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American Airlines has announced that they’ll be adding a 4th flight to their New York – London route starting 27 March 2016 and it will be operated by one of their soon-to-be-refurbished 777-200 aircraft.
The new flight will be American’s only morning departure from New York so it will be a welcome addition for American Airways flyers who would prefer to avoid British Airways (the only other OneWorld airline with morning departures to Heathrow).
American’s new schedule between New York and London will look like this:
AA142 JFK 10:10 – 22:10 LHR (777-200) New
AA100 JFK 18:00 – 06:20+1 LHR (777-300ER)
AA106 JFK 18:35 – 06:50+1 LHR (777-200)
AA104 JFK 22:25 – 10:30+1 LHR (777-200)
AA101 LHR 10:05 – 12:50 JFK (777-200)
AA105 LHR 12:50 – 15:35 JFK (777-200)
AA107 LHR 17:00 – 19:45 JFK (777-300ER)
AA141 LHR 19:00 – 21:55 JFK (777-200) New
It’s interesting to see the 777-200s being deployed to New York as it wasn’t that long ago when American Airlines flew only 777-300ERs between JFK and Heathrow (I believe some 777-300ERs have been moved to fly the new LAX-SYD route).
The refurbished 777-200s do not come with a first class cabin which means that, at most, 3 of the 4 American Airlines flights between New York and London will offer first class….and that number will eventually drop further as the other 777-200s get refurbished (unless American brings back some 777-300ERs to the route).
The refurbished 777-200s will not only lose the first class cabin but they will also feature the horrendous 10-across seating in the main economy cabin. What’s worse is that, depending on how this specific 777-200 has been refurbished, it could also feature 10-across seating in the Main Cabin Extra section of economy class…and that’s a massive devaluation in the product.
Still, there are some positives to the refurbishment.
The entertainment screens in the economy class cabin are an improvement…..
Economy Class Cabin Refurbished 777-200 – Image courtesy of American Airlines
…and the aircraft comes fitted with over-water WiFi to allow passengers to keep up with work while in the air (not everyone sees this as a positive!).
The business class cabin has been getting some very good reviews and the seats are even reported as being a little bit better then the ones in the 777-300ER (which I already love).
Business Class Cabin Refurbished 777-200 – Image courtesy of American Airlines
While I don’t love what American is doing to the economy cabins on the refurbished 777-200s, this new flight between New York and London is a net positive for American Airlines flyers:
- No longer have to fly British Airways if you need a morning flight to Heathrow
- Another flight with excellent business class seats across the Atlantic
- More capacity means more scope for award space being opened up
- More scope for awards without British Airway’s ridiculous surcharges
How do you feel about the new flight and, in particular, about the fact that it’s going to be a refurbished 777-200 flying the route?
