Earlier today I was at LAX to check out the new American Airlines (AA) 787-9P. The “P” stands for Premium, and this beautiful bird launched today with Chicago (ORD) to Los Angeles (LAX) to ORD and then on to London Heathrow’s (LHR) before it returns to ORD to start the merry-go-round again.
They currently have two planes in rotation, but AA will eventually have 30 787-9P aircraft by 2029. Later in the year, they will also be flying it from Philadelphia to Zurich and Dallas to Brisbane and Auckland. Starting August 6, Philadelphia (PHL)–LHR, and then PHL–Zurich (ZUR) beginning on September 3. By late October, they will fly Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)–Auckland (AKL) and Brisbane (BNE).
There’s no doubt about it that 787-9P is plush on the inside, especially their business and premium economy cabins.
Business Class
Business Class has 51 Flagship Suites that feature sliding doors, which is a first for American, but they’re not working yet (they should be in a couple of weeks). These seats in a 1-2-1 configuration fully recline and are 21 inches wide, 79 inches long. What’s nice is passengers can slide forward into a chaise lounge-like position while in lie-flat mode.
If you do book this, be sure to get the Flagship Suite Preferred, which is currently being sold at no extra charge. These 8 seats are a mini upgrade since they have 20% more space and come with pajamas, better amenity kits, and enhanced bedding.
Premium Economy
In Premium Economy, there’s 32 seats in a 2-3-2 layout, and they feature headrest wings, more recline, pull-out calf/footrests, 13″ screens, wireless charging, Bluetooth, and USB-C ports.
Main Cabin
In coach, the seats are in a 3-3-3 layout with 11.5″ screens, Bluetooth, and power.
BTW, just a side note for those flying out of LAX. I found American Airlines’ new Priority line check-in process ridiculous. I went to get my pre-arranged gate pass, and instead of having one line, they’ve set up four or five separate lines for each counter. It’s incredibly frustrating when you end up behind a slow counter, which happened to me and the line two over. Those passengers were getting upset, while the others who just rolled up and got lucky loved it. I mentioned it to the agents, and they said, “Please complain to the management since we hate it. Customers are always fighting with each other.” I did, and doing it here publicly as well.
Also, good to know: I didn’t bring my REAL ID since I don’t have one. I didn’t bring my passport either since I was counting on using CLEAR, which has my passport stored. But CLEAR couldn’t register my ticket since it was just a gate pass. I told a TSA officer, “I don’t have a REAL ID,” and they said, “No problem.” No extra screening, no red pass.
