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American Airlines has the (metaphorical) keys to its first Airbus A321XLR, and it takes off with passengers for the first time next week.
At a media event at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on December 11, 2025, American Airlines unveiled its — and North America's — first Airbus A321XLR.
Most importantly, the new plane (and those delivered after it) will help modernize AA's transcontinental fleet. It'll also help the airline unlock new routes to Europe and South America, where it's hard to justify deploying a widebody. Suffice it to say, you'll probably be seeing a lot of these planes in the future.
Here's your first look inside AA's A321XLR, and how to book a flight on its first routes with points and miles.
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American Airlines Unveils Its First Airbus A321XLR
American Airlines is the world's largest operator of the Airbus A320 family. And now it's North America's first operator of the A321XLR, which is Airbus' newest and most modern version of the jet.
The A321XLR's calling card is that its range greatly exceeds that of other subvariants of the A321, including the A321ceo, A321neo, and A321LR.
Hence the “XLR,” which stands for extra long range.
According to Airbus, the A321XLR can fly up to 11 hours and up to 4,700nm, or 5,408 statute (American) miles. However, the range when the plane is full of fuel, passengers, and luggage is a standard deviation less than that.
Even so, the A321XLR puts American Airlines within reach of several destinations in Europe (think the Nordics, the U.K., and Italy) and deep South America (beyond Peru).
And outside of modernizing its transcontinental fleet by replacing the A321T, the XLR will help the airline draw new lines on the map. It's an amazingly economical plane to fly, and it'll let American unlock destinations where it wouldn’t want to deploy one of its widebody aircraft — currently consisting of just the Boeing 777 and 787.
Inside the Brand-New American Airlines A321XLR
The American Airlines Airbus A321XLR has just 155 seats.
From the outside, the A321XLR looks a lot like one of AA's A321neo aircraft thanks to its big engines, but the interior looks drastically different from any other A321 variant AA flies.
And you can tell the A321XLR apart from the moment you step through the forward door.
American Airlines' flight symbol is front and center in dark colors to give off a premium feel — much like it is on the new Boeing 787-9P.
There's no turning left on this aircraft, though. The first seats you'll see on the A321XLR are its Flagship Suites.
Business (Flagship Suites)
American Airlines' A321XLR is equipped with 20 Flagship Suite seats in a 1-1 configuration.
These lie-flat seats will be among the best seats AA flies, and there's a reason they come with a premium price tag.
Each Flagship Suite is outfitted with a large 17-inch 4K touchscreen in-flight entertainment screen, a weighty tray table, ample storage, and a sliding door.
AA also opted to add wireless device charging and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as universal AC and USB-C (60W) sockets.
The door won't be 100% operational at the outset, though. American is in the final stages of receiving approval from the relevant authorities to operate these suites with doors. And while there's no firm timeline, sometime in the first half of next year seems more than likely.
Intuitively, the suites also feature water bottle holders. It's a small but necessary addition for travelers who bring water onboard and never know where to put it.
If you've flown in a lie-flat Flagship Suite on AA's Boeing 787-9P, these seats will look familiar. There's not as much space here, though — and there are no Flagship Suite Preferred seats — but they'll still be the most comfortable seats you can book on the A321XLR.
Flagship Suites will double as a crew rest area
In a conversation with Brian Znotins (AA's SVP of Network Planning), I did ask if one of the Flagship Suites would be cordoned off for crew rest, since the A321XLR doesn't have a dedicated crew rest area.
On longer flights, the answer will almost certainly be yes. On itineraries where the FAA mandates a crew rest area, this means there will only be 19 bookable Flagship Suites instead of 20. That's a pretty meaningful reduction in the number of seats the airline can sell on long-haul routes.
On transcontinental domestic flights, though, this won't be an issue.
Premium economy
On the A321XLR, American Airlines installed 12 premium economy recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration from rows 11 through 13.
These seats have a pitch of 37 inches and measure 21 inches wide.
This style of seat (the Recaro R5 recliner) is a carbon copy of what you'll find in the Boeing 787-9P's premium economy cabin. You can think of them as an elevated domestic first-class style of seat.
They're outfitted with a winged headrest for an added layer of privacy, adjustable calf and footrests, a sizable tray table, and a storage pocket in one of the armrests.
Premium economy is outfitted with a 13.3-inch 4K touchscreen display, universal AC and USB-C (60W) sockets, plus wireless charging.
The seats in row 11 back up to the bulkhead. So while they come with extra legroom, the in-flight entertainment screen is built into the bulkhead wall. There are pros and cons to sitting in the bulkhead (like having to stow your personal item overhead), but they're the most spacious compared to the two rows behind them.
Economy (Main Cabin and Main Cabin Extra)
Last but not least, the most polarizing cabin on American Airlines' A321XLR: Main Cabin.
The economy cabin is outfitted with 123 Collins Aerospace Meridian slimline seats in a 3-3 configuration. Each seat offers 18 inches of width and reclines five inches.
On the A321XLR, AA chose to install more Main Cabin seats rather than offer additional Main Cabin Extra seats. In the current configuration, only rows 14 (bulkhead) and 15 (exit) have the legroom to be considered Main Cabin Extra.
Row 15 — if you can snag it — should be the top pick in the economy cabin since it offers the most space of any Main Cabin seat at 36 inches.
As far as the passenger experience goes, each Main Cabin seat is equipped with an 11.6-inch 4K touchscreen display with Bluetooth pairing, plus universal AC and USB-C (60W) sockets.
But back to the polarizing aspect of the AA A321XLR Main Cabin. On a shorter flight, a configuration like this is tolerable. On a longer flight…I'm not so sure.
On a flight pushing seven or eight hours, I'd imagine it would feel pretty cramped and maybe impossible to work on. Just look at the size of that tray table. Yikes.
Plus, the A321XLR is a single-aisle narrowbody jet. And based on that alone, there's really not that much space to move around — especially in the Main Cabin, which has the largest concentration of seats in a small space.
Next week, though, we'll find out for sure (more on this later).
Lavatories
Space comes at a premium on the Airbus A321XLR, and American's features four lavatories.
There's one lavatory (the largest) in the front of the plane and three in the back.
The rear lavatories almost surround row 34. And since lavatories tend to get congested a couple of times during the flight (after meals and before landing), that might make this row and maybe the few in front of it ones to avoid.
Wi-Fi
Starting in early 2026, American Airlines is launching free Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members.
Onboard Wi-Fi will be sponsored by AT&T, and the connection on the AA A321XLR in particular will be powered by Viasat.
American Airlines A321XLR Routes
American Airlines' route planners have scheduled the Airbus A321XLR on two routes at the outset — and they're already on sale.
Domestic
The first route for the new plane is between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The inaugural flight takes off on December 18, 2025.
Its first flight to LAX (AA 3) is almost sold out, but there are still seats on the return to JFK (AA 4). They're pricey, but could be worth it if you want to say you've flown an inaugural.
Further out in the calendar, prices get a little better in all cabins. The aircraft will fly between these two destinations almost every day, so there are plenty of chances to catch it on a domestic flight.
Savvy points and miles collectors would also be wise to compare award rates across partner programs. Take the above LAX-JFK flight on January 24, 2026, for example.
In economy, awards are available for 17,500 Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points, but you can snag a seat up front for just 35,000 points. The latter is a good bit cheaper than what AA is charging on that same date.
International
The AA A321XLR's first international route is between JFK and Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI). And the inaugural is planned for March 8, 2025.
At the time of writing, you can grab a seat on the flight starting at 27,000 AAdvantage miles in economy. Premium economy and business class are…a lot more expensive.
While economy awards are bookable through partners like Alaska Airlines, cabins higher than that aren't — at least not yet.
But like with domestic flights, Atmos Rewards' distance-based award charts could save you some miles if you want to try the XLR on a transatlantic flight, if and when they do come online.
Future American Airlines A321XLR routes
American Airlines' longer-term plans for the XLR (once more are delivered) are to put airframes on additional transcontinental and international routes.
The plane is a replacement for AA's soon-to-be-phased-out Airbus A321T. So, you can expect the A321XLR to take over some of the routes and frequencies flown by those older jets, like:
- New York (JFK) to:
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Santa Ana (SNA)
- Boston (BOS) to:
- Los Angeles (LAX)
The A321XLR is also versatile enough and has the range to handle routes to Europe and South America, where demand isn't strong enough to justify a widebody.
At the media event, American Airlines' SVP of Network Planning, Brian Znotins, talked Edinburgh up as a great example of where the airline can comfortably use the XLR. But as more airframes arrive, Znotins mentioned France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK as places the XLR is in range of.
To be clear, though, no international routes outside of Edinburgh have been announced.
But if we had to guess, chatter about future routes could pick up once AA receives more A321XLRs.
It expects to have 40 of them by the end of the decade, and with more of them to deploy, it'll be easier to draw new lines on its route map.
Our Take
A big part of American Airlines' future is contingent on the success of the 155-seat Airbus A321XLR. And it's finally got the keys to its first of many on the order books.
From a management perspective, the jet couldn't arrive soon enough. It's immediately one of the airline's most economical airplanes, and it'll open doors to new destinations where the math hasn't worked before.
From a passenger perspective, the A321XLR might not be so exciting — depending on what cabin you're sitting in.
Up front in a Flagship Suite, or even in one of the 12 premium economy seats, the ride will likely be pretty comfortable. In the back past the exit row, maybe not so much.
But I'm curious what it's like to ride in the back. So, I made plans to try it out on the inaugural flight between JFK and LAX and will report back. After all, putting it to the test is the best way to figure out if coach is worth the savings — or if splurging for a more premium cabin is a must.
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