American Airlines plans to retrofit its Boeing 777-200ER fleet, marking the next phase in its widebody cabin updates. The airline confirmed the initiative during its third-quarter earnings call this week, noting that work will focus on updating interiors and improving cabin consistency across its long-haul fleet.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier operates 47 777-200ERs, which have an average age of nearly 25 years old. American is also in the process of retrofitting its larger 777-300ERs to include its new Flagship Suites product.
“We’re excited to announce that we’ll continue scaling our new Flagship product on our 777-200 aircraft,” the carrier’s CFO, Devon May, said during the call.
These aircraft will see a 25% increase in lie-flat and premium economy seats, May added, as part of a “nose to tail retrofit.” A new inflight entertainment system will also be installed.
Executives said the retrofit will introduce an updated cabin layout and align the aircraft with newer long-haul types in the fleet, including the Boeing 787-9P and forthcoming Airbus A321XLR.
Additional details, including configuration changes and a completion timeline, were not shared.
American CEO Robert Isom called the 777-200 retrofits a “big deal” during the Thursday call.
“Extending the lives of those [aircraft] and putting those into service really gives us a capital spending holiday in terms of fleet replacement,” Isom shared. “So it’s a win-win-win-win for our customers, for our company, and most certainly our investors.”
The airline’s current 777-200 configuration includes 273 total seats with 37 in business, 24 in premium economy, and 212 in economy.
May stated that the retrofits are “something we’ve been planning on doing for a while.”
“This is an aircraft we think we can run well into the next decade,” he continued.
Premium Push
American continues to add more premium capacity to align with its competitors. Earlier this year, it took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9P, which features 51 Flagship Suites. Its first A321XLR also arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday.
“Premium continues to perform well with year-over-year premium unit revenue outpacing main cabin by five points in the third quarter,” May continued. “Capitalizing on this demand, American is continuing to invest in expanding our premium offerings across the customer journey.”
The carrier will also increase the number of first class seats on its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.
