The Fort Worth-based carrier recently made some interesting aircraft swaps that'll give some flyers a big inflight experience upgrade, as shown by Cirium schedule updates and confirmed by the carrier.
The first involves one of the carrier's longest domestic flights, from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Anchorage (ANC). From June 3 to Aug. 16, American plans to fly its 285-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, outfitted with 30 business-class pods, 21 premium economy recliners and 234 coach seats. At 3,043 miles, the nearly seven-hour hop will be quite comfortable on the twin-aisle jet.
Business-class flyers will enjoy lie-flat, direct-aisle-access reverse herringbone seats, while premium economy passengers sport an upgraded version of the new domestic first-class recliners.
Once the Dreamliner service ends in August, American plans to fly the Airbus A321neo on the DFW to ANC route. Those planes are some of the newest in the AA fleet, but they're not nearly as comfortable as the wide-body 777, especially in the business-class cabin. In previous years, AA has flown a mix of single-aisle jets, as well as the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and the now-retired Boeing 757-200 between the two cities.
Related: First look at American's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Another route — Miami (MIA) to Boston (BOS) — got a notable swap. From March 27 through Oct. 30, American will fly the 273-seat Boeing 777-200 on one daily frequency between the two markets. The 777 is equipped with 37 business-class pods, 24 premium economy recliners and 212 coach seats.
Savvy (and flexible) flyers will specifically choose American's 777 when flying from Miami to Boston. AA's other daily flights in the market are operated by a mix of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family jets, most of which sport the densified Oasis configuration. Just note that AA's 777-200s have two types of business-class pods — and it's nearly impossible to know which one you'll get until a day or two before the flight.
In fact, some of the Miami to Boston frequencies are operated by American's Boeing 737 MAX. While fuel-efficient, the plane's cabin configuration is one of the tightest of the mainline carriers.
Lastly, American will fly a Boeing 777-200 on select frequencies from Dallas/Fort Worth to Seattle (SEA) from March 28 to May 5. This move comes as American builds its presence in Seattle, thanks to American's new partnership with Alaska Airlines and the latter's upcoming initiation into the Oneworld alliance on March 31.
Related: American, Alaska Airlines outline reciprocal elite benefits, upgrades
Thanks to the new tie-up with Alaska, American will launch new Seattle service to Bangalore (BLR), London Heathrow (LHR) and Shanghai (PVG).
Deploying widebodies on domestic routes has been a part of American's network strategy since well before the pandemic started. The carrier previously used these jets in between international jaunts or between hub cities, like Miami to New York-JFK.
Now, with international demand down significantly since pre-pandemic highs, American has plenty of spare twin-aisle jets to use domestically or on short-haul international flights.
American recently started flying the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from its Miami hub, with a bunch of domestic routes to airports in Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia. The carrier is also committed to flying the swanky jet to Latin and South America, including on flights to Panama City; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; San Salvador, El Salvador; Quito, Ecuador, and more.
You'll find a full list of domestic American Airlines routes operated by widebodies below for April 2021.
| Origin | Destination | Plane type |
|---|---|---|
| CLT | MIA | Boeing 777-200 |
| DFW | CLT | Boeing 777-200 |
| DFW | HNL | Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
| DFW | KOA | Boeing 777-200 |
| DFW | OGG | Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner |
| DFW | PHL | Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
| DFW | SEA | Boeing 777-200 |
| JFK | LAX | Boeing 777-200 |
| JFK | MIA | Boeing 777-200 |
| LAX | DFW | Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner |
| MIA | BOS | Boeing 777-200 |
| MIA | DFW | Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
| MIA | LAX | Boeing 777-200 and -300 |
| MIA | ORD | Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
| MIA | PHL | Boeing 777-200 |
| MIA | SJU | Boeing 777-200 |
| ORD | DFW | Boeing 777-200 |
| ORD | HNL | Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
| ORD | MIA | Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner |
