Jun 28, 2015, 2:49 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Airbus A321-200 ETOPS / 321H / A321H to Replace Hawaii Boeing 757-223s
A321 is the stretched version of the A320 family of aircraft. AA is the world's largest operator of A321s with 159 in service, 60 on order. These will replace Boeing 757-223s. The A321 is coded by most sources as "32B", which means any A321 with "Sharklets™" blended wingtip devices. All A321s in fleet and order are technically 32B aircraft, as they all arrive "out of the box" with Sharklets™, giving a range of 3,200 nm.
FWAAA: ...this will be a sub-fleet of 16 321H, presumably with the optional extra fuel tanks (total of 7,935 US gal).
321S: F16, XE35, Y130.
Seating is pretty much the same as the 321S for non-premium transcon service. See posts from TWA884 and FWAAA (#176 on) for IFE box and seat peculiarities.
The new leather "slimline" articulated "slider" seats include:
- "Main Cabin Extra*" seats with extra leg room
- In flight WiFi by GoGo (works only within 90 miles of USA mainland)
- "Universal" plug 110 VAC and 5 VDC USB power at every seat
- tilting 8.9" flatscreen IFE with AVOD at every seat** (complimentary in F) with hand controller
. . . (IFE and power mounted on seat back in front of you)
Current AA "domestic" WiFi by GoGo as on this aircraft relies on cellular telephony, which restricts operation to within ~90 miles of land.
**In Theaters Now” movies cost $8, “Best of the Big Screen” (older movies ) for $6 per movie, a “Premium Package” for $5 that includes unlimited 150 network shows on demand and 300 albums, 20 games and audio books. There’s also a Disney option for $4 that includes a variety of kids movies, TV shows, games and music. “Complimentary Programming” offers "NBC Universal on American" and "American Airlines Radio" network.
Note about flight changes and seat numeration between 757 and 321H /S:
- 757 F seats are AB, EF
- A321H F seats are AC, DF
- 24 F seats with 52 MCE and 108 "Main Cabin" indicates a LAA 757-223.
- 14 F recliner seats and no MCE other than exit row seats indicates a legacy US / America West 757-2S7 (these are being retired and replaced by 757-2B7)
- 12 F seats with old "Envoy" seats and no MCE other than exit row seats indicates a legacy US Airways ("East") 757-2B7 (these are replacing the 757-2S7s to Hawaii)
321H replacement of LUS Boeing 752s occurred after Sep 2016 Flight Operations Systems integration.
Updated Oct 2017 - JDiver
LAA: Airbus A321H / 321 ETOPS replacing LAX Boeing 757 to Hawaii (master thd)
May 24, 2015, 3:20 pm
#46
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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...erted-pdx.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22239062-post13.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...iversions.html
May 24, 2015, 3:41 pm
#47
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Weight restrictions and fuel diversions/stops occur on the AS flights to Hawaii, usually manifested in a fuel stop in OAK or PDX. It all depends on the winds.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...erted-pdx.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22239062-post13.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...iversions.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...erted-pdx.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22239062-post13.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...iversions.html
Last edited by JDiver; Jun 22, 2015 at 2:10 pm
May 24, 2015, 4:58 pm
#48
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Assuming these A321s are the same as the A321S on the inside, coming from someone who used to fly on the 757s very often, this has defnitely been the opposite of my experience. The A321 has less pitch, less recline, less padding, pleather, and boards from L1 only. All negatives in my book.
May 24, 2015, 5:05 pm
#49
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Combine the fact that systemwide 94% of the passengers do not bother with Wi-Fi (and the number hasn't changed in two years), between the two, having IFE is by far much more important on those routes.
May 24, 2015, 5:10 pm
#50
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On the broader topic, I would assume AA has run the numbers and that the ETOPS A321 has a better cost profile than an ETOPS 738 for those routes or/and is better sized for them (in AA's configuration the 32B has 13% more seating than the 738, specifically 22 more Y seats).
May 24, 2015, 5:19 pm
#51
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Incidentally, going from 757 to 32B will keep seat capacity per flight about the same (-1.6%: 184 to 181 seats) but will drastically change the mix. Premium cabin will be down 33%, and while the economy cabin will be up 3.1% its MCE sub-section will be also down by 33%.
In other words, a whole more uncomfortable mix with a whole more uncomfortable interior (albeit alleviated by AVOD IFE).
They should just give up the routes and codeshare on HA, whose service I understand from acquaintance reports and large scale surveys is vastly superior.
Last edited by hillrider; May 24, 2015 at 6:11 pm
May 24, 2015, 5:23 pm
#52
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May 24, 2015, 5:31 pm
#53
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After reading these posts, I thought I had better check on some flights I have to Honolulu this coming fall. So far flight 267 on October 29th remains a 757. However, my return flight 262 on November 4th has been changed to a 32B. I had to go in and change my seat assignment from 2B to 2C. Apparently the 32B first class seats are AC/DF as opposed to AB/EF on the 757’s.
May 24, 2015, 6:08 pm
#55
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Agree, and it gets even worse: the Sabre (AA's reservation system) description for the non-IATA-standard 32B aircraft designator is simply "AIRBUS JET"!
May 24, 2015, 8:26 pm
#57
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Assuming these A321s are the same as the A321S on the inside, coming from someone who used to fly on the 757s very often, this has defnitely been the opposite of my experience. The A321 has less pitch, less recline, less padding, pleather, and boards from L1 only. All negatives in my book.
My experience has been that the A321 first class seat is roughly equal in comfort to the 57 first class seat. It's the A321 coach seats that are going to be gruesome for a five- to six-hour flight.
May 24, 2015, 10:17 pm
#58
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May 24, 2015, 10:24 pm
#59
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May 25, 2015, 4:11 am
#60
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One of my favorite flights ever was on a 757. I was meant to be working DUB-CLT some time last summer but we MX issues, so instead of flying with passengers we ferried the aircraft back to Charlotte. There were 7 of us onboard, 5 F/As and 2 pilots, and I experienced the most powerful take-off I have ever experienced. Full thrust and we were airborne in about 10 seconds and reached our cruising altitude in 8 minutes. It was brilliant. Back on topic, I hear that the 757s that are being replaced by the A321s on LAX-Hawaii, are going to be moved to Phoenix to replace the old America West 75s that currently do PHX-Hawaii.