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Editorial Disclosure
American Airlines just unveiled its long-awaited Airbus A321XLR.
The extra-long-range jet brings some serious upgrades to the passenger experience. This includes an all-new Flagship Suite business class, its first-ever single-aisle premium economy, and refreshed economy cabins.
At first glance, this plane will feel like a premium, modernized jet.
But beyond the headline-grabbing upgrades, three lesser-discussed details stood out to me, and they’re (definitely) worth paying attention to.
Related: First look at American’s new Flagship Suites, revamped cabins on A321XLR
Unique galley configuration
When you step onboard the A321XLR, your attention will naturally be drawn to the sleek mood lighting and the 20 Flagship Suite business-class seats up front.
Move too quickly, though, and you’ll miss one of the most unusual galley configurations I’ve ever seen.
The carts in the forward galley are angled — not aligned straight back, as you’d typically expect.
The apparent goal is to maximize galley and storage space without compromising the bulkhead seat layout.
With this angled setup, the carts effectively tuck underneath the right-side cutout of seat 1F.
Had American gone with a standard straight-in configuration, it likely would’ve needed to either shrink the galley or push the business-class cabin farther aft.
On paper, this looks like the most space-efficient solution. In practice, it remains to be seen how both flight attendants and bulkhead passengers feel about it.
On long-haul flights operated by single-aisle aircraft, crews already have to move fast. They work in galleys far smaller than those on wide-body jets and have to navigate a single aisle during meal service.
Any change to cart flow and layout could have serious implications for service efficiency.
I’m also curious how this setup will feel for the passenger seated in 1F.
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Hopefully, American thoroughly tested how cart movements are (or aren’t) felt in the seat itself.
Otherwise, the carrier could be looking at a repeat of the infamous rocking-seat issue that plagues some of its Boeing 777s and 787s.
Just 12 extra-legroom seats
The other standout detail is how few extra-legroom seats the A321XLR offers in economy.
There are just 12 Main Cabin Extra seats — less than 10% of the economy cabin.
That’s a notably small proportion and one that’s likely to frustrate elites who often rely on complimentary extra-legroom seating when flying economy.
To make matters more limiting, all 12 of those seats are located in the exit rows.
That means families traveling in economy can’t even pay extra for more legroom unless they splurge for a higher cabin.
Of course, American’s layout of passenger accommodations (LOPA) is designed to maximize revenue, not necessarily elite satisfaction.
From the airline’s perspective, this configuration likely makes perfect sense.
Still, it could be a tough pill to swallow for frequent flyers, especially when everything ahead of Main Cabin Extra on this jet feels especially premium.
Ovens in economy
The final detail you may have overlooked is that American has installed ovens in the economy galley.
That means the carrier can serve hot meals on transatlantic flights.
Some airlines, like JetBlue, only offer cold food in coach when they fly the Airbus A321neo to Europe.
But if you’re on this jet, you should get a hot meal when flying internationally.
I just can’t guarantee it’ll actually be worth eating.
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The other issue with the MCE seats is that there is no window MCE seat with a full armrest. On redeye flights in coach, I prefer a window seat where I can put one arm on the armrest when sleeping, but those stubs they call armrests in the exit row are too uncomfortable for that on other planes I’ve been on.
I wish they removed 3 seats on one side and had a longer MCE section, like 8 rows (24 more seats) at a 34″ pitch. As it stands, they have only 4 more non-coach seats than a 738, which feels off for a plane expressly purchased for 5-9 hour missions.
The angled cart stowage reduces the number of carts that can be carried.
Frequent United flyer here –
Interesting about the forward galley configuration…UA decided to go with five ½ cart positions and a closet in the aft part of the forward galley on their upcoming XLRs. (Referencing JonNYC X post of the configuration a few months back) If those are full carts in AA’s galley – that means they have less galley storage.
UA also went 37 extra legroom seats in economy (even though 50ABC will most likely be blocked for FA crew rest.) Also not sure why UA decided to permanently block 32B/E. Maybe to keep seating configuration at 150 total pax so technically only need 3 FAs)
Also interesting note that AA doesn’t have economy ovens on all their mainline aircraft like UA does.
Would be interested to see AA’s aft galley set up. Did you get any pics of it during your tour Zach?
I didn’t, unfortunately. There was a crew member in the back, and I couldn’t get him to move for the shot. (It was busy on the plane during the tour!) Just recounting what I noted in the story.