American Premium 787s With Flagship Business Suites: Delivered!

American’s new business class product is just weeks from debuting. I wrote about this some time back, but there’s now an exciting update — the first jet with the new interiors is being delivered as we speak, and we now have a better sense of the timeline with which it will enter service, as well as the routes.

American’s delayed Boeing 787s take to the skies

While American already has a fleet of 59 Boeing 787s, up until today, the airline hadn’t taken delivery of a new wide body aircraft in nearly two years, since May 2023. The airline has an additional 30 787-9s on order — what’s exciting about these upcoming aircraft is that they’re supposed to be ultra-premium, featuring just 244 seats.

In early 2024, the plan was for American to take delivery of the first of these new aircraft in the summer of 2024, and for them to enter service as of October 2024 (and that already represented a delayed timeline). Unfortunately that didn’t actually materialize, due to Boeing’s issues.

In April 2024, American revealed that these planes were delayed indefinitely, and there was no timeline for when they would enter service. Some time back, @xJonNYC reported that American is expected to get its first two new Dreamliners in April 2025, and they should enter service not too long after being delivered.

One hears AA is beginning to look at extending the lifespan of the 777-200 fleet. No idea what the threshold is but I'd imagine they're looking at the oldest aircraft going in for heavy check to get an estimate for review Also, 11 787s expected this year, starting with two in April— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) March 11, 2025 at 11:09 AM

Unsurprisingly, he was right! The first such 787 is currently on its delivery flight to Dallas (DFW), and has the registration code N846AN.

So, when will the planes enter service? According to @xJonNYC, the current plan is that we’ll see these planes first based in Chicago (ORD), flying to Los Angeles (LAX) and London (LHR), before expanding to Philadelphia (PHL):

• In June, we could see one daily ORD-LAX rotation, and one daily ORD-LHR rotation
• In July, we could see two additional daily ORD-LHR rotations added
• In August, we could see one daily PHL-LHR rotation added

My guess would be something like this: June: 1x ORD-LAX, 1x ORD-LHR July: 1x ORD-LAX, 3x ORD-LHR August: 1x ORD-LAX, 3x ORD-LHR, 1x PHL-LHR— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM

At least that’s the best guess that we have as of now. Let me emphasize that as of now all of these routes still show the old 787-9 seat map, so obviously this hasn’t been finalized, or at least hasn’t been announced to the public. That being said, @xJonNYC tends to know what he’s talking about, and what current thinking is at airlines.

American is of course far from being the only carrier impacted by Boeing’s ongoing delivery delays. Arguably there are even bigger implications for Saudi Arabian airline startup Riyadh Air, which has had to delay its launch due to 787 delivery delays.

American Flagship Business Suites finally roll out

American taking delivery of 787s of course allows the airline to expand capacity in long haul markets, which is a good thing, especially since the deliveries are happening ahead of summer. However, arguably what’s much more exciting is that these planes offer improved cabins, and a less dense layout.

For example, while American’s existing 787-9s have 30 business class seats, these jets have 51 business class seats. Not only that, but these planes feature the carrier’s all-new passenger experience, including the new Flagship Business Suites, as well as the front row Flagship Suite Preferred product. These seats are based on the Adient Ascent platform, the same you’ll find on the 787-9s operated by Qatar Airways and Hawaiian Airlines.

American’s 777-300ERs will also be reconfigured with these new cabins, and at that point, international first class will be eliminated. The first of these jets is expected to be reconfigured in the coming weeks.

So with the current timeline, it sounds like the new passenger experience will first debut on newly delivered 787-9s, and then on reconfigured 777-300ERs.

Bottom line

American Airlines’ new premium Boeing 787s have been experiencing delivery delays. The exciting news is that American is currently taking delivery of its first new 787 in a couple of years, and another one should be delivered very shortly.

The current thinking is that they’ll initially fly from Chicago to Los Angeles and London, and then from Philadelphia to London. It will be great to finally see the debut of American’s new Flagship Business Suites. These cabins will also soon be installed on 777-300ERs.

What do you make of American taking delivery of new 787s?