American delays new Flagship Business Suites as it shuffles wide-body flights

27.04.2024 - 15:05 / thepointsguy.com / Airlines

American Airlines' newest onboard innovations won't be flying as soon as flyers might've expected.

It's all part of major changes that the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is making to its wide-body network, reducing service on 12 routes due to delivery delays from Boeing. The news was first communicated to flight attendants in an internal memo obtained by TPG and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.

Perhaps even bigger news is that as part of this network update, American is delaying the introduction of its new Flagship Business Suites and premium economy products that were supposed to debut on a special new "787-9P" Dreamliner configuration.

Originally, the plan was to introduce these new seats, which were first unveiled in 2022, on the airline's new longest route from Dallas-Fort Worth to Brisbane, Australia. This 8,303-mile route was announced in February and was supposed to be operated by a new 787-9P.

However, because of ongoing delivery delays, American will instead operate this flight using an existing Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that features 30 of the airline's existing reverse-herringbone business-class pods, as well 21 premium economy recliners, 36 extra-legroom Main Cabin Extra seats and 198 standard economy seats. Aside from the equipment change, this daily seasonal flight will launch as planned Oct. 26.

American doesn't have an updated timeline for when it will introduce its new onboard products. Originally, the plan was to inaugurate these seats on board the 787-9P and simultaneously retrofit the existing Boeing 777-300ERs with the new products. (As part of the retrofit process, American is retiring Flagship First and replacing it with a new four-seat business-class-plus Flagship Suite Preferred section.)

Because of the delivery delays, it's possible that the first 777 retrofit might be completed before the first new Dreamliner is inaugurated. American declined to share an updated rollout timeline with TPG, but we'll be sure to follow up with details as they become available.

As for the routes that American is shuffling, the changes are pretty extensive, covering service to Europe, South America and even Hawaii.

You'll find all the details in the table below, but it's worth noting that American's Dallas-Fort Worth-to-Kona route won't (re)launch as planned. It was last operated in 2021, and American was originally supposed to fly it again starting in October.

Other big changes include reducing late summer service from New York to Rome to just one daily flight and ending a few other seasonal summer routes before they were originally supposed to wrap up.

In the winter season, American will increase service on four routes as it scales up pilot training and accelerates its retrofit