NeoOfTheCRS

I am on an EXP Challenge with American and flew ORD-RSW on a new 737.

The difference between United's dark, cramped 737s with no IFE (unless you bring your own and hope the Wifi is working) is incredible.

AA's new 737s offered better IFE than I have seen in some international business class cabins. A nice leather seat and a lunch entree of Filet with lobster mac and cheese.

It blew United's awful, awful, awful 737-900s out of the the water.

Check out a picture at from the viewfromthewing

Well done AA. I know the America West crowd running AA will put a stop to this sort of amenity pronto, but it was truly refreshing to see a premium domestic F class short haul product like nothing I have experienced before in the US.

Sorry UA, but domestic premium class like i experienced earlier this month was the equivalent of sitting in the lav and eating shoe leather based on what AA offered on their new 737.

JOSECONLSCREW28

And the point of this thread is?

JVPhoto

UA serves lobster mac n cheez

dranzg

Good Point Neo, AA is really setting the bar high on domestic hard product, UA is trying to catch up, maybe their way of doing so will be moving towards the 737-700 to replace the small CRJ's.

AA is using their profits from cheap oil wisely with upgrading fleet..

NoLaGent

I haven't flown that seat, nor UA's new F seat on the A320, but the AA one actually looks to be smaller than the UA one in that pic.

I'd be curious to a see a direct comparison of the two, especially in regards to seat comfort. It looks hard as a rock.

EWR764

UAL obviously went a different route than AA/DL in terms of IFE on the narrowbody/domestic fleet. It's unclear whether pax are actually willing to pay a premium for embedded IFE on short haul domestic routes, but there is no question that AA/DL win over UA by a long shot in terms of perception and optics on their newest equipment.

Even on brand-new 739ERs, with Sky Interior and new seat covers, the lack of seatback IFE still prompts complaints from passengers (just listen, you'll hear them) who have may different expectations.

Hey, at least PDE is "coming" to the 737 fleet! Of course, it's been "coming" for years... maybe next quarter, or the one after that.

JaysonW

OP, you're comparing a brand new hard product to one that's past it's prime and will be replaced in the near future. Of course AA's is better, UA's cabin update is coming and it looks just as impressive!

edcho

+1. By the time UA installs power and PDE on those dark 739s, it'll be time to retire those planes. It's almost been 3 years of "coming soon" if anyone is counting.

AA has been coming out with those newer planes for awhile which gives them a head start (to replace the MDs?). They look like they are rapidly becoming a fleet with a (good) consistent product though.

I know the logic is that PDE is the future but atleast give 1 option (ideally more) in terms of IFE when the plane comes out the assembly line cause, unless if the mods happen right after, then you will just never know when the install going to happen.

Kacee

Yeah folks can talk all they like about PDE as the future, etc., but the reality is that people have an irrational attraction for shiny new video screens. You can jam them into a Y seat with 30 inch pitch, but if there's state-of-the-art video, a high percentage will rave about how nice that new airplane was.

spotfin

Exactly! How about comparing an ex US Airways Airbus F class to UA? AA will fly these birds for a long time and it's gotta to be the worst domestic F product of any carrier. Nothing in UA's fleet is quite that bad. UA is making great strides. Good luck with your move to AA.

emcampbe

Umm..not sure what plane you are talking about, but UA 739s have power installed in all rows at delivery, IIRC.

JerseyCityS

The huge numbers of UA's planes that are "dark" is extremely frustrating. I can't stand it.

sinoflyer

Looks are not deceiving. AA's "new" slimline F seat is fine for for most domestic trips in/out of DFW, but IMO it becomes uncomfortable past the 3 hour mark. Just wait until you try to recline on that thing -- it's very stingy. Having flown on it on a long BOS-LAX transcon, it gave me a totally different perspective than OP's.

Added:
I do hate UA's dark B738/9s. They really bespeak the mismanagement that was the postmerger "integration."

MBS MillionMiler

For us to compare what AA is doing (demonstrated above with what the OP says) in comparison to UA (flying dark planes around, only offering BYOD entertainment on more and more aircraft).

...But not with a filet. AA's side dish is UA's main.

worldwidedreamer

When last flying AA SFO-ORD in December we had no IFE, wifi or a real beverage service. (Unless just water counts.) Not saying UA is perfect, but don't throw rocks.