American Airlines is ready to release its newest plane into the skies, a five-year labor of love with customer experience at the forefront.
The Fort Worth-based airline officially unveiled its premium Boeing 787-9 plane — also known as the 787-9 Dreamliner — Thursday morning with new Flagship Suite seats and a redesigned aircraft interior. The 244-seat revamped plane is meant to provide a luxurious ride on long-haul international flights.
“We’re introducing a new airplane, a new differentiated airplane, and taking a new step…the next step in how we take care of our customers on long-haul international flights,” vice chair and chief strategy officer Steve Johnson said. “787-9P is one of the best examples of our new customer-first mindset.”
The redesigned luxury experience begins with the Flagship Suites. Numbering 51 in total on each aircraft, the new premium seating option offers a variety of new features.
One of the biggest changes is the new chaise longue seating option.
The Flagship Suites also has privacy doors and more personal storage than previous aircraft. Passengers will receive a dual-sided Cool Touch pillow, a duvet, slippers and noise-canceling headphones as part of their fare.
The Flagship Suite experience is not confined to the aircraft. The luxury begins in the airport.
“Every aspect of this aircraft was designed to feel premium,” chief customer officer Heather Garboden said. “As part of the Flagship Suite experience, customers will receive Priority check-ins, security, boarding and baggage handling, and of course, they will have access to our flagship lounges.”
In-flight services for the seats will include a multicourse meal with wine, as well as an amenity kit with products from collaborator and celebrity esthetician Joanna Vargas.
At the front of the two business cabins, the 787-9P has four Flagship Suite Preferred seats with eight in total.
The Flagship Suite Preferred seating offers even more with a sherpa throw blanket, lumbar pillow, pajamas and mattress pad. Design-wise, the seat and surrounding privacy partitions are darker in color to distinguish them from regular Flagship Suites.
American revamped their Premium Economy seats as part of the reimagined aircraft as well. Continuing with privacy and comfort as priorities, each of the 32 seats has new privacy headrests and half footrests. Water bottle storage compartments are between the seats.
“We want this to feel like the recliner in the sky,” Garboden said.
The Flagship Suites, the Flagship Suites Preferred and Premium Economy seats all have wireless charging pads for passenger convenience.
From a design perspective, the airline crafted the look of the luxury experience. The premium portions of the cabin feature brown leather accents inspired by an Americana theme and are meant to look like football or baseball glove leather. The carpeting is designed to look like a city grid of lights from high in the sky.
American will look to continue growing this new premium experience, with plans to expand premium seats on long-haul flights 45% by 2026.
Beyond the premium sections of the aircraft, the 787-9P has 161 seats in the main cabin. The main cabin has 4K OLED monitors, Bluetooth for passenger headphones and USB-C and AC power capabilities at every seat, all of which can be found in the premium sections as well.
Despite expectations that the planes would be delivered in 2024, the first two aircraft in the company’s possession will take flight for the first time June 5. The first domestic flight will go from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, while the first international flight will go from Chicago to London.
American plans to start operating routes from Philadelphia to London and Philadelphia to Zurich in summer 2025 on the 787-9P, with routes from DFW to Brisbane, Australia, expected to start in winter 2025.
The company also announced a new route for the revamped Dreamliner.
“Something that we haven’t said up until today is that we’re also going to use this airplane on DFW-Auckland,” said Brian Znotins, senior vice president of network planning. “So if you find yourself flying to Australia or to New Zealand through DFW, you’ll have the opportunity to book this airplane.”
The airline expects to receive eight more 787-9Ps in 2025 with 30 aircraft on order overall. American will be refreshing its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft as well while introducing newly delivered Airbus A321XLRs.
American is planning additional changes to its fleet in the coming months. By January 2026, the airline will offer complimentary Wi-Fi to American Airlines Advantage members on 90% of its aircraft.
