American Airlines Axes First Class, Goes Full Pod Hotel in Sky

KEY POINTS

•American Airlines will replace its decade-old A321T jets with new A321XLR planes starting December 18 on New York to Los Angeles routes.
•The redesigned aircraft eliminates first class for a 20-seat business cabin with private pods and sliding doors, expected to be usable months after launch.
•The A321XLR will add transatlantic flights such as New York to Edinburgh beginning March, offering coach tickets from $600 and business for $3,700.

American Airlines is retiring its A321T transcontinental jet, the comfy bi-coastal workhorse that's served business and first-class passengers for a decade, replacing it with the shiny new A321XLR launching December 18 from New York to L.A. The XLR boasts a staggering 5,400-mile range thanks to an extra fuel tank, letting it moonlight on transatlantic routes like New York to Edinburgh starting March. Gone is first class, replaced by 20 snazzy pod-like business suites in a 1x1 layout with direct aisle access and sliding doors — if only they worked right away. Row 25 in economy? Enjoy your windowless existential crisis. Prices vary wildly from $200 economy to a princely $3,700 business transatlantic, promising luxury that's cramped to a bottleneck near the lavatory.

Share the Story

(1 of 3)

Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Cutting first class and cramming aisles so tight you’ll wrestle a stranger to pee — American Airlines’ new 'pod hotel' is the flying claustrophobia upgrade we didn’t ask for.

191/280 charactersReady to post