Overview
- American’s first retrofitted Boeing 777‑300ER entered commercial service on Wednesday, Sept. 2, operating JFK to Buenos Aires with 70 Flagship Suites and a total of 330 seats.
- The new layout provides 70 lie‑flat business suites with privacy doors, 44 premium economy seats, 30 Main Cabin Extra seats and 186 economy seats, raising premium seating to 144 per aircraft from 116.
- The airline will stop selling Flagship First on 777‑300ER flights for travel beginning Nov. 19, 2026, and will remove the product from select transcontinental routes for travel beginning Mar. 28, 2027.
- To fit more premium seats American removed the walk‑up business bar, reduced lavatories from 12 to 9 and cut galley space, and it says all 20 777‑300ERs will be retrofitted by 2027 with free high‑speed Wi‑Fi for AAdvantage members.
- The retrofit is a commercial bet to capture higher‑spending travelers — premium ticket sales made nearly half of American’s ticketed revenue in Q2 while occupying about 30% of seats — and mirrors a wider U.S. airline trend toward expanding premium cabins.