American Airlines discontinuing most exclusive first-class section to prioritize business class
American Airlines is shaking up its premium cabin offerings, phasing out its most exclusive first-class cabin to instead focus on business-class seats in response to shifting consumer demand.
Vasu Raja, American’s chief commercial officer, confirmed the move to phase out the airline’s Flagship First cabin to investors on a Thursday morning earnings call.
“Yes, the first class will not exist on the [Boeing 777] or for that matter at American Airlines, for the simple reason that our customers aren’t buying it,” said Raja. “The quality of the business class seat has improved so much, and frankly by removing it, we can go provide more business class seats, which is our customers most want and are most willing to pay for.”
An American Airlines spokesperson clarified that Raja was only referring to Flagship First.
Domestic first-class seat offerings, the typical premium cabin on short-haul flights that is not quite as luxurious as Flagship First, will continue.
Raja went on to note that the airline is increasingly selling premium seats to passengers traveling for leisure rather than to corporations for their employees’ business travel.
American signaled the move late last month when it unveiled a new “Flagship Suite” option, which includes privacy doors and lie-flat controls, on Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787-9 aircraft deliveries beginning in 2024.
The airline said it would renovate its Boeing 777 aircraft to include the new offering. Those seats will be constructed in place of the carrier’s existing Flagship First cabin, effectively ending the existence of the carrier’s most exclusive seat offering.
“We are enhancing the customer experience across their entire journey with American,” Julie Rath, American’s vice president of customer experience, said at the time. “The arrival of new long-haul aircraft and the customized seat design of the Flagship Suite seats will offer customers a truly private premium experience on our long-haul fleet.”
American has offered Flagship First customers access to certain premium lounges, and it remains unclear how the shake-up will impact the future of those spaces.
Alongside the new Flagship Suite offering, American said it was also adding more premium economy seats to its long-haul aircraft.
The airline debuted the premium economy cabin in 2016, which includes wider seats and more amenities than a regular economy seat.
Other carriers, including United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, have followed suit with similar new offerings between economy and business cabins.
–-Updated at 12:27 p.m.
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