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Alongside its announcement on seatback screens, American Airlines has also confirmed that it will significantly increase the number of First Class and Main Cabin Extra seats across its narrowbody fleet.
Overall
American says that premium seating currently accounts for approximately 25% of seats on its narrowbody aircraft, and that this will grow to approximately 40% in the coming years. The airline says that will do this through a combination of retrofits and via new aircraft being delivered with more premium configurations.
First Class
American Airlines has confirmed three things.
Firstly, the A319 and A320 fleets are currently being retrofitted to add an additional row of First Class. That will give the A319s 12 First Class seats (up from 8) and the A320s 16 First Class seats (up from 12).
Secondly, upcoming Boeing 737 MAX 10 deliveries will have 24 First Class seats. For context, the 737-800s and the 737 MAX 8 aircraft that American currently operates have 16 First Class seats.
Thirdly, the A321neo fleet will be reconfigured with additional First Class seats, but the airline hasn’t said how many. Currently, these aircraft offer 20 First Class seats so, assuming these aircraft also get an extra row, they’ll offer 24 seats following the retrofits.
Main Cabin Extra & interiors
As well as adding First Class seats, American says it will retrofit “the majority of the narrowbody fleet” to expand the number of Main Cabin Extra seats.
The airline hasn’t said what “the majority” means or how many more Main Cabin Extra seats we can expect to see fitted, but for reference, The 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 currently offer 24 Main Cabin Extra seats while the competition, Delta, offers 36 Comfort+ seats on its 737-800s and United offers either 48 or 54 Economy Plus seats on its 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s (it operates these aircraft with different configurations).
Finally, we’re also told that we can expect the narrowbody cabin interiors to be updated to provide more storage, redesigned seats and new lighting. Let’s just hope that “redesigned seats” doesn’t mean “even thinner seats” to allow for the extra space that will be needed for the increase in premium seating.
Bottom line
American Airlines says that it will increase the premium seating on its narrowbody aircraft from, approximately, 25% of seats to approximately 40%, through a mix of retrofits and new deliveries.
The First Class detail confirmed so far is 24 seats on the new 737 MAX 10s, an extra row on the A319 and A320 fleets, and additional seats on the A321neo at an unspecified date.
The Main Cabin Extra expansion covers most of the narrowbody fleet, but American has not said how many seats it will add or told us which aircraft will be excluded.
