American Airlines Eliminating “Premium” First Class… Probably In 2027?

In September 2022, American Airlines announced that it would eliminate its “premium” first class. This announcement coincided with the airline unveiling its new business class seats, which have since started to enter service. While the initial plan called for first class to be eliminated by late 2024, that timeline has obviously passed, and there’s still no sign of it being eliminated, at least in terms of the tickets American is selling. So in this post, I’d like to go over the latest on this, and cover how I think this will play out, as we don’t have any official details yet, beyond what we’ve known for a long time… American eliminating A321T & 777-300ER first classThe end of American first class isn’t much of a lossBottom line American eliminating A321T & 777-300ER first class American is the only US airline to offer a “true” first class product: American’s Boeing 777-300ERs have eight first class seats American’s Airbus A321Ts have 10 first class seats American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER first class American Airlines Airbus A321T first class To be clear, this “premium” first class refers to planes where there’s also a business class cabin, and first class is a cabin above that. We’re not talking about domestic flights, where the forward cabin is often marketed as first class (but there’s no business class). The decision to offer first class was made before the merger between American and US Airways, and suffice it to say that the management team since the merger (originally from America West) has been skeptical about first class. In many ways, the failure of first class has been a self fulfilling prophecy — American’s first class product is incredibly mediocre, with little differentiation compared to business class, and it’s often full of employees, so of course most people aren’t willing to pay a fortune to fly in it. The process of American eliminating first class comes in two forms: There’s the point at which the planes with first class cabins are reconfigured so that they no longer have first class seats; this is something that will likely happen over the course of a couple of years, given how long it takes to reconfigure fleets of aircraft Then there’s the point at which the airline stops selling first class, and just treats the first class cabins on remaining aircraft as being part of business class, perhaps with restrictions on who can assign those seats (elite status, an extra fee, etc.); presumably American will stop selling first class well before the final plane is reconfigured, just from an efficiency standpoint Initially, American intended to eliminate first class as of late 2024, which was supposed to coincide with the launch of the new business class products on both fleet types. However, unsurprisingly, that timeline has been pushed back considerably. American hasn’t announced an updated timeline for eliminating first class, and the cabin is currently still on sale through the end of the schedule (which goes through late summer 2027). When it comes to American eliminating the physical first class seats: American has started reconfiguring its Boeing 777-300ERs, as the planes are getting the carrier’s new business class seats, and in the process, first class is being eliminated; the first of these jets has just been reconfigured, and expect for the entire fleet to be reconfigured within the next couple of years American is reconfiguring its premium Airbus A321Ts in a standard domestic configuration, and will instead use its new Airbus A321XLRs for premium transcontinental markets, and those planes don’t have first class; expect that phase out to fully happen within the next 12-18 months New American Airlines Boeing 787-9 business class seats New American Airlines Airbus A321XLR business class seats I haven’t been able to get an updated timeline about when first class still stop to be sold. Based on the current pace at which things are going, my best guess is that it’ll likely be at some point in the second half of 2027… but who knows, that’s purely speculation on my part. The end of American first class isn’t much of a loss I wish I could say that American eliminating first class is much of a loss, but… it isn’t. The reality is that the airline has taken a really half-you-know-what approach to this cabin. Just check out my review of American’s first class from Dallas to Hong Kong: The first class seats are only marginally better than business class seats, and lack privacy Service in first class is highly inconsistent, and there are no standards when it comes to providing “premium” service The soft product was only marginally differentiated back then, and there’s even less of a difference now than in the past The only aspect of American’s first class that has been excellent is Flagship First Dining, which are some amazing restaurant-quality dining facilities inside Flagship Lounges. The good news is that we’ve now learned that these facilities will simply be transformed. As of September 15, 2026, they’re becoming Flagship Dining, and will offer an a la carte dining experience for business class passengers. This is the best case scenario outcome, as I see it. All-in-all, I’d say passengers are actually better off with all of these changes. We get a much improved business class product, both in the air and on the ground, and losing first class is a small “price” to pay for that, as I see it. American Flagship Dining is opening to business class Bottom line American Airlines plans to eliminate “premium” first class, on both Airbus A321Ts and Boeing 777-300ERs. A321Ts will be replaced by A321XLRs on premium transcon routes, and those planes don’t feature first class. Meanwhile 777-300ERs are being reconfigured with new business class seats, and first class seats are being removed in the process. While the initial plan was for first class to be pulled as of late 2024, that timeline obviously didn’t end up being accurate, due to delays with both A321XLR deliveries and 777-300ER retrofits. With both projects now being underway, I suspect we’ll formally see first class pulled at some point in 2027. Personally I don’t view this as much of a loss, given how little American has invested in the onboard first class experience. An improved business class product — both in the air and on the ground — sounds like a much better situation for customers. What do you make of American Airlines eliminating first class?