American Airlines Removes First Class From Chicago – London Route

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Back in June American Airlines replaced the Boeing 777-200 aircraft that operated the Chicago – London route with a 787-8 Dreamliner for three weeks. After the 3 week period was up the 777-200 didn’t return and, instead, the flight was taken up by American’s flagship 777-300ER aircraft complete with its international First Class cabin.

American Airlines 777-300ER First Class

At the time I assumed that this was a very temporary measure aimed at giving American a chance to refit the 777-200 with the new Business and Economy Class cabins but, four months on, American’s biggest aircraft is still flying between Chicago and London…and it will keep doing so into December.

While earlier this year two of the daily Chicago – London flights were operated by older 777-200 aircraft which still offered the ancient First Class cabin…..

….since then one of the two older 777-200’s has been replaced by a refurbished version of the same aircraft (which no longer offers a First Class cabin) and that has left the 777-300ER as the last refuge for passengers seeking an American Airlines international First Class experience:

For the Winter season American reduces the number of daily flights on the route from 4 to 3 and, from 15 December 2016, the 777-300ER will be replaced by a 787-8 Dreamliner (except for 19-30 January).

No First Class option for the Chicago – London route:

The Dreamliner will operate flights AA86 and AA47 through 15 February but it won’t be the 777-300ER that takes its place then…it will be a refurbished 777-200.

And when the route goes back to 4 daily flights for next year’s summer season there’s still no sign of First Class – the fourth daily flight will be operated by a 767 aircraft.

American Airlines 767 Business Class cabin

I reviewed the 767’s Business Class cabin at the beginning of the year and, despite the fact that I’ve yet to fly in the refurbished 777-200, I can still say without reservation that the 777-200 is the aircraft to fly in if you have the choice (once the 777-300ER has gone)….and that’s regardless of which class you’re booked into.

Bottom Line

I’m not at all surprised to see First Class disappear from the Chicago – London route as American clearly plans to only offer it on its ultra-premium routes (like LAX – London) but there’s a knock-on effect to this too.

The 777-300 offers 52 Business Class seats while the Dreamliner has just 28 so, not only is the route losing First Class, it will also see a significant drop in Business Class capacity from 15 December – that’s not good for prices or for award availability.

As usual when it comes to aircraft swaps you should check your reservations closely if you think you’re affected by this change.

While the Dreamliner has similar (but not as good) Business Class seats to the 777-300ER the cabin layout is different and your seat assignments will have changed – if you had booked yourself into the mini-cabin on the larger aircraft you won’t have that comfort on the Dreamliner.

It’s even more important to check your seat assignments if you’re booked into Economy Class as the exit rows and extra leg room seats and will now be in different areas of the aircraft and there’s no guarantee that American Airlines’ systems have re-accommodated you correctly – the sooner you check your reservation the higher the probability that you’ll still be able to get a seat that you like.

Featured image: LoadedAaron via Flickr