a few times, though not consistently.
@ Tim — I think you mean DL is now the second biggest airline in the USA, not AUS. United is bigger AND far better.
I’ve been one of the lucky ones as I generally receive excellent service with AA on the ground and in the air. I’m glad that AA is making these updates and certainly wish them well; however, I may not be able to enjoy these upgrades. I’m over the fact that AA caved in to the conservatives in scrapped DEI. I’ve been Platinum Pro for years and again through 3/2026. Guess it is time to move on.
“It was funny reading Gary’s list. DL already does most of the stuff that he says AA will be adding”
What’s funny is how little you know
1.New business class widebody suites.
Come back and chat when delta drops their god awful 763 seat or even has all Aisle access in J across the fleet
2. Price WiFi competitively
Come back when delta even has ANY WiFi on their entire mainline fleet, much less a product that works globally like AA does
3. Offer more extra legroom seats to sell.
Coming from a guy whose airline treats Y+ as an upgrade to their elites. AA and UA are far better in this regard vs delta
4. More first class seats Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft.
Got them there but it’s just more seats but fair. Delta has this
5. Satellite WiFi on regional jets
Talk to us when delta has a rollout plan for this. delta’s customers would probably prefer ANY WiFi globally, something delta doesn’t have in vast parts of the globe, or any WiFi whatsoever on some mainline plans
New year. Same tim trying to sound smart and troll Gary about flying delta out of aus? Lol. I’m sure he will at some point if delta provides a useful offering. Delta is a good airline despite how bad you make them look reflecting the weird delta HQ attitude. But I’d have to imagine flights to MFE and MAF aren’t swaying loyalty just yet
Try to troll less this year, tim.
Gary, the only way to get your wishes is to toss out all senior management at AA. They blamed Vasu for everything, including crap F seats that I need to bring my own cushion for.
They are the reason for American being so unfriendly and they aren’t going to have a change oh heart. Amazing the CEO has lasted this long with their dramatic underperformance.
Things could only improve at American Airlines now that Parker (Former CEO) is gone.
@Beachfan. The current AA CEO Robert Isom made $34,000,000.00 in 2023. It will be interesting what he makes in 2024 for his continuing underperformance.
max had to show up.
DL has had suites in business class for 7+ years and has 55+ aircraft with them now.
Whether the 767 has them or not doesn’t change anything.
And DL retired 5 or 6 767s in 2024 and is set to retire a few more in the next couple months. DL is replacing them with new A330NEOs and A350s which have suites with doors.
AA and UA have precisely ZERO aircraft in service with suites with doors.
DL’s fleet of widebodies with suites will surpass 100 in a couple years while UA has announced no plans for any suite product and AA will have at best a fraction of the number DL has
And AA and UA have precisely ZERO aircraft that provide free high speed WiFi anywhere in the world.
You know that is true about every item you raised but you can’t stand to admit that DL really is setting the pace for amenities in the industry.
If Gary is driven by amenities – which this article seems to indicate – then it is hard to understand why he is choosing AA.
@ Tim — All that, and Delta will still suck.
I don’t know why people dig on Delta Airlines. I’ve never been on a Delta flight that didn’t have Wi-Fi. They do a more consistently better job with most things. I’m glad to see that American Airlines is trying to up its game. Ripping out all of the IFE monitors is the dumbest idea. They just think differently than other airlines. I hope it is not all lip stick on a pig. It is impossible to drop off of the floor. They should only be getting better. Right?
Re: The A319 & A320,
Funny how what’s old is new again. I remember when the US (East) metal 319 and 320 planes had 12 and 16 first seats respectively. America West took first seats out of US East planes to put in America West’s planes because those planes didn’t have first class and it was needed to comply with Star Alliance.
Question on the 319 retrofit: I recall reading that the third row of first class was only going into the legacy AA 319 metal that still has the IFE systems, and not the rest of the 319 fleet that already got the retrofit during “Oasis.” Has that changed, and the third row of first is going into all 319s?
As for the free Internet for T-mobile: I have seen text verification come when redeeming a full flight credit, as one only gets 4 per year. I have not yet seen a text message prompt when redeeming a one hour session. Though limited to one time per a flight, there is no yearly limit to the one hour session credit.
@Gary
You are the OG American Airlines fan.
For many of us, a lot of this depends on where you are based and where you are often going. If you are at an AA hub like Dallas or a Delta hub like Atlanta, you are practically trapped, so you’d better learn to like the beast, or else! For those of us in high-competition markets like NYC/LA/SoFla, there is actual variety, so we get to know what everyone’s like, and over time develop our favorites.
I’ve been an EP for several years, primarily routing from MIA and JFK. I admire that AA is the only remaining airline among the big-three in the US to still operate a lie-flat ‘Flagship First’ (in addition to Business on their 773 and a321T), though those cabins certainly need the planned refresh. Their age is showing. It’s fun when they bring out the 773 for a relatively short flight like JFK-MIA. Otherwise, DEL-JFK at 16+ hours is fun, too.
Also, the airline alliances do matter. I prefer OneWorld over Star Alliance, but may like SkyTeam best overall. That said, I’ve enjoyed certain partners, like Qatar, and have credited a lot of my flights with them to AA, helping to earn the statuses.
As far as the map is concerned, I gotta say, nothing beats AA’s network from MIA to all over the Caribbean and Latin America. Many great trips with them over the years in that region. Mostly reliable and pleasant. Good crews.
On lounges, I’ve specifically enjoyed the Flagships at MIA and JFK, especially the newer Chelsea and SoHo at T8. United’s Polaris lounges (EWR) and the new DeltaOne lounges (JFK, LAX) are close rivals. Hard to pick favorites between those these days. All good. Yet, overseas, like at LHR, the Flagship is weak; better to head upstairs to the Cathay lounge there.
While some of the newer Admirals Clubs, like DCA and LGA, are quite nice, many of the regular Admirals Clubs are so dated (thinking of JFK T8, PHL). I’d prefer many SkyClubs over Admirals Clubs and UnitedClubs.
However, AA’s transition in the last year to dynamic pricing for point redemptions was a major devaluation to me. They’ve nearly become Delta’s SkyPesos, which is unfortunate.
The dissolution of AA’s partnership with BILT was further disappointing as there is now no transfer partner. Hoping Citi brings them back. Would like to covert my TY points to AA someday. Also, if Barclays ends their AAviator card, that would also be a loss as churning the one-purchase sign-up bonus was a fun rotation over the years with that card.
For further comparison of top-tier statuses, I’ve also been a 1K and Diamond. On this aspect, I prefer AA over UA, but DL is still my favorite, overall, and for how they’ve rewarded elites. For instance, comparing the ‘confirmed upgrades’ for each airline, from my experience, redeeming and confirming GUCs/RUCs with Delta is more reliable than system wide upgrades with American and so much better than PlusPoints with United.
Anyway, as much as I enjoy the banter with some of you in the comments, especially the ‘culture war’ hot-takes, I really am passionate about travel, and do enjoy reading Gary’s commentary. Thank you.
@ Michael — You need a better plan with T-Mobile. Some plans offer free unlimited on-board wifi. This generally covers all UA globally, and all AA/AS/DL domestically . It is an amazing benefit.
@ 1990 — One is only “trapped” as a “hub-capitive” if unwilling to connect. If you live in a mega-hub like DFW or ATL, there are TONS of one-stop options to get most anywhere.
I rather liked the 2 row F on the A319. I could take my preferred seat (row 2 aisle), have my carryon under the seat in front of me, have a partial divider, so the first row of coach couldn’t touch/jostle the back of my seat or complain if I reclined, and have a better pax to FA ratio. I always book early, so I often have every F seat available. And, of course, a smaller F means fewer upgrades, which, strangely pleases me.
Gary, thank you for the update. Some exciting changes, and I am already a huge AA fan.
When I heard about a door at each Business seat, I envisioned the floor-to-ceiling (or overhead bin) door on Emirates and others. In the AA pics you included, it looks like the new AA door is only waist high. Is that correct?
@Gary—when you mention lounges that need upgrading why don’t you include the old US Airways lounges at PHX? I feel like I’m stepping back into the ‘80s when I go there. Same with CLT.
Plat Pro does not get the free snack in economy. Not a published benefit anyway, compared to what’s listed for Exec Plat.
Gary – Do you think the new Flagship in PHL will soon be rat infested and then shut down by the Health Department like their Admirals Club there? Haha.
Just spent hours in Admirals Clubs last week due to continued IRROPS. I had never been to PHX but it actually tops CLT clubs in my opinion. Just gross. Left after 10 mins. I’d rather sit in a bar and pay $18 for a beer that be in that hellhole.
More F seats on the 320? If they add 4 seats to the US 320s they might be able to keep a 12F count. Many are broken and unsellable as you know – you have the photos!
American Airlines 1st Class to Santo Domingo is awful. No food when you wake up from a red eye flight except some crappy snacks. No fruit cup or a banana?
The CLT first class lounge is garbage. AA should be embarrassed. The Miami locations are good but the food could be so much better.
I can’t ever seem to check in online whenever I fly AA and the gate agent always tries to charge some for bags if I’m flying first class or with AA credit card. Honestly I’d rather fly Southwest than 1st Class AA
How can American possibly compete with Delta? After all, Delta is the world’s only PERFECT airline. LOL
This is all vaporware, correct?
Why this ad for the worse of the three US airlines?
Sounds like this article was written for you by An AA PR person.
I have over 11 million Aadvantage miles .
The majority of the Admirals Clubs are out of date and over crowded with Credit Card customers AA allows in for having their card.
Seats are jammed in with both coach and Business significantly closer space.
The older Philadelphia Admirals Club recently failed an inspection by the city health department.
Terminal C construction in DFW is already causing major issues.
They recently fired thor Chief Commercial Officer who cost them hundreds of millions by initiating a program disadvantaged to large Commercial Travel agents regarding their ticketing process.
He terminated the almost entire sale force world wide without considering that effect on commercial sales.
You can’t have missed any of these. issues.
What’s up?
Agreed on the WiFi…it’s priced in a way that I never use it. With DL and (soon) UA having it for free, it’s a huge competitive disAAdvantage. AA anounced they were looking into free texting (which even WN has), but alas, more than 5 years later, nothing. I get that they want to extract every last dollar out of every single passenger, but some of is self-defeating. One of my friends lives in Orlando and she flies DL just for the free WiFi/Texting.
I’m EP on AA and have never been offered a snack. And very, very rarely even acknowledged as an EP. I’ve actually enjoyed AA’s service and have found most of the FA’s to be quite good. But, overall, they need to up their game on the domestic front.
Some points need to be corrected :
1) platinum pro pays for inflight snacks . The free snack policy is only for EP and Key passenger.
2) The 737 only have two MCE rows in the front of main cabin, not three. It is untrue that these seats always sell, most of them are given away for free to frequent flyers as part of their perks .
3) The airline used to allow free standby only for passenger with status . Now , all passengers can do it.
Having a passenger buy a ticket with a connection and allowing that passenger to standby for a direct flight instead is a huge list of revenue. Nonstop flights are more expensive. PP, EP and Keys can standby with an agent up to 45
Minutes, because agents are too busy preperarint for boarding and working the list priority list that has been stablished and needs to be processed before boarding , if possible.
I have to agree with other commenters here, while it’s great that American is stating intentions to do this and that- it’s all pretty much catch up to competitors- and even then it will be behind still. As someone like Gary, based in a large but non hub airport- Delta is still leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Their Atlanta hub is so dominant here in the south, they fly a 767 and an A330 daily on the short hop to ATL! They run on time, crews are noticeably friendlier, and in a 45 minute hop I can connect to Korea, Paris or to South Africa with one stop!