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American Airlines is set to introduce business class suites with doors on its new Boeing 787-9 aircraft and retrofit its Boeing 777-300ERs, removing first class in favor of these new suites. This initiative, named Project Olympus, will see bulkhead business class passengers enjoying extra space and enhanced amenities.
The retrofit of the Boeing 777-300ERs will increase the number of premium seats from 84 to 114 without reducing coach seating. The current configuration includes eight first-class seats, which will be eliminated in the new setup. The updated configuration will feature 70 business class seats, up from 52; 44 premium economy seats, up from 24; and maintain the existing 216 coach seats.
Aviation analyst JonNYC has indicated that this change may result in the loss of one lavatory and a reduction in seat pitch for both business class and Main Cabin Extra (extra legroom coach) by one inch each. "On this, I'd speculate: business class goes from 43" to 42" pitch (entirely new seat-type so doesn't mean anything I don't think), MCE goes from 35" to 34", one less lav," he stated.
