American Airlines debuted its brand new 787-9 yesterday with a pair of domestic flights between Chicago and Los Angeles. I had the chance to tour AA’s new flagship aircraft and am excited to share some pictures and first impressions with you.

American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Tour – My First Impressions

I was unable to attend a media event in Dallas last week that offered an advance look a AA’s latest 787-9 Dreamliner, featuring all-new seats in each cabin of service. That aircraft entered commercial service yesterday, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles (then back to Chicago and on to London). During its brief layover in LAX, American Airlines arranged for me to take a quick look onboard.

Arriving at LAX around 11:30 am, I picked up a gate pass (which meant no TSA PreCheck) and cleared security.

The aircraft arrived about 20 minutes later from Chicago: I watched as it landed and pulled up to the gate.

Cleaning and catering crews were waiting to quickly turn the aircraft around: boarding was scheduled to commence in less than 30 minutes.

As soon as the last passenger alighted the aircraft, I was invited to board (a couple of my colleagues were there too, including Johnny Jet and Cranky Flier). I did not have long onboard, but did manage to get a look at each cabin.

Flagship Suites Preferred

Business class is divided into cabins. The first row of each cabin (rows 1 and 10) is branded as “Flagship Suites Preferred” and has extra room (42% more), a larger table (with faux marble), and 19% more bed space. Yes, the screens look small, but the suites are very comfortable.

Flagship Business

There are a total of 51 Flagship Suites configured 1-2-1 spread across each cabin (43 when you exclude the eight preferred suites). The seat is based on the Adient Ascent platform and styled by Teague. Each converts to a flat bed or chaise lounge and features a sliding privacy door, though the door has not yet been certified and is locked in the open position.

51 seats is a huge business class cabin and AA thoughtfully invested in it with accents like the seat stitching, wireless charging, and a lamp at each seat.

Premium Economy

Premium economy features 32 Recaro R5 recliner seats (configured 2-3-2). Each includes adjustable calf rests and foot-bars, and winged headrests…the seat is quite comfortable and the seat is sufficient for a daytime flight.

Main Cabin

Economy class features 143 Collins Aerospace Aspire seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. The “Main Cabin Extra” seats (those with extra legroom) are designated by lighter brown headrests. Seats have universal A/C, USB-A, and USB-C outlets, plus Bluetooth connectivity (all cabins have this).

CONCLUSION

AA did a beautiful job on the cabin interiors of this new aircraft. The premium-heavy configuration ushers in a new era of competitiveness for American Airlines and the quality of the seats also look top-notch (though of course, on that note, only time will tell).

I look forward to flying on this new aircraft soon.