This week saw the start of commercial flights for American Airline’s A319 fleet.
The aircraft, delivered by Airbus to American Airlines in July made its first flights between Dallas/Fort Worth to Charlotte, Cleveland, Memphis and Wichita.
The new aircraft will gradually replace American’s ageing narrow body fleet, including Boeing MD-80s and 757s and are the first of 130 Airbus aircraft from the A319 and A321 variants. The new aircraft have leather seats, inflight wifi and in-seat entertainment throughout the aircraft.
So far American has taken delivery of six new A319s and will take delivery of a total of 15 in 2013. The A319 has a two-class configuration (128 seats total) with eight First Class seats in a 2-2 configuration (top), 24 Main Cabin Extra seats in a 3-3 configuration, and 96 Main Cabin seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration.
Each new leather seat has wifi access, in-seat inflight entertainment (IFE), 110v universal AC power and USB outlets.
First Class seats have a 12.1-inch HD-capable touchscreen monitor with an IFE selection of up to 200 movies, more than 180 TV programs, and more than 350 audio selections. Complimentary ear phones will also be included.
In the Main Cabin entertainment is free until November 30 and is viewed on an 8.9-inch HD-capable touchscreen monitor – provided as a mix of complimentary and premium content for purchase. Customers may enjoy inflight entertainment using their own headphones, or may purchase headphones from a flight attendant.
The A319s are scheduled to fly the following routes:
- Sept 16: Charlotte, N.C; Cleveland; Memphis, Tenn.; Wichita, Kan.
- Beginning Oct 1: Dayton, Ohio; Huntsville, Ala.
- Beginning Oct 14: El Paso, Texas; McAllen, Texas; Toronto
- Beginning Nov 1: Atlanta
- Beginning Nov 21: Bogota, Colombia; Corpus Christi, Texas
- Beginning Dec 19: Vail, Colo.; Crested Butte, Colo.; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; and Los Angeles,Cali. To Vail, Colo.
- Beginning Jan 15: Leon Mexico
Tom Otley
