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At the beginning of February American Airlines scheduled its first 2-class 777-200 flight to London’s Heathrow Airport from Chicago and now their latest schedule update has the airline ramping up its 2-class service between the US and Europe.
While the Chicago to London service won’t be taken over until 2 June, the newly refurbished 777-200 aircraft will appear on other US to Europe routes far sooner.
New York (JFK) – Barcelona
From 3 March 2016 the New York (JFK) to Barcelona route will see the 767 that currently operates the flights replaced by a 777-200 aircraft.
AA66 JFK 17:45 – 07:10+ 1 Day BCN (Daily)
AA67 BCN 10:05 – 13:00 JFK (Daily)
New York (JFK) – Paris (CDG)
From 3 March 2016 the New York (JFK) to Paris CDG route will see a similar change to the one outlined for the Barcelona route above – the 767 that currently operates flights AA44/45 will be replaced by a 777-200 aircraft. Flights AA120/121 will continue to be operated by a 757 aircraft which Business Class passengers should avoid if at all possible
AA44 JFK 17:30 – 06:45+ 1 Day CDG (Daily)
AA45 CDG 11:15 – 13:30 JFK (Daily)
New York (JFK) – Rome
From 5 May 2016 American Airlines will recommence non-stop service between New York (JFK) and Rome using a reconfigured 777-200 aircraft. If memory serves me correctly, this service was operated by a 767 aircraft in 2015.
AA236 JFK 17:15 – 07:35+ 1 Day FCO (Daily)
AA235 FCO 09:40 – 13:20 JFK (Daily)
Dallas Fort Worth – London (LHR)
From 27 March 2016 flights AA80/81 will move from an old 777-200 to a newly refurbished 777-200 aircraft. The remaining two flights to/from London AA50/51 and AA78/79 will, for the time being, continue to be operated by the larger 777-300ER aircraft.
AA80 DFW 22:00 – 13:15+ 1 Day LHR (Daily)
AA81 LHR 12:50 – 17:05 DFW (Daily)
The aircraft swap will see an increase in Business Class seats from 28 to 45, an increase in Main Cabin Extra seats from 18 to 45 and a small increase in regular main cabin seats from 163 to 170.
Effects Of The Aircraft Swaps
The New York Routes
The New York routes all appear to be dropping the 767 aircraft in favor of the refurbished 777-200 and this should be a big improvement for Business Class flyers and OneWorld elites.
- The 777-200 has a better Business Class product
- The increase in the number Business Class seats may improve award availability
- The increase in the number of Main Cabin Extra seats decreases the likelihood that a OneWorld elite will find themselves stuck in a regular Main Cabin Extra seat.
There is little material difference in the seat sizes in Economy Class of both aircraft by Economy Class passengers in the newly refurbished 777-200 aircraft have vastly improved entertainment options with personal screens and considerably more movies, TV shows and music to choose from.
Economy Class Entertainment on the Refurbished 777-200 Aircraft
Dallas – London Route
The swap on this route sees an older 777-200 being replaced by a refurbished 777-200 which has both positive and negative implications.
On the positive side the Business Class cabin is greatly improved with all-aisle access seats and lie flat beds.
Business Class seating on the Refurbished 777-200
It’s not really possible to overstate just how much better the Business Class cabins are on the newer aircraft so this is a big improvement for Premium Cabin passengers.
Another positive is that the refurbished 777-200 aircraft come with 45 Main Cabin Extra seats which will give passengers an option of seats with 36″ of seat pitch (leg room) – 4″ more than in the Economy Class seats on the older aircraft.
Entertainment options on the newer aircraft will be a lot better through all cabins. On my last trip in Economy Class on the old 777-200 the TV screen was just about unwatchable and the programs were on a timed loop – it was like I’d been transported back into the 80’s.
On the negative side there isn’t a First Class cabin on the refurbished 777-200 but, as International First Class on American Airlines really isn’t worth getting excited about, this isn’t a huge loss.
A bigger downside is that the Economy Class cabin will go from 9-across seating to 10-across seating meaning 1″ less seat width for all Economy Class passengers (17″ seats are not to be welcomed!).
Bottom Line
For Premium Cabin passengers these aircraft swaps are a big positive and should make a lot more American Airlines routes attractive for those happy to stump up the cash to sit up front.
From an Economy Class passenger’s point of view it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand you get better entertainment and newer seats while on the other you may lose some seat with (and possibly seat pitch).
Unfortunately if you’re flying American Airlines Economy Class nowadays it’s getting harder and harder to avoid the horrible 17″ wide seats so you either have to suck it up or choose to fly an airline that doesn’t seem to think the population is getting slimmer…and they’re becoming a rarity too.
Featured Image courtesy of Eric Salard via Flickr
