American to Add More Seats While Installing New Interiors on 737 and A321 Jets

An American Airlines 737

American Airlines announced plans on Thursday to overhaul the interiors of much of its narrow-body fleet.

The plan involves the airline’s Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A321 aircraft, with the exception of American’s A321T subfleet used on premium transcon routes. All aircraft will receive the same interior including a new Meridian seat made by Rockwell Interior Systems. The new seats will be thinner, lighter, and more comfortable, according to the airline.

The result will be 12 more seats on the 737-800 and nine more on the A321.

Each seat will have an individual power outlet as well. Seat pitch will be a uniform 30” with the exception of Main Cabin Extra premium-economy-lite seats.

The schedule calls for the airline to renovate legacy US Airways A321s starting in 2019, followed by legacy American Airlines A321s. American said it does not plan to install seatback screens, echoing a decision made in January of this year not plan to install seatback in-flight entertainment screens on the 100 Boeing 737 Max jets it ordered.

At the time, American Airlines said that, because some 90% of its passengers bring their own portable electronic devices aboard, which include smartphones and tablets, the seat-back screens simply aren’t necessary anymore.

The airline will be providing complimentary wireless entertainment options on board, similar to what a typical in-flight entertainment system would offer. It also plans to add live TV and satellite-based Wi-Fi at some point in the future.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)