American’s New “Premium” 787 Cabins: A Little Underwhelming, No?

As I recently wrote about, American is in the process of taking delivery of brand new Boeing 787s. Not only does this allow the Fort Worth-based carrier to add capacity, but these are also American’s new “premium” Dreamliners, featuring all-new cabins, including new business class suites with doors, and “business class plus” seats (in lieu of first class).

I was really excited about these planes, and hoped they’d really elevate the inflight experience. While I’m sure these jets will prove to be better than the old ones, I’m a little disappointed based on our first peek.

The first pictures of American’s new 787 interiors

@xJonNYC (who else?!) just shared the first pictures of American’s new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner cabins. As a reminder, these planes have just 244 seats, including 51 business class seats, 32 premium economy seats, and 161 economy seats.

There are new seats across cabins, and also new cabin finishes, for a bit more modern of a look. Take a look at the pictures below…

As a reminder, below are a few renderings that were shared in the past.

Am I the only one who was expecting a bit more?

Folks, I really want to be like “great job, American,” since American is the carrier I fly more than any other, and that’ll continue to be the case, as long as I live in Miami. But gosh, even based on these few pictures, I can’t help but be disappointed. C’mon, this is supposed to be a brand new era for the carrier’s long haul premium cabins, which will be used for many years to come.

For example, take a look at the front row Flagship Suite Preferred seats. Could the airline not spring for some bigger monitors? Those look downright small for standard business class seats, let alone the more spacious seats in the first row.

I thought the business class seat design looked elegant in the renderings, but the real pictures make them look sterile and sort of cheap, no?

Also, could someone help me understand how you’re supposed to use the premium economy leg rests? Like, that’s actually how they work? If you’re over four feet tall, it seems like those won’t be of much value.

By all means disagree with me, and it’s possible my tastes are just a bit off. I was hoping these interiors would be a show-stopper, and instead I just feel like they’re kind of uninspiring.

Bottom line

American just took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 with new interiors, which will be the carrier’s new design concept going forward. I thought the renderings looked great, while the real thing looks a bit less impressive, in my opinion.

What do you make of our first look at American’s new 787s?