American Airlines has an announcement coming. It looks to be new details of a soft product, perhaps tied to the launch of American’s new premium Boeing 787-9 on June 5.
And that seems like a good time to talk about all of the premium rumors swirling around American Airlines right now. We know that soft goods changes are coming, but it seems like a lot more is on the horizon too.
American Airlines has new business class suites, and a new premium economy. They’ve opened what looks like their best business class lounge yet in Philadelphia. They’re adding free wifi next years, and they’re making small changes like no longer requiring collection of noise cancelling headsets an hour before landing.
I was first to report on the airline’s premium pivot back in January.
- American is a high cost airline and needs to earn a revenue premium to be successful
- But they’ve spent years chasing low cost carriers
- Those low cost carriers have been less successful, too, as passengers have been willing to pay more for a better experience especially post-Covid.
There are several changes at the airline under discussion. Some of them, no doubt, won’t get final sign off. But it’s not just bringing products to fruition, like the new business suites and new Philadelphia lounge, that have been in development for five or more years. There are some pretty significant changes and reversals afoot.
I’m not going to say these are ‘definitely happening’ but I’ve heard them from American Airlines sources, including sources that have been right about other things. However I am not placing odds that any specific one actually comes to fruition.
- USB-C new delivery aircraft will get USB-C ports in economy.
- More flight attendant staffing on widebodies American staffs narrowbodies to legal minimum, and has cut back staffing on its widebody long haul flights. The union has had a beef about this, but lost its grievance and didn’t negotiate higher staffing levels in its new contract. However there has been talk of improved onboard service and adding an additional flight attendant to Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 777 aircraft (but not 787-8s which have a small business class cabin).
- New inflight entertainment interface. The plan would be a new user interface next year that works faster and tailors the home page to passenger preferences.
- Seatback entertainment screens. There was talk before the pandemic about reversing the 2017-era decision to drop seat back entertainment screens, but that didn’t ultimately happen. That was before United went all-in on screens, matching Delta and JetBlue. American has been left behind with the notion that everyone can just watch content on their phones.
Some planes would see a retrofit, perhaps either when they get first class seats added (Airbus A319, A320) or go in for major maintenance checks. New seats could even see better padding.
- More Main Cabin Extra to sell. American has fewer extra legroom coach seats than competitors. They’ve crammed in seats to sell more seats at low fares but need to compete for premium and elite passengers. This would mean removing a couple of rows of seats to offer more extra legroom seats.
- Widebody aircraft order There’s been talk of a new widebody aircraft order for awhile. They need to make a decision on their older Boeing 777-200 fleet. I’ve broadly expected them to keep these planes, but I don’t have a sense of the relative cost of D-checks and cabin retrofits for them versus current deals that Boeing might be willing to offer on a 787-10.
Airlines talk to airframe manufacturers all the time, even when they aren’t going to pull the trigger on a new aircraft order. So I’m not sure whether talk of the 787-10 is ‘the plan’ versus ‘creating options’. I’ve expected a life extension for the Boeing 777-200 rather than an expensive plane order but Boeing may be highly motivated.
I certainly hope that American looks at their seat configuration and pulls the trigger on Main Cabin Extra seats. Looking at flights a month out I often can’t get Main Cabin Extra seats that aren’t middle seats. These rumors, taken together though, would all represent very nice investments for a more premium airline and go a long way towards breathing new life into the carrier.
I’m against putting seat back entertainment screens. Everyone has phones. Bring your own headphones. Invest in more entertainment to stream instead. But besides that, everything else looks great.
I can see AA adding IFE to the Maxes, Neos, LAA A321s and the newest 738s. It probably doesn’t make sense to add them to the LUS Airbuses and block 1/2 738s given their age.
Wide body improvements are great, but it doesn’t do anything for passengers flying the 2-4 hour flights on 737/320 aircraft. Passengers are essentially on flying Greyhound buses. Even first/business is essentially just a slightly wider seat and nothing more. While I don’t expect lay-flat cabins, at least give customers the amenities offered on other flights.
Things can only continue to improve at American Airlines now that Parker (Former CEO) is gone. Parker was a disaster and ruined a once great airline.
No, I dont carry a television around with me everywhere I go. The screens are going back in. It’s much easier/cheaper now that they’re wifi based.
In-flight entertainment is intrusive and distracting. It has also become disgusting. For me, the only use of a screen on the back of the seat would be to use it as a second monitor for my laptop.
AA needs to bring back IFE for all A321 and B737 and mood lightning and bring back the buy on board menus. Any flight over 3.5 hrs should have a meal service. With these additions they will be able to compete with their rivals on a premium level,!
My husband and I fly exclusively First/Business domestically, including the DFW-HNL route. I also usually upgrade my husband for his work trips. These changes don’t really move the needle for us. We bring our own devices for entertainment, but I would say if AA wants to make an in-flight entertainment upgrade, offer more channels for Live TV. Our biggest gripes are seat discomfort and rude or disinterested FAs. Can’t improve that with soft product changes.
I’m with Nathan on this. Seat back screens break, fade, get scratched, etc. I prefer using my iPad and watching and listening with my blue tooth noise canceling head set. Most people download their own content anyway and watch it on the jet.
Stacy L hit the nail on the head. They can make hard product changes until they are blue in the face, but none of it will matter until the quality and quantity of on-board service dramatically improves in the AA premium cabins. The difference between AA and its domestic competitors is often dramatic where this is concerned, and has been for some time now.
it will be very costly to go back and put AVOD on AA’s domestic fleet and they probably don’t need it more than they need other things.
They have had the WiFi infrastructure in place for years but are just now deciding to activate it for free use – even if only on the domestic system.
electric charging upgrades including with USB-C is relatively inexpensive in comparison.
FA staffing is a bigger deal but if it allows AA to offer a better product, it is a good investment.
as others have noted, it is AA’s employees that need a better grasp of what it means to serve people. Let’s remember that DL sent all of its customer contact employees through training and repeated it over and over until they got the point so changing company culture can be done.
Like WN, AA has no choice but to evolve. AA has better infrastructure but WN has better employee relations and service. It will be an interesting race to watch.
The only thing I use the IFE for is flight maps. I have no need for them. I travel with a laptop, a tablet, and a phone. Just give me a reliable connection, which is something that AA needs to work on.
Crazy that folks argue against seat back screens. No one is forcing you to use them if you prefer to run down your battery (due to faulty charging sockets) and watch on a 3″ screen.
Some folks work on the plane, and like the entertainment in the background.
Some folks want to watch while they eat.
Small children don’t have there own phone, and often their own Ipad.
I wish folks wouldn’t force their preferences on everyone.
“Screens break etc…” So don’t seats and lavs….let’s just take those out of the plane too. Everyone is capable of carrying around a 5 gallon bucket with them everywhere they go.
@beachfan. My IPad measures 11”, probably close to the size of that possibly failed, scratched, faded seat back video screen. Then there is the passenger in front of me with their seat back which might make it difficult to see. I’ll be just fine with my iPad and Bluetooth noise canceling headphones.
The lack of main cabin extra seats is the most important thing on this list to me. And it’s disappointing to me that the new 787s have very few of them despite their premium heavy config. Sitting towards the front of the plane with a few extra inches of legroom is what I value most as an AA status member, especially when flying domestically with the family.
Is the flight map and realtime tracking available on your bring-your-own device? Do I have to get phones or tables for everyone to view something during our trip?
I’ll take the IFE on a setback please. “Everyone DOES’T have their own and how can you discuss a premium product without it?
The AA social media team has been teasing a “big announcement” on June 3, 2025. I’m guessing (from the images) that it’s the amenities for the fancier seats at the front of the new Flagship cabin. Time will tell!
With United now claiming its pivot towards becoming a “premium” airline is gaining traction, SWA abandoning its “one-size fits all” single class cabins & ULCC carriers Spirit & Frontier falling out of favor, does American really have any choice but to up its PaxEx, especially for its US domestic ops?
But, they’re starting several years behind United, and it will take some time for its “new & improved” hard product to reach critical mass.
Plus, as others have noted, it will take more than spiffier cabins to pull everything together successfully, which is an huge wildcard at an airline that has had as tortured/adversarial labor relations as AA has had.
Just the same, I wish AA much success if it’s rumored aspirations from worst to something much improved proves to be true!
I wish American & Alaska would follow Copa’s lead: they have seatback IFE in First and Economy Comfort sections of the planes… steerage just has a tablet holder. This rewards premium a bit more and keeps people like me happy 🙂
@Coffee Please
I guess you never work on your laptop while you fly?
How do you watch the Ipad while you eat?
It’s fine for those that want to use the Ipad, just don’t argue that everyone should have to.
As some of the more intelligent posters have stated, IFE screens are a waste of capital in the premium push. Everyone has a phone/pad/laptop. The content is fine, sure, expand it to include a moving map.
The rest of the rumored pivot points (more staffing on WBs, expanded BOB, more extra leg room etc.) should come first. THEN, and only then, seat back screens.
Many of the FAs remember caviar and roses on the credenza, and will be excited to offer a better product. The young ones don’t know from nothing and will be tough to get onboard.
For everyone saying they don’t use seatback screens, that’s great but most people do, even if it’s to have the map on display. I want my tray table clear for food and drinks, not my tablet that needs to propped up on the tray.
UA has shown you don’t have to choose between good IFE options and a good WiFi connection, especially as Starlink rolls out.
For all who are complaining about the not being able to work or eat while watching something…have you ever even been on an AA plane? They all have holders for Tablets and Phones. No big deal at all. That being said, the cost/benefit analysis on Seat Back IFE has probably tilted towards them with it basically just being a tablet with the same WiFi that people are using on their own devices.
I actually don’t want screens on narrow bodies. I bring an iPad and always watch my own entertainment. I’d be upset if I lost the iPad holder. I hope they bring back more meals in Fc, for example, lower the threshold to 700 miles.
Mark,
you are correct but it was B6 that showed DL that showed UA that passengers don’t have to give up in-flight entertainment or WiFi or the use of their personal laptop.
DL’s latest WiFi is actually a WiFi connected tablet that is attached to a frame and a power source. It is not near as big of a deal as it used to be.
AVOD is an extra choice – and it won’t be what makes or breaks AA’s service.
Here we go… As soon as the obvious is stated- that AA needs to add back seatback screens among many other improvements, then out of the woodwork come the few, but noisy, people saying they don’t need to do it. YES THEY DO. And everything else that was mentioned. Every last bit of it and more.They are SO far behind and it’s the mentalities like the aforementioned people that got AA into this mess in the first place. We know it’s in AA’s dna to trip over a dollar trying to save a dime. Don’t encourage them to do things half way by excusing the lack of seatback screens and mood lighting, etc. They will surely take the opportunity to cheap out if they get a sense they can get away with it.
@James. No it’s not obvious AA needs seat back screens. Lots of regional jets out there, none of them have them. I flew business class twice in the last two years on a BA 380. Now these jets were slated for retirement during the Covid fiasco but business came back so quickly ant they are back. Faded, scratched, and poor video quality. I believe AA made the right decision on this. Long haul big jets okay, but not the domestic narrow. Give me more live tv and the latest in Wi-Fi technology and focus on service enhancements.
Wow. There sure are a lot of grumpy old people on this thread. It’s obvious with the shoving of their opinions down at people.
When you mostly fly AA, of course all you see is people on their own devices, out of necessity. When I fly DL or AA, I observe many people using the IFE especially live TV. Do you think their DL and UA fliers do not have the same personal devices you do?
I am a 2 million miler lifetime platinum on AA. I generally only purchase first class seats. I now only fly American once or twice a year at most. I used to only fly them multiple times a year. I stopped after US Airways did three things. 1)Ruined the customer service experience. 2)Ruined any comfort in any seats, this includes first class. 3) removed the IFE screens from planes. I now almost exclusively fly their competitors. If they made some significant changes I could be persuaded to come back.
@Coffee Please. See, that’s the problem. It’s pretty simple: You’re wrong. And AA was wrong. All the while, smart people like their own employees, like Gary Leff,, and 90% of their passengers disagreed. But what did AA do? They dug their heels further into the sand and covered their ears like a 5 year old hoping the truth would just go away. Now AA execs are forced to confront their own self-made disaster in hopes of preserving their own skin.as revenue has sharply and directly declined due to these bad decisions and their stock is in the toilet. One thing everyone’s is that Delta ALWAYS does their homework. If Delta says passengers want tv screens, passenger want tv screens and it’s a revenue payoff. So quite frankly, your opinion and American’s opinion don’t matter anymore. You can file your opinion under failed strategy. Revenue is king and as far as American should be concerned, Delta is God! American would do well to ask themselves one question when they’re about to make any more future dumb decisions. That is: WWDD? What would Delta do? Again, Delta does their homework. AA does not. Someone at AA had been busy concocting fake passenger surveys to back their bad ideas and now the lights have finally been turned on at Sky View and the roaches are scurrying.
BRAVO James! Now do the AA service! Please! The miserable, failed, uncaring, pathetic AA service!
Who are these people who care if there’s a seatback screen? Just give me a way to charge my devices and, preferably, WiFi and a seatback screen is irrelevant. Can’t remember the last time I used one for anything other than a flight map.
@James.
Okay I get it now. Put in seat back video screens and people will choose American and even pay a little more for that ticket. Memories of the “more room in coach” campaign. The leg room was great but the passengers did not want to pay a little extra. Now back to cattle car coach seating where price is king. Speaking of video screens, JBLU has them. When was the last time JBLU made an annual profit?
I have my doubts. Might see screens on the A320neos as they’re on some of the longer domestic routes.
One question this seat back IFE raises for me is whether this is a “plus” or an “instead of” – ie, IF AA goes to providing seatback IFE (again), will PAX who choose instead to use their own devices to stream entertainment still be able to do so to the extent and with the offerings presently available ? If not, that’s a net downgrade for a lot of folks. In addition, there’s no free lunch. So I get why not everyone is in love with the seat back IFE concept. AA had them, then they tore them all out. Now the idea is to pay to put them back in ? AA will want that $$$ back somehow, whether in higher ticket prices, or in cost savings elsewhere, or in not instituting other measures (like additional staffing for better meal, beverage and other services in flight, etc.) That doesn’t feel like a win.
Corporate decided to pay attention to what American flyers were willing to pay for, and much of that was driven by the advent of low-cost carriers who often were able to remain afloat due to low wages as well as passengers unwilling to pay even $5 more for a flight with more amenities. Few Americans percentage-wise care about much more than the cost of the ticket and that is what has been driving the decline in all aspects of society here. Elsewhere, a higher percentage of people are often willing to pay a little bit more for a better experience overall. What AA still has is much of its core of experienced pilots and flight attendants who were hired when quality was more valued, and appreciated by the flying public. Many of the newer hires at AA are also highly motivated and customer service oriented despite never having seen the amenities of that bygone era. What I can say is if corporate was more willing to respect their most valuable asset (their employees), which they currently do not, and if corporate were more focused on running the quality airline that is their legacy rather than focusing quite so much on their salaries and shareholder interests (profit margin at the expense of all else), then a better balance might be struck that would be a win-win for all instead of just being the gravy train for those at the top of the ladder that has become the new standard of American industry. Long term success used to matter a lot more and that has to include valuing the customer experience despite having to compete with the lowest cost competitors. Something has to give at times in dealing with the realities of a complex world. Maybe there is a dawning realization that something might have to be given back to the customer experience as well as respect of employees, most of whom care very much about the company they have chosen to make a career with as well as the customers they serve. Why else would so many great people still be with AA? This of course applies to all other carriers in this volatile industry. What AA has going for it is their infrastructure, size and experienced employees. What is needed is leadership willing to compete with better service amenities, which they are doing, and addition of more direct routes to places people want to go which has been drastically cut back over the years, especially in the Northeast and West Coast. It can all be turned around with a more forward vision rather than just one of survival. There is so much more potential than that.
I wonder about a widebody “big order”. With UA alone ordering 150 787’s, I wonder what kind of delivery slots AA could get.