American Airlines is moving forward with a refurbishment of their Airbus A319 and A320 fleet, which will see the addition of more first class seats. According to aviation watchdog JonNYC, this process will begin next week.
The whole refurbishment project will add larger overhead bins, power outlets at every seat, and better finishes throughout the cabin, which is much needed for a fleet that’s over 20 years old on average. The overhead bins should make a difference; the current ones on the A319 and A320s are relatively tighter compared to those on other aircraft.
The addition of first class seats is as follows:
- Airbus A319: Currently 8 first seats, will have 12 first seats
- Airbus A320: Currently 12 first seats, will have 16 first seats
American cites growing premium demand for this change, which is understandable. This should also help slightly with upgrade probabilities on these aircraft.
I’ve talked before on this blog about how I prefer the Embraer 175s for short-haul domestic flights, and one of the major reasons was the much higher percentage of first class seats compared to the mainline fleet.
The E175s on American have 12 first seats and 64 economy seats, meaning that about 16% of the plane’s seats are first class. For comparison, the current A319s have 8 first seats and 120 economy seats, meaning that just over 6% of the plane’s seats are first class. The Embraer gives a higher upgrade probability with a higher percentage of first seats, which I’ve successfully scored several times.
These refurbishments on the A319 and A320s won’t bring them to the Embraer level (especially considering the number of cash upgrades offered these days), but they’re still an improvement nonetheless.
As a byproduct of this refurbishment though, American will finally rip out the last few remaining IFE screens on its Airbus A319 fleet.
The 32 legacy American A319s are the ones with IFE screens, and they will be the first to go. There will be one prototype before the airline begins extensive work on them this fall and winter. Refurbishment of the A320s will come after.
Unfortunately, the airline still doesn’t see IFE screens as a necessary amenity on domestic flights, despite its desire to become a more premium airline.
All photos taken by the author.
