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American Airlines' busiest Boeing 787 routes focus on key international gateways

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American Airlines' busiest Boeing 787 routes focus on key international gateways
Policy
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Robert D. Isom, CEO and President | American Airlines

American Airlines has made the Boeing 787 Dreamliner a central part of its international and premium long-haul strategy since introducing the aircraft in 2015. The airline operates both the 787-8 and the larger 787-9, using them to serve a mix of transatlantic, transpacific, and select domestic routes. With 67 Dreamliners currently in its fleet—matching its Boeing 777 fleet size—American is set to increase that number with an additional 22 Boeing 787-9s on order. This expansion signals a likely shift where the Dreamliner will replace aging Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

The airline’s two variants offer different capacities: the 787-8 typically seats around 234 passengers across business, premium economy, and economy cabins, while the standard configuration of the 787-9 accommodates up to 285 passengers. Earlier in 2025, American introduced a new subfleet known as "787-9P" or "78P," featuring more premium seating including Adient Ascent suites with doors for business class. These planes have configurations with up to 51 business class seats.

Among American’s most popular Dreamliner routes is Miami to Buenos Aires. The Miami hub plays a key role for American’s operations in Latin America due to strong demand and ideal connections. Up to three daily flights are operated between these cities depending on seasonality, with at least one regularly using a Boeing 787-8.

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Another major route is Los Angeles to Tokyo-Haneda. American faces competition from United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), and Singapore Airlines on this corridor. American operates up to two daily flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo-Haneda with its Boeing 787-9s. The airline also benefits from a joint venture with Japan Airlines (JAL), allowing coordinated schedules and pricing across Pacific routes.

A notable domestic outlier among widebody operations is Miami to Philadelphia—a route connecting two American hubs that sees heavy traffic particularly during winter months when transatlantic demand falls off. In total, nearly a thousand Dreamliner flights are scheduled each way between these two cities in 2025.

Philadelphia also features prominently as American's primary transatlantic connecting hub following its merger with US Airways. The Philadelphia-London Heathrow route receives up to two daily flights exclusively operated by the Boeing 787-9; Cirium data shows over five hundred such flights scheduled each way in 2025.

The top spot for Dreamliner usage within American’s network goes to Chicago O’Hare–London Heathrow, which sees up to three daily flights using the new premium-heavy “78P” configuration on all rotations. This move aims at making American more competitive against United Airlines’ frequent service between Chicago and London.

"Just as with Japan Airlines, American and British Airways (along with other European oneworld members) act as one, and for all intents and purposes, London-Heathrow is an American Airlines hub."

By shifting capacity towards routes requiring more premium seating and optimizing utilization across both international gateways and domestic hubs, American continues adapting its network around the capabilities of its growing Dreamliner fleet.

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