Boeing delays impact American Airlines' European routes and business class plans

American Airlines has experienced similar challenges before, with previous 787 delivery delays causing route cuts such as Edinburgh, Hong Kong, and Shannon. The airline's long-haul schedule remains vulnerable due to its reliance on Boeing aircraft after retiring other models during the pandemic.

Despite receiving ten 787-9s this year as per their fleet plan from October, further delays have pushed back the launch of the Flagship Suite business class. CEO Robert Isom stated that these seats would debut this year but did not specify an exact timeline for their introduction.

The Flagship Suite represents part of a broader upgrade of American's premium services, including new premium economy seats. This update will also see the removal of long-haul first-class offerings from its fleet when planes are refitted with the new suites.

Additionally, American’s Airbus A321XLRs will feature the Flagship Suite upon delivery later in 2025 for use on transcontinental flights between New York and Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Despite reducing schedules temporarily, American plans continued service across all European destinations it currently serves. It intends reduced frequencies on some routes such as Philadelphia-Rome and Dallas-London over summer months while maintaining connectivity via alternative hubs like Charlotte or Chicago according aviation analytics firm Cirium data insights show.