Fort Worth, Texas-based 
American Airlines
reportedly has a timeline of when its first batch of Airbus A319s
will be updated with a new cabin featuring power outlets at every seat, a larger first class, and other revisions. It comes as the carrier announced back in March that it would retrofit its entire A319 and A320 fleet, which comprise some of its oldest aircraft.
American’s legacy A319s are believed to be the first group of aircraft to receive the new cabins beginning next year. The planes, which are different from the majority of its A319s, are equipped with sharklets and a rare find these days on the carrier’s narrowbody aircraft: seatback screens.
Is it really premium?
According to aviation watchdog JonNYC, the legacy A319s will undergo interior refurbishments in the Spring of 2025.
American said the “enhancements to existing aircraft” will serve the “growing demand for a premium travel experience.” The retrofit will replace all seats with new ones featuring updated trim and finish. Additionally, power outlets will be installed at every seat, and the overhead bins will be larger to accommodate more bags.
Photo: American Airlines
The first class
cabin will be expanded with an additional row, featuring a total of 12 seats. Despite adding four more seats, American has not shared whether the main cabin will have fewer seats. The updated cabin configuration is known as “Oasis” and has notably received mixed reviews. This interior is featured on the remainder of American’s narrowbody fleet, which includes the Boeing 737-800, 737 MAX 8, and its A321 standard aircraft, excluding the transcontinental subfleet (A321Ts).
While the design features sleek navy blue main cabin seats with red accents, critics have said Oasis resembles the cabin of an ultra-low-cost carrier since they lack seatback screens and adequate legroom. The carrier’s strategy of reducing aircraft weight explains the new interior; however, it increased the seat count on aircraft, which was at the expense of legroom.
Doubling down on personal device entertainment
To reduce weight, American decided to do away with seatback entertainment
. The airline’s legacy A319 deliveries began in 2013, along with its fleet of legacy A321s. These aircraft – new to the airline – were equipped with seatback entertainment at all seats. When the airline introduced Oasis a few years ago, it removed the seatback screens from its non-transcontinental A321s, and doubled down on encouraging passengers to enjoy entertainment from their own devices.
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock
The A319s, however, were never touched. These aircraft are not to be confused with many other A319s within American’s fleet inherited from America West Airlines and US Airways. The legacy A319 fleet comprises 32 planes and can be differentiated on the exterior by their sharklets.
On the inside, some passengers have been surprised to discover a bright screen waiting for them at their seat
.
Less than 50 narrowbody aircraft have seatback screens
Since these aircraft will be the first to undergo the cabin retrofit, it is likely that American will strip them of their seatback screens to harmonize its entire narrowbody fleet. In fact, the planes are the only narrowbody aircraft that still feature seatback entertainment.
The carrier has begun removing seatback screens from its 17 A321Ts, which will be replaced on transcontinental routes by the incoming A321XLR
.
Simple Flying reached out to American on Friday to confirm whether the legacy A319s seatback screens will be removed, but the carrier would not comment. While some passengers enjoy inflight entertainment from their own devices, others enjoy the convenience of viewing through seatback screen.
Delta Air Lines is currently upgrading seatback entertainment across all of its aircraft, known as Delta Sync. The airline, which refers to its seatback screens as “beloved,” has over 165,000 across its fleet. United Airlines is similarly installing seatback entertainment in all of its aircraft as part of its NEXT interior retrofit project.