American debuts Boeing 787 Dreamliners in New York for the first time

American Airlines is bringing a new fleet type to New York.

The Fort Worth-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to debut the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at its John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) hub, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.

American will deploy the 285-seat 787-9 Dreamliner on its New York to New Delhi route at the start of the IATA winter season on Oct. 27. It’ll replace the existing Boeing 777-300ER operating this 7,318-mile daily service.

The airline will station additional Dreamliners at JFK in the coming months as it expands its pilot base in New York later this year to include 787 flying.

American shared the following statement with TPG about the change: “This weekend, American Airlines adjusted the aircraft type operating between New York (JFK) and New Delhi (DEL) starting in October. We will continue to offer daily nonstop service on this route as we optimize our network and fleet.”

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In recent years, American has exclusively deployed the Boeing 777 on long-haul routes from New York. However, with 30 Dreamliners entering the fleet over the next few years, American is clearly looking to diversify its capacity planning from New York.

In fact, American’s new 787-9s, the first of which is expected to be inaugurated later this year, will feature a new ultra-premium configuration with 51 Flagship Business suites, 32 premium economy recliners, 18 Main Cabin Extra economy seats and 143 standard economy seats.

These jets will feature both a new business-class and premium economy product. If there’s one market with enough premium demand to support these new seats, it’s likely New York.

So far, American has only confirmed that its soon-to-debut new longest route from Dallas-Fort Worth to Brisbane, Australia, will be operated by one of these new Dreamliners.

That said, I’d expect the carrier to eventually base some of these planes in New York, where it can capitalize on all the local demand from businesses and deep-pocketed leisure travelers.

This is a strategy that United Airlines has popularized in recent years, especially with the introduction of its “high J” Boeing 767-300ER configuration. It features a whopping 46 Polaris business-class pods, 22 Premium Plus recliners and 99 economy seats, 43 of which are in an extra-legroom layout. United primarily bases this plane at Newark, where it can capitalize on all the premium demand from the local catchment area.

In the past, American has kept certain wide-body fleets based at different hubs. For instance, Philadelphia has exclusively seen Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its long-haul routes; before the pandemic, Miami was exclusively home to Boeing 777s for its transatlantic and South American routes.

But, American started flying the Dreamliner from Miami at the beginning of the pandemic.

American’s current wide-body fleet consists of Boeing 777s (-200 and -300 variants) and 787s (-8 and -9 variants). Below, you’ll find a breakdown of which long-haul jets are scheduled at each of the carrier’s 10 hubs, based on Cirium timetables.

American’s wide-body fleet by hub

• Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT): Boeing 777-200ERs only
• Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD): Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9
• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): all fleets
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): all fleets
• Miami International Airport (MIA): all fleets
• New York’s JFK: all fleets
• New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA): none (no long-haul flights)
• Philadelphia International Airport (PHL): Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX): all fleets
• Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA): none (no long-haul flights)

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