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Almost three years ago, American Airlines announced a new “Flagship Suite” business class product and a new “custom-designed” premium economy seats, originally set to debut in 2024 on its new deliveries of Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321XLR aircraft. After Boeing manufacturing delays, American Airlines' newly configured “787-9P” aircraft is finally about to take flight. The first flights are scheduled on June 5, 2025 between Chicago, Los Angeles, and London.
Ahead of its first commercial flight, American Airlines invited select media to tour the newly configured aircraft. Here's my photo tour inside AA's new 787-9P aircraft.
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American Airlines' New Flagship Suite Preferred
With the introduction of its new Boeing 787-9P aircraft, American Airlines is introducing a brand new seating type: Flagship Suite Preferred. These “Business Class Plus” seats are located in the front row of each of the two business class cabins. Due to the seating configuration, these eight extra-premium seats are scattered across four numerical rows:
- Row 1, seats A and L
- Row 2, seats D and H
- Row 10, seats D, H, and L
- Row 11, seat A
At first glance, these Flagship Suite Preferred seats are very similar to the rest of the Flagship Suites.
However, when looking a bit closer, you'll notice that these seats have significantly more room — from a bigger forward table to plenty of additional storage shelves.
Flagship Suite Preferred seats are visually differentiated from standard Flagship Suites by coloring. Flagship Suite Preferred seats have a black trim vs. the light gray trim of Flagship Suite seats:
Flagship Suite Preferred amenities
In addition to a roomier seat, Flagship Suite Preferred seats offer extra perks like a mattress pad, pajamas, and an elevated amenity kit.
The full list of Flagship Suite Preferred amenities includes the following Joanna Vargas-branded amenities:
- Hand and body lotion
- Face mist
- Lip balm
- Towelette
- Wheat straw toothbrush
- Miradent toothpaste
- Tube socks
- Eye mask
- Ear plugs
Flagship Suite on American Airlines 787-9P
Flagship Suite cabin
Behind the Flagship Suite Preferred seats are 43 ‘standard business class' Flagship Suites seats, arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.
The forward cabin of Flagship Suites extends to row 9 — with both rows 1 and 9 each having two seats:
While the rear cabin includes rows 10 to 14 — although row 10 only has three seats:
Between the two cabins is a galley with a small snack bar on the port side of the aircraft.
Flagship Suite seat details
Flagship Suite seats have an adjustable headrest, a variety of lighting options, and a shoulder seatbelt.
For power, Flagship Suite passengers have a universal power outlet, USB-A, USB-C, and even a wireless charging shelf.
Flagship Suites have just two locking compartments: one larger compartment with a hook for hanging your headphones and a smaller pocket that will be a good spot to store your passport and maybe a wallet.
When it's time to sleep, each Flagship Suite seat reclines fully into a comfortable, lie-flat bed.
A manually adjustable two-part divider is installed between each pair of interior seats. When this divider is open, these seats will be ideal for couples traveling together.
When closed, this divider does indeed provide a decent sense of privacy from the other middle seat.
However, don't be surprised to find that this divider doesn't close all the way. Even when fully extended, there's a small gap between the privacy divider and the wall.
American Airlines representatives noted that the privacy divider between the middle seats must be closed for taxi, takeoff, and landing. Reportedly, the FAA was concerned passengers might try to escape over the middle in an evacuation if this divider was left open.
Based on my onboard measurements, Flagship Suite inflight entertainment screens stretch 17.5 inches diagonally. While not massive, that's competitive with business class on other American Airlines aircraft — and those of other U.S. carriers.
One aspect that's not quite ready for prime time: American Airlines hasn't gotten the green light to utilize the closing suite doors inflight quite yet. However, AA expects to get approval in the next few weeks.
Flagship Suite amenities
Each Flagship Suite should be stocked with a duvet, dual-sided pillow, slippers, Bang & Olufsen noise-canceling headphones, and an amenity kit containing lotion, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste, tube socks, eye mask, and ear plugs.
Premium Economy on American Airlines 787-9P
Along with a brand new business class product, American Airlines is introducing a new “custom-designed” premium economy product on its Boeing 787-9P aircraft. From my experience onboard AA's first 787-9P aircraft, this new premium economy product is certainly better than what American Airlines currently has installed on its long-haul aircraft.
Premium economy is arranged in four and a half rows of 2-3-2 seating arrangement. This seating arrangement makes the window seat pairs excellent for couples traveling together.
If you're flying solo, each premium economy seat has so-called “privacy headrest wings” to provide a small sense of privacy from your neighbors.
Each seatback has a large inflight entertainment screen with USB-A and USB-C outlets. Underneath the screen, each seatback has a fold-down tray. Inside, there's a small storage area — including a unique vertical wireless charging pad with elastic straps to hold your phone in place. Quite a smart design!
The premium economy tray table folds out of the center armrest. Despite its marble-looking design, the table was lightweight — maybe even flimsy. One nice touch: the premium economy tray table has a small indention and fold-up holder to prop up your phone.
Most premium economy seats either recline into the seat behind or forward as the seat reclines into a fixed shell. These new American Airlines premium economy seats split the difference. In addition to reclining backward, the seat slides forward and articulates upward. This provides a greater sense of reclining without taking up as much space.
While the seat in front of you will impede into your space when reclined, it's not as bad as some premium economy products I've flown.
Premium economy amenities
According to American Airlines, each premium economy seat will be stocked with a:
- Crepe weave blanket
- Ostrichpillow lumbar pillow
- Noise-reducing headphones
- Amenity kit
Although a different design, premium economy amenity kits include the exact same amenities as the business class kit: hand and body lotion, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste, tube socks, eye mask, and ear plugs.
Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines 787-9P
Rather than having a Main Cabin Extra section, American Airlines' newest aircraft has just two rows of Main Cabin Extra — meaning just 18 extra-legroom seats. That's a significant decrease from the 48 Main Cabin Extra seats on AA's Boeing 787-8 aircraft and 34 on AA's existing Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
On AA's 787-9P aircraft, the Main Cabin Extra cabin solely consists of bulkhead seats in each of the two Main Cabin sections. However, not all Main Cabin Extra seats are the same.
The first row of economy is all Main Cabin Extra but split across two numerical rows:
- Row 20 seats D-H — middle bulkhead seats
- Row 21 seats A-C and J-L — window-side bulkhead seats
Each of these has a whopping 44 inches of legroom from the headrest to the bulkhead wall. And thanks to an innovative new wall design, these passengers will have a bit more room for their feet:
The other row of Main Cabin Extra is row 23 — the emergency exit row. The seats on the window side of each aisle have plenty of legroom, although window seats are a bit restricted by the emergency exit slide (plus not much of a view).
In my opinion, the worst Main Cabin Extra seats on American's new 787-9P aircraft are in row 23, seats D-H as these seats have notably less room to stretch your legs than the other Main Cabin Extra seats. The only benefit of these seats is that the armrest between seats D and E isn't a fixed, bulky armrest.
It's also notable that the Main Cabin Extra seats are the only seats on the aircraft with a bassinet for infants.
Main Cabin on American Airlines 787-9P
Thanks to the premium-heavy configuration, American Airlines has just 143 standard economy seats on its Boeing 787-9P arrangement. That's a significant decrease from the 200 standard-legroom Main Cabin seats on AA's older Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
These seats are split across a mini-cabin in front of the mid-aircraft galley — which consists of one full row of Main Cabin Extra and one and a half rows of Main Cabin:
And the main economy cabin stretching from rows 24 to 38:
Seats measure around 31 inches of pitch — plus or minus about a half-inch in my onboard testing.
Between the tight pitch and rather bulky seatbacks, economy passengers won't have much room to work. To put it to the test, I plopped down in an economy middle seat and pulled out my laptop. With the seat in front not reclined, I could barely set my laptop flat. With the seat in front of me reclined, any hope of being able to be productive vanished. That's going to make for some very long flights in economy for some passengers.
Best and worst economy seats
Although seats generally have 31 inches of pitch, one row stands out as having extra legroom. Although it isn't labeled as Main Cabin Extra, Row 21 seats D-H measured 32.5 inches of pitch in my onboard measurements. So, make sure to grab those Preferred seats if you have access.
While almost every Main Cabin row is arranged 3-3-3, you'll find a 2-3-2 arrangement in the last two rows of the aircraft. These two-seat pairs will be in demand for couples (at least those who don't mind getting off the plane last).
Interestingly, the back row of the two-seat pairing can recline through a curtain into a flight attendant's jumpseat!
By far, the worst seats on the entire plane are row 38, seats D-H. Not only are these seats unable to recline due to a hard wall behind them, but these seats also don't have an overhead bin available above them.
Economy in-flight entertainment and amenities
Each Main Cabin seat has a large 11.5-inch in-flight entertainment screen.
Screens are designed to provide a bit of privacy. When viewed at an angle, the screen is much dimmer and less readable.
While economy passengers won't get an amenity kit, each Main Cabin seat should be stocked with a fleece blanket and pillow.
Final Thoughts
After nearly three years of anticipation — and delays — American Airlines’ newly configured Boeing 787-9P is finally ready for takeoff. The aircraft brings major upgrades across premium cabins, from a sleek, privacy-focused Flagship Suite to an improved premium economy experience.
The new Flagship Suite Preferred offers added space and amenities that American Airlines is trying to differentiate as a Business Plus-style cabin-within-a-cabin. Meanwhile, the new premium economy product is a meaningful improvement from AA's existing premium economy seats. While the Main Cabin is as tight as ever — especially for travelers hoping to work mid-flight — features like the large inflight entertainment screens and numerous device charging options should help passengers pass the time.
While the improvements look good on paper and in the American Airlines hangar, the true test will be once American's 787-9P takes off with paying passengers. Time will tell how passengers respond once it enters regular service. But, from what I saw onboard, I'm hoping there’s a lot to look forward to.
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