American unveils the interiors of its A321XLRs. There's a date for the first flight, but the destination is half a disappointment
American Airlines has unveiled the interiors of its Airbus A321XLR aircraft that will also fly over the Atlantic starting in Summer 2026 [...]
American Airlines
Oneworld
LAX
United States of America
American Airlines has unveiled the interiors of its Airbus A321XLRs. which starting in Summer 2026 will also fly over the Atlantic to and from Europe.
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Moreover, the configuration of the three cabins was already known, with 20 seats of Flagship Business (1-1), 12 seats of Premium Economy (2-2), and 123 seats of Economy (3-3-3) for a total of 155.
For its single-aisle business class, American is gone in the direction of Jetblue, with 20 inverted herringbone suites looking inward from the aircraft (so toward the corridor), but they are made by Collins Aerospace instead of by Thompson as in the case of Jetblue.
The seat width is very generous: 22.5 inches equal to 57cm, and the IFE screen is 17 inches.
Behind, in a small separate cabin in the middle of the plane. there are twelve Recaro R5 seats (a classic, by now, for premium economy). With a row spacing of 37 inches (94cm), that is, not among the most generous, a very wide 21-inch (53cm) seat, on the other hand, and a 13.3-inch screen for the IFE.
In Economy it's back to Collins Aerospace, with not the most generous seat spacing (31 inches or 79cm), an 18-inch (46cm) seat and an 11.6-inch screen.
The second largest airline in the world (after United) by number of aircraft in the fleet bet big on the -XLR by ordering 50 of them.
The intercontinental destinations on which the plane will operate have not yet been disclosed by the company, but in recent hours the specialized website aeroroutes.com revealed that the inaugural flight has been scheduled for Dec. 18.
Those expecting a debut with a bang, flying across the Atlantic to Europe, will be disappointed: the inaugural, in fact, will depart New York JFK at 11 a.m. and arrive at Los Angeles International at 2:20 p.m. In the opposite direction, the XLR will leave LA at 3:20 p.m. and land at JFK just before midnight. From the next day the aircraft will operate two of American's daily rotations between the Big Apple and the California metropolis until at least early February. American, therefore, has chosen a very conservative policy about the initial deployment of its XLRs.
The most likely hypothesis regarding the use of the airplane is that the fleet is based partly at JFK to fly to secondary destinations in Europe, and partly in Miami to do the same in the Latin American market.
Looking at the internal configuration on aerolopa.com, it can be seen that American has been tight-lipped about toilets (as many as four, including one for Business and three in the back for Premium Economy and Economy, thereby sacrificing, however, even more the size of the rear galley (kitchen or galley), which basically extends along only the back wall of the cabin and is therefore even smaller than those of Iberia and Aer Lingus, which are already giving flight attendants trouble when it comes to efficiency and speed of service.
