American Airlines has started flying its newly retrofitted Airbus A319 with 12 first class seats instead of 8—and it got there without removing any coach seats. The result is visible in a new back-galley photo: flight attendants say there’s nowhere to stand or work, and they end up in the aisle while passengers queue for the lavatory.
The airline has started modifying their Airbus A319s – the smallest of their mainline jets – to have an additional row of first class. Currently there are just two rows with 8 first class seats total. That’s going up to 3 rows with 12 first class seats total. American hasn’t had enough premium seats to sell, and that’s hurt their ability to generate revenue.
They’re adding a row of first class but they aren’t taking out any coach seats to do it. They’re just squeezing in more seats.
The A319s that had been ordered by American Airlines before being taken over by US Airways management had seat back TV screens. These new, densified planes are having those seat back screens removed removed as part of the retrofit.
It’s passenger legroom that gets squeezed, and it’s lavatory and flight attendant work space. To make more room for the additional seats, two lavatories are being moved to where galley space used to be at the back of the aircraft.
They’re even putting a flight attendant jumpseat on one of the lavatory doors to make room (breaking a promise made by ex-CEO Doug Parker never to do this).
American Airlines has received the first retrofitted Airbus A319 and they placed it in service last month. That’s aircraft N9002U. What’s interesting is first-hand cabin crew reports of actually working on this plane. As one flight attendant puts it, they have “has nowhere to go other than stand in the aisle with all the other passengers looking to use the toilet.”
United Airlines operates Airbus A319s, and has 12 first class seats. The way they got there is with one fewer row of coach. And United is known for tight seating outside of its extra-legroom section. Delta seats on the A319, however, are just as tight.
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