772 Remodel Coming in 2014, SWU Use on Partners, and One Old Livery Bird

AA's Twitter handle, @AmericanAir, held a twitter chat with VP of Customer Care Don Langford. Many of the questions were uninteresting or fairly basic, but a few interesting issues did pop up.



AA's official stance on launching flights to NZ/OZ seems to be holding strong, but did confirm yet again they're looking into SWU use on partner flights.





AA confirmed the timeline on retrofitted 772 is still 2014.





And for all the old livery lovers, AA seems to plan on keeping at least one bird in the classic silver livery.

Saves money

And leaves a retreat route open.
I like that strategy.

I wouldn't hold any hope for AA metal to Oz given the huge capacity being offered by so many other carriers. QF has liberalized its own upgrading for elites so this may come about on codeshares though most likely at check-in or gate.

Helpful post. Thanks.

How so?

Maybe a dumb question but I'm not up on all the plans - when they remodel the 772 business cabin, are they going to "enhance" the Y cabin with the new cramped seating arrangement from the 773?

I'd want to know more details about how such a mechanism would operate however my initial thought is that having them clear at check in or the gate would be 'better than nothing' but not a strong incentive.

I wouldn't hold your breath for SWUs being available for use on BA. That won't be introduced without reciprocity and there is nothing like that on the horizon for BA Golds.

Well, to play Devil's Advocate here, AA seemed to be saying that they currently rely on partners for Australia, which says nothing either way about AA flying that route (which I have to agree seems much less likely than new destinations in Asia or Europe). As for SWUs, the question muddied seat selection with SWUs, so it isn't clear to me from this answer that AA is looking into SWUs on QF (although my recollection is that back when Maya Leibman chatted with MP members she did confirm that AA is looking into SWU usage on partners, but my guess is this would start with BA as part of the joint business thing).

Well, starting in 2014.

To also play Devil's Advocate ....

Nothing about my post you're quoting says anything about how I think AA is considering flights to NZ/OZ, so I'm not sure why that needs to be "cleared". Leibman and others have indeed mentioned their efforts to seek SWU usage on partners on other occasions, and since seat selection is already available on QF for OW Emeralds, there isn't much to "work on" there unless it's the SWU issue. And to be clear, AA also has a joint business "thing" with QF.

Sorry, thought you were saying that you interpreted "rely on partners for flights to OZ" as "now and in the future." Thanks for the clarification. Also, I'd forgotten that AA has a Joint Business relationship with QF; I don't see the effects of it like I do with BA (where you can use miles to upgrade on either carrier, there is close integration of schedules, etc.)

No, was just trying to emphasize that they're saying the same as they always have, no reflection on the future.

Do agree on the QF front, not as stellar a partnership so far as they've developed with BA/IB.