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17.04.2009 American Airlines and Their New Boeing 737's

Some positive news for Boeing, and those who fly American Airlines, at least domestically. American has started to take delivery of 76 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, their first new aircraft since 2006.

The new Boeing airplanes will fly initially primarily to/from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. The new airplanes, will be used to retire some 270 of the older MD-80 series aircraft that American currently flies.

While American is excited about retiring some older, less fuel efficient airplanes (19% fuel savings in the 737's compared to the MD-80s), those of us traveling on their new aircraft might have some mixed feelings about it. You see, American has put in some nice improvements, however, there are also a couple things that do concern me a bit as well.

First off, American has increased the number of seats in a typical 737-800 airplane from 148 up to 160. That represents 2 additional rows. American says passengers shouldn't notice a difference because they are using thinner seats, and have shrunk the size of the galley in the back, to accommodate the new seats. In addition, they are touting better reclining seats, which "cradle" the passengers, yet doesn't interfere with the living space of the person directly behind them. Nothing is published about the new seat pitch, but if it's anything like the older 737's they have, it will be up to 2" less per seat in coach.

Because of these thinner seats, I'm still a bit skeptical about the comfort of these newer seats, and especially how they will hold up after a couple of years of heavy use by people big and small. Can they really support the weight of someone who probably should be paying for 2 seats? What about the ever irritating kicking of your seat by the young child behind you? Will the thinner seats make it even more irritating, as the small amount of padding does little to absorb it?

It is also to be seen how they deal with the curvature of the airplane towards the back. According to SeatGuru.com, an affiliate site of TripAdvisor, To deal with the curvature of the airplane, American is put narrower seats in towards the back of their existing 737 aircraft.

Now all the negative aside, I'm very pleased with a couple things that American is doing with their new airplanes. I do really like the idea of the seats that cradle, and while I do point that out as a potential draw back, I think it can also be quite pleasant, especially on longer flights or red-eye flights.

I'm also happy to hear that American is installing power outlets, which are commonly called power ports in every row. For every set of 3 seats, there will be two power outlets, allowing you to charge your electronic devices.

American also plans to equip all of their new airplanes with Aircell's GoGo high speed internet service.

Overall, I think American's competitors should take note - American has raised the bar with their new coach offering. The combination of power, WIFI, and potentially better seats is a great combination.

For those of you anxious to try out the new airplane, I do have some bad news. In doing a quick search of flights on the American Airlines website, it doesn't appear they will have any of these new birds flying between Seattle and Chicago, anytime soon.