Apr 24, 2019, 11:32 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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)

Quote:

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.

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

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Mar 14, 2019, 10:59 am

#76

JDiver

Moderator: American AAdvantage

Join Date: May 2000

Location: NorCal - SMF area

Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis

Posts: 62,948

Quote:

Originally Posted by econometrics

Thanks. I updated that in the Wiki, too. I don't usually update the Wiki when I post the frame movements here, as I usually do it via mobile and find updating the Wiki on my phone to be a bit cumbersome.

We appreciate your posting of updates (as well as that of others) and updating the Wikipost when possible. As the Wikipost is community property, those of us who consider ourselves stakeholders in the thread can take the time to edit it.

Thank you, all.

Mar 14, 2019, 11:02 am

#77

hawkfan7314

Join Date: Jul 2016

Location: DC

Programs: AA PPRO, HH Diamond, National EE

Posts: 603

What is the easiest way to see what AA Tail is supposed to be flying a route? I have the ORD-HNL 788 on the 24th so I'm seeing if N807AA / 8AH that is getting the retro fit right now was flying that route. Do I just constantly check the seatmap and wait for a change or is there something else that has the schedule?

Mar 14, 2019, 11:08 am

#78

jvel

Join Date: May 2018

Location: Chicago

Programs: AA Plat Pro, HH Gold, Marriott Gold

Posts: 124

You can check flightradar24.com under data/history search by the flight number. It will show prior and scheduled tail #'s, however AA will not schedule the aircraft until a couple days before the flight. And even then it is subject to change within hours of the flight.

Mar 14, 2019, 11:18 am

#79

geo1005

Original Poster

Join Date: Feb 2003

Location: Alexandria, VA - DCA

Programs: BA Gold, American Airlines, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond

Posts: 5,075

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvel

This. I was just looking at Flightradar24 to see my upcoming 788 flight to LHR and noticed the last week+ of fights were operated with the PE converted aircraft but that for the next three days the scheduled aircraft are showing as non-converted. Seems like AA is (for obvious inventory reasons) showing the non-converted a/c until they are certain which a/c will be used. Good move on their part.

Mar 14, 2019, 11:22 am

#80

hawkfan7314

Join Date: Jul 2016

Location: DC

Programs: AA PPRO, HH Diamond, National EE

Posts: 603

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvel

Thanks. I just took a look and it seems to be 50/50 on retrofit aircraft on that route, AA 75. I placed myself in 8A just incase of the switch but I almost would rather play the upgrade game and see if I could get into one of the 9 open seats it has right now. I'll keep looking as it gets closer.

Mar 16, 2019, 5:10 pm

#81

worldtraveler303

Join Date: Mar 2016

Location: Washington DC

Programs: AA EXP IHG Diamond Marriott Gold Hilton Diamond

Posts: 151

So DFW to PEK looks like it's about 50/50 with the reconfiguration. Does anyone know if they are clearing SWU ahead of time or only at the gate? I keep checking the seat map everyday for the flight the next day (~T12-24h) and it looks like it is booked solid in biz in both directions. Can't tell if that's normal load on that route or not. I am traveling in early april and right now it is pretty open in both directions. Curious if it will fill up last minute?

Mar 16, 2019, 5:49 pm

#82

mcrw00

Join Date: Jun 2011

Programs: United Premier Platinum

Posts: 638

Quote:

Originally Posted by worldtraveler303

My DW flew NRT-ORD on an unrefitted plane that was J0. They began processing upgrades at around T4. That being said, given that was the only 788 at NRT that day, AA knew that the flight wouldn’t be a 20J config much earlier than if it had been leaving from a hub. If the flight is leaving from a hub that has multiple 788s docked, I’d imagine they wait till just before boarding to clear the list given the potential for a last-minute equipment swap.

Mar 16, 2019, 6:58 pm

#83

shd9

Join Date: May 2015

Location: WAS, SZX, HKG

Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, CX Green

Posts: 735

AA154 NRT-ORD Seat Map

AA154 NRT-ORD Seat Map

Hi there, about to take a 788 from NRT to ORD in Y. It appears there are quite significant chance that it maybe substituted with a 788 w/PE. I wonder how/when the PE section would be available (T-24 EXP desk? Airport check-in? Gate agents?) Attached is a seat map for the tomorrow AA154 seat map, where it appears the while PE section is blocked and not selectable. Thank you in advance for any input!

Mar 16, 2019, 7:16 pm

#84

dave_261

Join Date: Nov 2001

Location: RDU

Posts: 2,263

Quote:

Originally Posted by worldtraveler303

Use tomorrow's DFW-PEK as an example. It's showing 28J equipment based on seat map and inbound flight. Looks like J1, and 9 open seats. Flight is in about 15 hours and no C inventory right now. 12 hours from now it'll start filling up with C and non-rev. As others have said, you never know if they may swap for another 788 (especially at a hub) so safest to wait until closer to flight time.

Mar 16, 2019, 10:43 pm

#85

mcrw00

Join Date: Jun 2011

Programs: United Premier Platinum

Posts: 638

Quote:

Originally Posted by shd9

Hi there, about to take a 788 from NRT to ORD in Y. It appears there are quite significant chance that it maybe substituted with a 788 w/PE. I wonder how/when the PE section would be available (T-24 EXP desk? Airport check-in? Gate agents?) Attached is a seat map for the tomorrow AA154 seat map, where it appears the while PE section is blocked and not selectable. Thank you in advance for any input!

This is conjecture, but my guess would be the timing is somewhat similar to that for upgrades to J in the case of a 28J aircraft. I.e. holding off until just before departure when they are sure the equipment will not swap. A swap after putting people in the PY section wouldn't result in any downgrades, but it would cause a whole bunch of last-minute seat reassignments that AA probably wants to avoid.

When is your flight? If it's in the next couple of days, then the incoming ORD-NRT that will almost certainly become your plane should have its aircraft number assigned and searchable on resources like flightradar24.com. If that aircraft has PY and it's already at or bound for NRT, then a nice/savvy EXP phone agent might put you in one of the PY seats.

Mar 16, 2019, 11:04 pm

#86

shd9

Join Date: May 2015

Location: WAS, SZX, HKG

Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, CX Green

Posts: 735

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcrw00

Thank you very much for your input! My flight is towards the end of March, so the seat map hasn't changed yet. I will call the EXP desk when I see the PY section on the seat map and report back (well, probably not if my SWU goes through before that!)

BTW, I just checked the seat map for AA154 tomorrow again now (now it is about 3h30min before departure), and the blocked seats are still blocked, so it is probably assignment at airport/gate. However it is strange that someone is in Row 6/7 because those seats don't exist in Y in the un-refitted planes so maybe EXP desk can do something?

On a separate note, I travelled on a refitted 772 last November from MXP-JFK when they were not selling PY. The seat map changed ~23 hours before flight and all PY seats were available as MCE and there was no barrier to get into one of those seats. Maybe they are trying to guard the PY seats now.

Mar 18, 2019, 2:16 pm

#87

flyguy23

Join Date: Dec 2018

Posts: 12

Quote:

Originally Posted by gateH15

Does anyone know if first row of MCE on refitted 787-8 (row 10) has cut out in the bulkhead? I prefer to be able to stretch my legs. 772 has cut out in the bulkhead between MCE and premium economy.

Confirmed there is no cutout on the PE refit plane I was on last week (N800AN). Sorry the picture below isn't great, but the flat wall divider was consistent across all 3 sections.

Mar 18, 2019, 2:31 pm

#88

gateH15

Join Date: Nov 2018

Posts: 1,285

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyguy23

Confirmed there is no cutout on the PE refit plane I was on last week (N800AN). Sorry the picture below isn't great, but the flat wall divider was consistent across all 3 sections.

thanks for the picture!

doesnt look like you can stretch your legs fully if you are 6’1 or taller.

I’ll switch my seat to be row 11

Mar 19, 2019, 11:37 am

#89

jvel

Join Date: May 2018

Location: Chicago

Programs: AA Plat Pro, HH Gold, Marriott Gold

Posts: 124

Looks like N807AA should return to Chicago today or tomorrow. N819AN is scheduled to PAE from Chicago 3/20.

Mar 20, 2019, 1:59 pm

#90

hawkfan7314

Join Date: Jul 2016

Location: DC

Programs: AA PPRO, HH Diamond, National EE

Posts: 603

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvel

Looks like N807AA should return to Chicago today or tomorrow. N819AN is scheduled to PAE from Chicago 3/20.

N807AA back out in service. About to do the DFW-PEK run this weekend.