American Airlines is preparing to take delivery of its very first Airbus A321XLR, making it the first US carrier to get one of these jets. However, don’t expect to see these swanky planes flying with passengers anytime soon…
American has 50 Airbus A321XLRs on order
In 2019, American placed an order for 50 Airbus A321XLR aircraft. For those not familiar with the A321XLR, this is the world’s longest range narrow body jet in production. This aircraft is based on the Airbus A321 family, but features even more incremental range improvements over the A321neo and A321LR (which already have more range than the A321ceo).
Many airline executives view the A321XLR as an exciting plane that can open up long and thin routes that couldn’t necessarily be served by wide body jets. The A321XLR is both a blessing and curse for passengers, and I’ve reviewed the Aer Lingus A321XLR and Iberia A321XLR (the two airlines were the launch customer for the aircraft).
Initially, American was supposed to start taking delivery of A321XLRs in 2023. Heck, the airline was actually already supposed to have most of these jets — the initial plan called for eight A321XLRs in 2023, 20 in 2024, and 20 in 2025. However, due to delays with aircraft certification, that’s not how it played out.
As reported by JonNYC, now the expectation is that American will take delivery of its very first A321XLR on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, so that’s just days away.
AA:
First XLR delivery is scheduled for 7/29 and will be going to Czech Republic for storage— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
American A321XLR flights will be delayed by interiors
Once American takes delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR, it unfortunately won’t be flying to the United States, but will instead be flown to Czechia, where it will go into storage. Why would American put a brand new plane into storage? Well, interiors…
AA:
First XLR delivery is scheduled for 7/29 and will be going to Czech Republic for storage— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) July 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Due to supply chain issues, the seats for these planes aren’t ready. That’s of course especially frustrating when you consider that these planes are two years behind schedule. Still, it’s a common industry problem, so it’s hardly unique to American. For example, Delta has taken delivery of A321neos for which it plans a premium layout, and those planes were also put straight into storage.
Even once the seats are ready, the seats will need to be certified, etc. Currently the hope is that the plane will be flying with passengers by the end of 2025, though I’d assume that’s optimistic at this point. Whatever timeline is given in the airline industry, just double it, and assume that’s a best case scenario (unless we’re talking about Lufthansa, in which case you should quintuple the timeline).
What to expect from American’s A321XLRs
American’s Airbus A321XLRs will be in a three-cabin layout, with business class, premium economy, and economy. The planes will feature 20 business class seats and 12 premium economy seats, so they’ll be pretty premium.
The A321XLRs will get different seats than American’s wide body aircraft, since the requirements for seats are different for narrow bodies. American will be installing herringbone seats in a 1-1 configuration in business class, almost identical to JetBlue’s Airbus A321LR Mint cabin (of course with different finishes).
Premium economy also looks pretty elegant, as it will be in a 2-2 configuration, similar to domestic first class. The seats look like they’re along the same lines of Delta’s Airbus A321neo first class seats.
As far as routes go, American is taking an interesting strategy with these planes. The initial batch of planes are expected to operate premium transcontinental routes that are currently flown by American’s special A321T subfleet. Those planes are starting to be reconfigured into a standard domestic layout, and American will temporarily fly 777s on some of those flights.
After that, you can expect American to start flying A321XLRs on some international routes that are long and thin. I’d expect them to primarily fly out of the Northeast — likely New York (JFK) and Philadelphia (PHL) — to Europe.
Bottom line
In the coming days, American will take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR. However, the plane will simply be entering storage, as it awaits seats, which are delayed. The current estimate is that the plane will start operating commercial flights around the end of the year, though I wouldn’t count on that.
What do you make of American’s upcoming A321XLR deliveries?
