American Airlines put its first retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER into passenger service on 2 September 2026, flying New York JFK to Buenos Aires. American's release describes 70 Flagship Suite seats "with privacy doors", 44 Premium Economy seats and 30 Main Cabin Extra seats. Traveling for Miles identified the aircraft as N718AN, the first of 20 777-300ERs the airline plans to reconfigure.

What changed

The release says each Flagship Suite has more personal storage and a chaise lounge seating position. Premium Economy gets additional privacy but no doors. American's own count is "144 premium seats", which adds the 30 Main Cabin Extra seats to the 70 suites and 44 Premium Economy seats.

The release does not give a total seat count. Traveling for Miles reports 330, up from 304, made up of 70 suites, 44 Premium Economy and 216 Main Cabin seats, with no First cabin at all. That is consistent with American's note that Flagship First will no longer be sold on 777-300ER flights for travel from 19 November.

American's 777-300ER fleet is 20 aircraft, and the release lists London, Tokyo, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Sydney among the places it flies them. The release does not give a retrofit timetable. Traveling for Miles reports that all 20 are due to be done during 2027.

On my screen

The BBBRadar desk unit shows type, registration, route where one is filed, callsign and altitude. N718AN appeared three times in my library:

  • 27 September 2026, 12:12: Boeing 777-300ER, N718AN, as AAL80, at 12,750 feet.
  • 27 September 2026, 17:04: N718AN as AAL81, London Heathrow to Dallas/Fort Worth, at 7,125 feet.
  • 6 October 2026, 14:25: N718AN as AAL78, Dallas/Fort Worth to Heathrow, at 1,550 feet.

On those reports the aircraft was in service with the new cabin by then, but the screen shows the airframe, not what is inside it. I can tell you which tail it was and where it was going. I cannot tell you what the seats looked like.

The photograph used with this article shows N718AN in 2018, years before the retrofit. It shows the outside only.

What I have not confirmed

American's release never names the aircraft by registration, so N718AN as the first retrofit rests on Traveling for Miles. The 2027 completion date is also a report, not an American statement, and the release gives no date at all. The 330-seat figure is Traveling for Miles's. I have not been aboard.

Sources