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LAA 2-class Airbus 321S / A321H (Sharklets) (master thread)

Old May 26, 2015, 7:07 am
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Last edit by: Prospero
Two Class Airbus A321-200 / A321S In Service as of Aug 2014
The Airbus A321-200 A321 is the stretched version of the A320 family of aircraft. AA is the world's largest operator of the A321 with 159 in service, 60 on order*. These will also replace most Boeing 757-223s. The A321 is coded by most sources as "32B", which means any A321 aircraft with "Sharklets" blended wingtip devices. All 321s in the LAA fleet and order are technically "32B" aircraft, as they all arrive "out of the box" with Sharklets.

The A321S variant of American's Airbus A321-200 aircraft is the "plain vanilla" two class twin engine narrow body replacing the Boeing 757-223 and filling in on routes with higher capacity requirements than those filled by the rapidly disappearing MD-80 or Boeing 737-800 and MAX 8 aircraft.

A321S and A321H: (16Y, 165Y including 38 MCE) two class 32B A321-200 with Sharklets wingtip devices used in normal domestic and short international service, and in the A321H ETOPS version West Coast - Hawaii service. SeatGuru A321 V2.

A321H: This particular two class A321 variant is fitted with auxiliary fuel tanks and is ETOPS rated, initially deployed on mainland-Hawai'i flights to replace the 757. Due to distance / fuel / load restrictions, some Hawai'i flights will be load-restricted, and seating may be changed if weather / winds aloft issues require it for weight and balance restrictions (higher probability on westbound flights).

First seats are said to be 21" wide, pitch 38"; Economy seats to be 18" wide, 31" pitch (34" in Main Cabin Extra / MCE / XE). But exit and bulkhead seats may be 16.5 wide. See gwades post here.

The new leather "slimline" articulated "slider" seats include:
  • "Main Cabin Extra" seats with extra leg room
  • In-flight WiFi
  • "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)


Note: IFE boxes reduce under seat space in window and aisle seat rows.
Small mesh pouch provided for personal items. See #165 for photos.
Seat pitch in coach seems lower.

Exit row / notable seats include:
  • Row 11 (MCE / XE): A, B, and C have virtually infinite leg room but virtually no underseat storage due to a protrusion immediately behind the row 10 seats blocking access. D and E have infinite leg room and access to underseat storage under row 10. There is no F seat in this row due to the presence of a FA jumpseat. Pictures of row 11 are posted in post #366.
  • Row 12 (MCE). Due to a system limitation, AA (mostly incorrectly) has this coded as an exit row on the seat map. It is not. 12 A, B, C, D, and E are standard MCE seats. 12F has no seat in front of it and technically has a direct path to the exit (hence the legal requirement they designate at least that side as an exit row). The underseat storage under 10F is not easily accessible due to the presence of a FA jumpseat.
    • MCE / XE has limited overhead space: the bins above row 11 contain emergency gear
  • Row 24 (only B, C and D, E seats - may have somewhat limited recline)
  • Row 25 (25A and F have no seats in front of them)
  • Row 36 has limited recline and is directly in front of the Economy lavs


NOTE: Under Project Oasis all seats will be replaced, and seat pitch will be reduced. See Oasis: New seats & less pitch, WiFi IFE & power all 737 and A321 2019-21

**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. Theres 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.

*July 2015
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LAA 2-class Airbus 321S / A321H (Sharklets) (master thread)

Old Jun 9, 2014, 6:49 am
  #1  
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LAA 2-class Airbus 321S / A321H (Sharklets) (master thread)

It has appeared as of 1AUG14 on the LAX-DFW (HT airlineroute.net).

It has 16F and 165Y, split between 35 MCE and 130 Y-.

That makes it 8.8% premium class seating, lower than the 738 (10.7%) and the M80 (11.4%), but at least it's higher than the 319 (a measly 6.3%).

No information about the seating pitch, i.e. if it's as crammed as the 319 or it's more like the 738 [although aren't those getting a new row for a crammed 30" pitch]?.

Note that the equipment code is currently "32B", but I believe that to be a mistake as that code is used for the 3-class transcon interior (and I hope to be correct otherwise it will be quite confusing).

MOD NOTE:

The A321 Transcon / A321T / "true" 32B thread is A321 Transcon / A321T / 32B enters service January 2014 (consolidated)

"32B" merely means an Airbus A321-200 aircraft with Sharklet wingtip extensions.

Last edited by JDiver; Jan 28, 2015 at 4:27 pm Reason: Fixed wrong number of F seats; added thread link
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:02 am
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It's 16F not 18F
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:07 am
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Unfortunate but not at all unexpected.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:16 am
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Originally Posted by HNL
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It's 16F not 18F
Yep. Can't count. Fixing post next.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 7:58 am
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Originally Posted by hillrider
It has 16F and 165Y, split between 35 MCE and 130 Y-.

That makes it 8.8% premium class seating, lower than the 738 (10.7%) and the M80 (11.4%), but at least it's higher than the 319 (a measly 6.3%).

No information about the seating pitch, i.e. if it's as crammed as the 319 or it's more like the 738 [although aren't those getting a new row for a crammed 30" pitch]?.
It's the US configuration with 1 row removed, to allow MCE. According to Seat Guru, Y has 32" pitch on the US A321. http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/US_...irbus_A321.php
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:54 am
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Seat map is on AA.com, e.g. AA170 LAX-LAS (yes, on such a short flight).

FC is the same as the US Airways seat map.

Economy is a bit different. One fewer row in front of the first exit, and then different row numbering for the A-B-C side between the first and second exit.

I think something funny may be happening with staggering rows, because row 13 is being sold as MCE only on the A-B-C side and not the D-E-F side.

I count 36 MCE seats, not 35. Still quite low.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:57 am
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And here's something odd: infinite-legroom seats 25A and 25F on AA, which correspond to 23A and 23F on US, and which Seatguru rates as the best seats on the US plane, are not only not MCE, but are not even preferred or reserved for elites on AA. They're just ordinary seats that anyone can apparently pick.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:59 am
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Standalone AA plan was 20F
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 10:12 am
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Even DL will have 20F on their A321s
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 10:30 am
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Originally Posted by AAerSTL
Standalone AA plan was 20F
Actually, the stand-alone AA plan was 24F/150Y. That changed when Parker and Kirby held a townhall meeting last June in DFW and told AA employees that AA would have to reevaluate seating density decisions.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 10:36 am
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
Actually, the stand-alone AA plan was 24F/150Y. That changed when Parker and Kirby held a townhall meeting last June in DFW and told AA employees that AA would have to reevaluate seating density decisions.
What I love is that some moron in Corporate Finance actually thought that it makes sense (beyond on a spreadsheet) to have 12 F seats on a 76-seat aircraft and 16 F seats on a 181 seat aircraft. (Yes I understand scope better than probably anyone on here, but I'm just saying).

Some of the density decisions are good (777-200s needed more density) but I'm really concerned about the new Airbus products. It's going to get hard avoiding the Airbus aircraft in the new airline.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 10:58 am
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Originally Posted by imapilotaz
What I love is that some moron in Corporate Finance actually thought that it makes sense (beyond on a spreadsheet) to have 12 F seats on a 76-seat aircraft and 16 F seats on a 181 seat aircraft. (Yes I understand scope better than probably anyone on here, but I'm just saying).

Some of the density decisions are good (777-200s needed more density) but I'm really concerned about the new Airbus products. It's going to get hard avoiding the Airbus aircraft in the new airline.
The additional F seats on the CR7/CR9/E75 are there to get those aircraft to the magic number (76 seats) per the pilot scope clause, not to optimize revenue. If USdbaAA could operate those with fewer F seats and still use the lower paid regional crews they would happily do so
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 12:05 pm
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Originally Posted by hillrider
Note that the equipment code is currently "32B", but I believe that to be a mistake as that code is used for the 3-class transcon interior (and I hope to be correct otherwise it will be quite confusing).
Why would it be a mistake when 32B refers to Airbus A321 Sharklets?
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 12:51 pm
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Originally Posted by jimyvr
Why would it be a mistake when 32B refers to Airbus A321 Sharklets?
Because AA uses different designators when the same aircraft has major differences in the configuration. The 752 is designated "757" for the 22/24 F seat version and 75L for the 16 NGBC seat version.
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Old Jun 9, 2014, 2:10 pm
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Originally Posted by beerup
Because AA uses different designators when the same aircraft has major differences in the configuration. The 752 is designated "757" for the 22/24 F seat version and 75L for the 16 NGBC seat version.
Yes but that is for internal use. You don't see those internal codes appearing in the GDS, unless it's done by accident.
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