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ARCHIVE: Boeing 787-8 / 788 Premium Economy / PE / PEY progress and seat info

Old Apr 24, 2019, 11:32 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
State of the widebody aircraft Premium Economy retrofit 1st half of 2019

The 787-8 retrofit standardizes 788 seating at C20, W28, Y186 (of which 42 are MCE). Refitting took two weeks per airframe, and two were in the shop at Paine Field at any one time. AA begins selling Premium Economy tickets as if 1 May (if not before) on the 787-8.

787-8 Current Status as of 24 April April 2019: NO J28 788s left in service, refit completed.:

REFIT TO PE: N800AN was the test article / prototype (PAE Sep 2018), N816AA was the last (returned to service 24 Apr 2019).

List of (20) existing Boeing 787-8s: (reg # / fleet #)

N800AN / 8AA (refitted to 20 J seats, Premium Economy - test article)
N801AC / 8AB (refitted)
N802AN / 8AC (refitted)
N803AL / 8AD (refitted)
N804AN / 8AE (refitted)
N805AN / 8AF (refitted)
N806AA / 8AG (refitted)
N807AA / 8AH (refitted)
N808AN / 8AJ (refitted)
N809AA / 8AK (refitted)
N810AN / 8AL (refitted)
N811AB / 8AM (refitted)
N812AA / 8AN (refitted)
N813AN / 8AP (refitted)
N814AA / 8AR (refitted)
N815AA / 8AS (refitted)
N816AA / 8AT (refitted)
N817AN / 8AU (refitted)
N818AL / 8AV (refitted)
N819AN / 8AW (refitted)

Aircraft movement to / from to PAE for retrofitting in 2019:

N810AN to PAE 9 Jan from DFW
N812AA to PAE 11 Jan from DFW
N809AA to PAE 24 Jan from ORD
N812AA back in service 24 Jan
N802AN to PAE 29 Jan from DFW
N810AN back in service 24 Jan
N806AA to PAE 02 Feb
N809AA back in service 03 Feb
N802AN back in service 08 Feb
N803AL to KPAE 8 Feb
N811AB to KPAE 12 Feb
N803AL back in service 18 Feb
N805AN to KPAE 20 Feb
N811AB back in service 23 Feb
N804AN to KPAE 23 Feb
N805AN back in service 28 Feb (to ORD)
N814AN and N817AN to KPAE 4 March (from ORD)
N804AN back in service 4 March (to ORD)
N807AA to KPAE 10 March (from ORD)
N817AN back in service 10 March (to ORD)
N814AN back in service 13 March (to DFW)
N819AN / 8AW to PAE 20 Mar
N807AA back in service 20 March (from DFW)
N813AN back in service 25 March (from DFW)
N808AN to PAE 25 Mar
N819AN back in service 29 March
N818AL to PAE 30 Mar
N801AC to PAE 6 April
N808AN back in service 6 April (to DFW)
N818AL back in service 10 April (to DFW)
N815AA to PAE 11 April
N816AA to PAE 17 April
N801AC to ORD 17 Apr
N815AA to DFW 20 Apr
N816AA to ORD 24 Apr

Thanks to econometrics, b]golfingboy, hawkfan7314,
jvel, rjlon, United857!

Last updated on 24 April 2019

NOTE: There are no J28 - without Premium Economy 788s in service as of 17 April 2019. See (unofficial) American Fleet Site here for fairly current listings..

All Boeing 787-9 have Premium Economy “out of the box”.

All Boeing 777-300ER / 77W have been refitted with Premium Economy

All 777-200ER / 772 All have been refitted with 37 Business seats and have Premium Economy.

All Airbus A330-200s have been refitted with Premium Economy. (A330-300s are ultimately scheduled for retirement and will not be fitted with PE at this time.)

Review of 772 PE by ThePointsGuy HERE. Photos below from ThePointsGuy.

AA Rockwell Collins MiQ Premium Economy seats
(only bulkhead Seats have legrests)

and


See New 777-300 / 77W Config with Premium Economy as of Dec 2017

Link to AA Premium Economy page.

Not being retrofitted with Premium Economy seats:

  • 767-300ER / 763
  • A330-300

AA has begun offering AA (only) Premium Economy awards.

Link to AA press release announcing Premium Economy

Link to virtual PEY experience on aa.com

Link to Ft. Worth Star-Telegram article

Link to Chicago Tribune article

Link to Gary Leff - View from the Wing blog

Link to Australian Business Traveller blog

Link to archived "Speculation" thread.

Older posts from 2018 have been archived and can be read here.

Older posts from 2015-2017 have been archived and can be read here.
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ARCHIVE: Boeing 787-8 / 788 Premium Economy / PE / PEY progress and seat info

Old Feb 22, 2019, 9:39 am
  #46  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 289
Originally Posted by mcrw00
In people’s experience flying the 788 since January, how often do planes/seat maps change in the week before a flight? If NRT-ORD next Friday is showing a 28-J bird, is that fairly reliable (barring IRROPS, etc)?

Trying to to gauge how likely is it that my wife will be upgraded at the gate vs be on a bird with just 20 (sold-out) J seats.
Usually, you will know which aircraft it will be 48 hours before departure. However, aircraft change can happen at anytime. I am going to assume the NRT-ORD aircraft is coming in from ORD, you will have an idea for sure once the inbound aircraft is in the air.
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Old Feb 22, 2019, 9:45 am
  #47  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
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Originally Posted by mcrw00
In people’s experience flying the 788 since January, how often do planes/seat maps change in the week before a flight? If NRT-ORD next Friday is showing a 28-J bird, is that fairly reliable (barring IRROPS, etc)?

Trying to to gauge how likely is it that my wife will be upgraded at the gate vs be on a bird with just 20 (sold-out) J seats.
That flight is J0 right now. So your wife has a very low chance of getting upgraded.

Also, only 11 788s are flying with 28J seats right now. So it's almost a 50/50 chance the flight goes out with 20J vs. 28.
econometrics is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2019, 10:04 am
  #48  
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Originally Posted by gateH15

if the seat does not exist in the cabin you are ticketed into, you will find yourself in row 99 all the way in the back. So I would recommend sticking to row 8-9 and don’t pick B or K seat.
This! We are flying ORD-LHR in April and have four of us in row 8 - MCE now but hope to see the seatmap change to Prem Eco in the day or so leading up to our travel date.
geo1005 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2019, 10:45 am
  #49  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: United Premier Platinum
Posts: 638
Originally Posted by econometrics
That flight is J0 right now. So your wife has a very low chance of getting upgraded.

Also, only 11 788s are flying with 28J seats right now. So it's almost a 50/50 chance the flight goes out with 20J vs. 28.
Thanks. So the fact that the seat map displays 28J right now should not be counted on?
mcrw00 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2019, 10:54 am
  #50  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
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Originally Posted by mcrw00


Thanks. So the fact that the seat map displays 28J right now should not be counted on?
Definitely not.
econometrics is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2019, 1:29 am
  #51  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SE Wisconsin
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond for Life
Posts: 337
I’m on flight 87, LHR -> ORD this morning. Booked as 2-class flight, and I picked MCE 9H. Up to an hour before my flight the seating chart looked like a 2-class chart, but I am definitely in a PE seat.

Still seems to be MCE service, but I am not complaining.
Beachfun71 is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2019, 1:24 pm
  #52  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
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N811AB coming back to DFW today.

N804AN going to PAE.

50% of 788 refit done.
econometrics is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2019, 11:53 am
  #53  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: New York City (LGA/JFK/EWR)
Programs: AA, AS
Posts: 72
N804AN exited PAE to ORD on 3/4 with retrofits
N805AN exited PAE to ORD on 2/28 with retrofits

N817AN entered PAE for retrofits on 3/1

N815AA has been in SAT since 2/14 (will retrofit be done with other maintenance?)
N818AL has not flown since 3/3 but is still in DFW.
United857 is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2019, 12:15 pm
  #54  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
Posts: 3,143
Originally Posted by United857
N804AN exited PAE to ORD on 3/4 with retrofits
N805AN exited PAE to ORD on 2/28 with retrofits

N817AN entered PAE for retrofits on 3/1

N815AA has been in SAT since 2/14 (will retrofit be done with other maintenance?)
N818AL has not flown since 3/3 but is still in DFW.
Thanks for catching N804AN, N805AN and N817AN. I missed them since they went in/out from ORD. Wiki updated.

No refitting is done at KSAT, no. Only at KPAE.
econometrics is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2019, 1:33 pm
  #55  
 
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N814AA went in to PAE from ORD as well on 3/4
jvel is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2019, 2:04 pm
  #56  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
I think I asked this already before. Anyone has any pictures of row 10 of the refitted 787? Is there is a cut out in the bulkhead between PE and Y? Trying to decide if I should go with the aisle seat in the middle section or pick a different MCE seat.
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Old Mar 10, 2019, 7:58 am
  #57  
 
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N807AA going to KPAE from ORD this AM.

N817AN coming back to ORD with refit complete later today.

7 non-PE, 28J 788s left.
econometrics is offline  
Old Mar 10, 2019, 11:04 am
  #58  
 
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Wow that was fast on N817. If the keep that rate, these might be wrapped up by end of April.
jvel is offline  
Old Mar 10, 2019, 1:06 pm
  #59  
 
Join Date: May 2011
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Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
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Originally Posted by jvel
Wow that was fast on N817. If the keep that rate, these might be wrapped up by end of April.
Maybe because they only refastened the seats down with zip ties?

...it's usually a 7-10 calendar day turn around for these. I think end of April is looking realistic.
econometrics is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2019, 9:17 am
  #60  
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Posts: 5,075
Originally Posted by econometrics
I think end of April is looking realistic.
This would be ideal - I have MCE seats (row 8) for ORD-LHR in mid-April. The chance of getting a PE equipped 788 is highly likely.

Are there any data points of confirmed MCE reservations in row 8 or 9 getting moved back to rows 10 or higher in MCE once the swap to a PE equipped plane occurred?
geo1005 is offline  

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