American Airlines Widebody News: New Planes and New Schedules

I hope you had a great 4th of July! Today’s post is all about the big planes: 777s, 767s, and now the new 777-300ER.

First off, some news about the new Boeing 777-300ER. Yesterday, American announced that Los Angeles – London Heathrow will be the third route to get the new aircraft. From the press release:

American Airlines today announced Los Angeles – London Heathrow as the next route to feature the highly anticipated Boeing 777-300ER.   Beginning next summer, customers traveling between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) will have the opportunity to enjoy the world-class travel experience the new aircraft offers.

American’s 777-300ERs will be configured as three-class aircraft and will include fully lie-flat First and Business Class seats with direct aisle access, Main Cabin Extra, inflight entertainment at every seat, and Wi-Fi capability to keep customers connected while traveling internationally

Their first 777-300ER will go into service in December when they start flying the new plane on the Dallas – Sao Paulo route. Then in February 2013, they’ll add a second route with New York JFK – London Heathrow.

Here’s a look at the new seat map:

First Class: Fully lie-flat seats, aisle access with every seat

 

Business Class: Fully lie-flat seats, aisle access with every seat

 

Economy: 3/3/3/ seating with new Main Cabin Extra seats, 3/4/3 seating in the rest of the main cabin.

 

The inaugural flights will be June 1, 2013 with AA 136 (LAX to LHR) and AA 137 (LHR to LAX) and right now it’s wide open. I also looked to see if any MileSAAver awards were available in Economy, Business, or First. No luck. However, Expert Flyer was showing one First Class upgrade available.

I’m really excited about thew new 777-300ER and can’t wait to ride one. I’m eager to see the new entertainment systems, try out the new premium seats, see the new walk-up snack and refreshment bar, and check out the new Main Cabin Extra seats.

And I’ve never been on an inaugural fight, so I’ve been thinking about booking a ticket on one of the maiden 777-300ER flights just for fun!

New Widebody Schedules

The new domestic wide body schedules have been out for a couple of weeks. The biggest changes since the last schedule was released are the discontinued 767 flights between Los Angeles and Honolulu. It’s probably just seasonal, but for now that route is being served by 757s exclusively. Here’s a look at the changes:

DFW to LAX AA 2433 Discontinued
DFW to SFO AA 1965 Discontinued

HNL to LAX AA 162 Discontinued
HNL to LAX AA 270 Discontinued

HNL to ORD AA 72 New Service

LAX to DFW AA 2414 Discontinued

LAX to HNL AA 31 Discontinued
LAX to HNL AA 267 switched to 757
LAX to HNL AA 297 switched to 757

LAX to MIA AA 276 Discontinued
LAX to MIA AA 280 Discontinued

LAX to OGG AA 161 Discontinued
LAX to OGG AA 253 Discontinued

MIA to LAX AA 203 Discontinued
MIA to LAX AA 231 Discontinued

MIA to ORD AA 1763 New Service
MIA to SFO AA 431 New Service

OGG to LAX AA 06 Discontinued
OGG to LAX AA 14 Discontinued

ORD to HNL AA 73 New Service
ORD to MIA AA 1062 New Service

SFO to DFW AA 2090 Discontinued

SFO to MIA AA 442 New Service

The only domestic 777 route is between LAX and Miami. Go here to see the entire widebody schedule.

Have a great weekend!