American Airlines recently touched down on an inaugural direct route from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Brisbane Airport in late October, making history as both AA’s and BNE’s longest route and one of the world’s most-tracked flights. So, does it live up to the hype? We flew in economy to review the nonstop service from the Sunshine State to the Lone Star State.
American Airlines launched the new BNE-DFW route with five times weekly direct flights in both directions, scaling up to a seasonal daily service from December 2024 to March 2025.
It’s a big deal for Queenslanders, delivering direct access to Texas for the first time and better connections to the US South and beyond on American’s extensive North American network.
I flew with American Airlines to Dallas-Fort Worth on Thanksgiving weekend, the official start of the Christmas retail countdown in the US, and Brisbane Airport set the scene for a festive mood, adorned with sparkly decorations, duty-free gift packs and pop-up Insta-worthy installations.
And how’s this for a Christmas miracle? A shorter flight – just 13 hours and 43 minutes gate-to-gate – compared with the average 14 hours and 55 minutes. Thank you, tailwinds!
Check-in and boarding
Brisbane International Airport is buzzing on a Saturday morning with multiple flight departures. There was a 20-minute traffic delay into the departure drop-off zone, so it’s worth tracking the traffic before you leave to ensure you’ve set aside plenty of time.
Online check-in is available 24 hours before departure via the AA website or app. You can also navigate terminals, check the traffic en route and track your checked bag’s journey on the handy American app.
BNE’s two-step bag drop process is easy and quick. If you’ve checked in online, print your bag tags and boarding pass, if required, at a kiosk and then proceed to bag drop to send your luggage on its way.
At security, remove liquids, laptops, large electronics and the usual belts and jackets for screening. The SmartGate passport control line is similarly quick with no lines, so you can breeze on through.
My flight leaves from Gate 82, which is just past the main concourse and the food, retail and duty-free section, with plenty of seating and distractions to keep busy before your flight.
Starting with priority boarding, American Airlines boards in groups from 1 – 9, according to your seating location on the plane. Main cabin flyers board in groups 7, 8 and 9, while AAdvantage members can bump up their boarding time to group 6.
Onboard comfort
I’m flying in American’s Main Cabin (standard economy) in booking class O. This ticket offers passengers free seat selection, snacks, soft drinks and inflight entertainment.
On American’s B787-9 aircraft, the Main Cabin has a 3x3x3 configuration with a 31-inch (78.6cm) seat pitch, 17-inch (43cm) seat width, adjustable headrests and a recline function.
The seat pitch is ample, but the seat width is a little on the narrow side.
I’m seated in 29D, which is an aisle seat in the middle row of the cabin. It’s a full flight in all cabins with zero wiggle room. As much of the flight was at night (or in Dreamliner night mode), flight attendants were readily available but unobtrusive.
The Main Cabin has a seatback touchscreen with a USB port and a power outlet under the seat, plus complimentary earbud headphones, a blanket and a pillow.
The fun stuff
American Airlines has a wide selection of inflight entertainment with plenty of movies, TV, audio, games, music and more to while away the time on board. I counted 80 new releases plus themed ranges, such as viewing curated for Black, Native American and veterans.
There’s also a dedicated kids selection and the usual flight map, weather and seat chat options. Inflight Wi-Fi is also available after take-off.
You can control the seatback screen via the screen or handheld/mounted controller.
The safety video highlights the American team with crew en masse demonstrating the inflight requirements. It’s a theme that is cleverly reinforced throughout the cabin, highlighting that the team is on board for travellers at every step.
Inflight food
After touring the Dnata Catering facilities at Brisbane Airport in August, I’d conclude this global company supplies American Airline’s Main Cabin meals, judging by the options.
Service starts with a hot towel to refresh. Meals were served around one hour into the flight with a Main Cabin choice of beef stir-fry, veggie pasta or cold chicken salad with chocolate mousse and a ciabatta roll, plus a full drinks service.
My pre-ordered special vegan-vegetarian meal consisted of spicy beans and steamed vegetables with a bread roll and plant-based lime jelly, which was basic and consistent with usual international economy meals out of Brisbane Airport.
Halfway through the flight, a hot savoury pocket snack was served with a beef and vegetarian option along with a Splice ice-cream and drinks service. I received a harissa vegetable sandwich, which I’ve had on previous international economy flights.
The second breakfast meal and drinks service occurred around 1.5 hours before landing. The Main Cabin options were a fruit plate or omelette with an apple cinnamon muffin, yoghurt and granola. The vegan meal was a hot dish of potatoes, beans, mushrooms, tomato and kale, plus the aforementioned lime jelly and a separate cup of granola.
The cabin crew also often came through with water regularly throughout the flight.
The details
- Aircraft: Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner
- Seat: 29D (aisle)
- Flight time: 13hrs 43mins
- Luggage allowance: 1x 32kg checked luggage and 1x 7kg carry-on baggage plus 1x personal item
- Arrival in Dallas-Fort Worth: 8:35am (scheduled)/ 7:42am (actual)
Despite a delayed pushback of 9:58am in Brisbane, the pilot estimated a flight duration of 13 hours and 55 minutes – less than the advertised time of 14 hours and 55 minutes. We made up time with a flight duration of 13 hours and 43 minutes, arriving at DFW at 7:42am.
Parting thought
As I walked through the aircraft to deplane at DFW (pronounced “DF-Dubya” by the pilot), I realised each seatback screen showcased a closeup image of a different crew member.
I had thought every passenger was looking at the same American flight attendant as me.
Highlighting the different crew members who make up the AA team reinforces the value of the person-to-person touch and a new carrier option that will hopefully be embraced by DFW and BNE flyers to make the game-changing seasonal service year-round.
The new daily American Airlines AA8 flight departs Brisbane at 9:40am (AEST) and arrives at Dallas-Fort Worth at 8:35am local time, averaging around 14 hours and 55 minutes’ flying time. It flies daily on a seasonal schedule from December 2024 – March 2025.
For more info, head to americanairlines.com.au