American turns up the heat

Seems the signature airplane on the high-profile U.S. transcontinental market is about to be the A321. JetBlue’s stretched version of the Airbus A320 is set to serve New York Kennedy – Los Angeles, and JFK – San Francisco beginning in June 2014. Closer in is American Airlines’ A321T. The airline just took delivery of its first one. The airplane will start flying JFK – LAX in January; Kennedy – SFO in March.

JetBlue’s craft will sport premium service, replete with full lie-flat seats up front. So too AA’s Airbuses, with three classes of service: First, Business Class and Main Cabin. The latter offers what AA calls Main Cabin Extra, with up to six inches more legroom. 

Airlines everywhere are in the midst of fleet renewal just now, dispatching to the desert older fuel-guzzling craft for new, more efficient flying machines. That’s the motive force for the switch. What passengers – especially U.S. domestic premium passengers – get out of this is new amenities. Consider AA’s A321T. It’s fitted with full lie-flat seats in Business as well as First. Passengers farthest up front, in First Class, get unimpeded aisle access.

“The A321T aircraft allows us to provide our customers with amenities that, until now, have traditionally been reserved for those traveling internationally,” says Virasb Vahidi, American’s chief commercial officer.

Witness the audio/video set-up, the sine qua non of long-distance flying. American’s A321T’s serve up some 200 films, as many as 180 television programs, more than 350 audio selection and up to 20 games. Then there’s Gogo’s upgraded ATG-4 Wi-Fi. You shouldn’t be bored on the 2,456-mile/3,951-km JFK-LAX run, or the somewhat longer 2,567-mile/4,130-km JFK-SFO trip.

Such is what you do see. Here’s something you won’t. Up in the cockpit, American Airlines A321Ts will be fitted with something called ROPS – Airbuses’ Runway Overrun Prevention System. Among other things, it boosts pilots’ critical situational awareness during landing. Beats battling space invaders via a video game any day.