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 - Hawai’i 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 gwade’s 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. 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.
*July 2015
LAA 2-class Airbus 321S / A321H (Sharklets) (master thread)
#287
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IMO, the best Y seat on a domestic config is 1A on an ERJ. Unfortunately, anything else on an ERJ tends to be miserable. 31A/J on the 772s are better still, but those don't fly a lot domestically.
I find the older Boeing seats on the 757 (and while they were still kicking around, the old-cabin 737s) substantially less comfortable, and the the lack of a 9A problematic -- the leg room in 10A is superb but you don't have reasonable access because of the partial row 9, whereas you have something approximating aisle access in row 8 of the 738. 9B/9E are fine, although I prefer exit row windows, as there's more butt-room.
I also find row 15 on the 738 roomier than row 18 on the 757.
As stated above, the MCE cabin is proportionally much larger than Airbus and 737 aircraft.
There really aren't any good Y seats on the 737 or the A319.
I haven't flown enough of the A321S at all, and the only A319 I flew was an old USAir config, which was pretty miserable even in 4F although at least it was a fairly short midcon flight.
#288
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That's not even to mention the ratio of F to Y.
#289
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http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/ourPlanes/main.jsp
Seatguru lists both. If the lower-MCE is the more numerous, AA is being disingenuous which as we know they'd never do.
#290
Join Date: Apr 2010
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There are two 737 configs, and the one AA was listing on their public site was only the higher-MCE config:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/ourPlanes/main.jsp
Seatguru lists both. If the lower-MCE is the more numerous, AA is being disingenuous which as we know they'd never do.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/ourPlanes/main.jsp
Seatguru lists both. If the lower-MCE is the more numerous, AA is being disingenuous which as we know they'd never do.
Regarding the 737. There are some still in the 150 seat config, this is the one with 48 MCE seats. The only ones with this config are the first batch of AVOD deliveries 30 or 31 frames). I believe they've already started converting these to the 160 pax version, so eventually there shouldn't be any left.
Last edited by Djokison; Feb 9, 2016 at 1:00 pm
#291
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OTOH, Seatguru has been known to not be up to date either, so I went to what I thought was the canonical source.
Integration of pmUS aircraft doesn't help; I'd forgotten just how badly some of the other US airlines kept up their aircraft until I flew a couple of those last fall.
#293
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Don't know anything about row 8 but spouse and I sat in 24B/C and hated those seats. No under seat storage or decent pocket and FA wouldn't even let us hold something as small as an iPad during takeoff and landing. Plus the guy seated in 25A kept walking through the gap between 24B and the wall and bumping into the 24B pax. I would never choose row 24 again even though the leg room was great.
#294
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On AA 37 right now (DFW-SFO).
In row 10, and it is stuffy (borderline hot) up here; to the point where it's uncomfortable.
I walked back to the lav and it has to be 10-15 degrees cooler once you get behind row 15 or so. Are there multiple temp controls on this plane? I have dealt with the hot cabin on the 321T a few times; not sure if it is the plane (in this case a 32B) or the pilot that is dictating it.
In row 10, and it is stuffy (borderline hot) up here; to the point where it's uncomfortable.
I walked back to the lav and it has to be 10-15 degrees cooler once you get behind row 15 or so. Are there multiple temp controls on this plane? I have dealt with the hot cabin on the 321T a few times; not sure if it is the plane (in this case a 32B) or the pilot that is dictating it.
#296
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#298
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Booked on a 2-class "32B" MCO-LAX late next month. Row 25 was marked as MCE; 25A was available so I grabbed it. I was tempted by 10A but after reading through this thread I'm still not sure whether they're limited-recline or not. Will try to check it out and report back on both.
25A was as expected. Unbeatable leg room. There was a small pocket on the wall next to me, seemingly the same as the ones on the bulkhead in front of 24B and C, which were probably a bit smaller than the ones in the seat backs. I had a pack which held a 7" tablet and a paperback, and wedged it into the pocket along with my sunglasses and the usual magazines without issue.
The real downside with it as well as the bulkhead seats is the lack of IFE.
Also, my neighbor's elbow was way the heck over my edge of the "shared" armrest; the resulting gouging of my arm for almost the entire 5+ hr flight didn't seem to faze him. I got a brief respite when fishing my table out of the armrest.
Oh, and there was AC power, which I assume was the case for every seat. Multiple outlets; I only made note of the USB, which worked.
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