hillrider

Now that 757 are doing lots of >4 hour flights, many between business markets, those very old, non-ergonomic, back breaking, impossible-to-sleep in "F" seats are even more of an issue IMHO.

With the NBC rollout on the 763s, AA will have lots of already-paid-for seats that are far superior to the ones on the 757 -- 1,740 of them from the current flying fleet, plus I can't remember if there are any 763s stored anywhere or that were recently sold (without seats) or if there are any seats in storage leftovers from the various cabin reconfigurations. These seats would be enough for 65% of the fleet of 757, assuming no change in density (i.e. keep 39" pitch instead of 49/50" of J on the long-haul 762s), improving the product tremedously and giving AA a paid-for headstart to a long overdue seat renewal.

Personally it would make AA viable again to BOS/MIA from SFO, which are longer or equal-length flights to SFO-JFK (762/763 service) but where the 757 experience is horrendous (remember the revolt of corporate accounts in 2004 when AA put a few 757s in the summer schedule on the JFK-SFO run? They never tried since!)

nyc6035

I recall reading over at usaviation.com that the soon to be old 777 business class seats are the same dimensions as the 757 seats. I haven't done the math but that would probably take care of about 50% of the 757 fleet.

pdb

With UA's PS transcons now in service for nearly a year, AA will need to evaluate whether a similar product is justifiable.

As to the specific question posed by the OP, I don't think this sort of thing has been done before. It would seem to make economic sense, though, if they would fit with the reduced pitch of narrow body F seats.

DataPlumber

You may not believe it, but swapping around aircraft interiors is not as easy as you would think. To sum it up, the seats that are in the 763 today would need to be approved for installation in the 757 and meet all the crash survivability regulations. That involves lots of tests and government paperwork.

ijgordon

Yes, it would seem to me that the 763 seats are just too narrow for the 757 and wouldn't effectively use the width of the fuselage. Plus, at 39" of pitch, what do you do with the legrests?

hillrider

Well, those seats are already certified, aren't them? I don't know if the certification is valid only for a certain fuselage type, but even if so I assume it's much simpler to get an additional type certification as they presumably wouldn't have to retest the frame for impact resistance, the coverings for flammability, etc., etc.

Legrests can either be removed or limited to very limited extension (kind of like the ones in some long-haul Y seats of non-US carriers).

Wasn't thinking about the width--heck, I'd still take 6 hours on the narrower J seats than on the awful current 757 ones (although some obese passengers may think otherwise)--but if they can fit the 777 ones, then they are getting 900 paired seats out of those (plus 675 in triplets, which, if they can be converted into couples, might yield another 450-675 paired seats).

So between the 777 and the 763 seats they would have enough to refurbish the entire 757 fleet, something that's way, way, overdue.

JonNYC

For a variety of reasons-- and most certainly -not- based on any inside info-- I'd put this in the "extremely unlikely" catagory.

hillrider

Would that be the long overdue remake of 757 "F" or the reuse of existing assets/seats vs. getting new ones?

JonNYC

Only the latter-- I don't see them installing those seats anywhere else-- even though they are "paid for" etc. But, again, just my personal reaction to the idea-- nothing more.

platboy

I would almost rather have AA take out all the 757 F seats and replace them with pillows and seatbelts strapped to the floor than ride again in those awful, tattered, uncomfortable things. Whenever I am flying with less experienced AAers, they are appalled to get on the c.1972 luxury liner

Blumie

The 757s are not that old. You're off by at least 10 years.

JAGMAP

My source (which happens to be one of JonNYC's) said the old seats will most likely be scrapped for parts since many of them (the individual parts) are the same throughout AA's fleet.

hillrider

I think platboy refers to the design, not necessarily the manufacturing date. They are definitely a product of the 60s/70s, before anyone discovered ergonomics, and never thought of the implication of leaving such a bad impression of American Airlines on non AA-flyers (we simply know to avoid them).

platboy

I am aware that the 757s are not that old...in fact somewhat new in AA terms, but they are arguably the oldest "feeling" planes in the fleet.
Although some of the non-refurbised A300s are about the same. I was on a nice one with roaches and the ceiling panels were dangling down at the edges.

Unfortunately, sometimes I get stuck on them.

JonNYC

Idunno whom this might be, but I have lots of different places that I get info from-- and they most definitely are not "all created equal" so I'd be reticent to accept on it's face w/o knowing who-- especially on an issue like this.