The Cabin Layout:

 

American’s retrofitted 777-200s are now in a two-cabin configuration with only business class and economy (including Main Cabin Extra seating), as opposed to the old three-class configuration that also included a first-class cabin.

 

The business-class cabin is actually split into two sections, each arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. The front section has five rows of seats (plus one seat on the side in the sixth row) and the aft section contains six rows, for a combined total of 45 seats.

 

Unlike the airline’s 777-300ER business-class seats, half of these new business-class seats face backwards. The side seats in one row face forward, the middle seats face backwards, and then that pattern is reversed in the following row; in other words, the pattern you’re seated in (herringbone or reverse herringbone) will depend on the row in which you’re seated.

 

SeatGuru provides a map of this new cabin layout — but fortunately, I did learn that it’s actually inaccurate at time to select my seats on AA.com.

 

I was traveling alone, so on both flights, i selected seats 4A. However, if you’re traveling as a pair, there are a couple of factors to consider when choosing front- or rear-facing seats in the middle. On the one hand, the rear-facing seats have their backrests right next to each other, but the seats themselves face away from each other. (Each of these seats has a divider you can raise if you’re traveling alone.) Front-facing seats are far apart, so you have to lean forward around the seat controls and armrest to talk, but at least they’re sort of angled toward one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One final positive: Each seat has direct-aisle access, so there’s no need to step over anyone else to get to the lav.

 

The Seat:

 

As I mentioned, these seats resemble those aboard the airline’s 777-300ERs, but their forward-reverse switch-off configuration makes them quite different in practice. Like the 777-300ER seats, they’re handsomely upholstered with gray fabric flecked with red and white, and sport charcoal-gray leather headrests. You’ll have to wear the seat’s shoulder strap for takeoff and landing, but you can otherwise just use the lap portion of the seat belt.

 

Each seat has just 60 inches of pitch, and is 21 inches wide with the side armrest raised or 26 with it lowered. However, you can’t lower the armrest in the rear-facing seats, so you’re stuck with the narrower dimensions. To be honest, though, both seats felt pretty narrow — and much more so than on the 777-300ER, where the seats are 26 inches wide 78 inches long. The rear-facing seats have hard armrests on the aisle that contain their tray tables and don’t move, so you’re a bit more confined in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each seat lowers to a fully flat bed of 77 inches, or six feet, five inches. Though to be honest, I’m nowhere near that tall and it seemed like either my head or my feet were bumping into one end of the seat or the other at all times while I was in lie-flat position.

 

The seat controls are on a touchscreen next to and slightly in front of the seat. Preset positions include upright for takeoff and landing, a Z-shape for lounging, and the lie-flat bed. You can also switch to the “Custom” screen to adjust the seat to your own specifications, including the back and leg rest. I also liked the “Do Not Disturb” button that lit up your seat number in red so flight attendants wouldn’t disturb you if you wanted to skip the pre-landing breakfast.Speaking of meals, the tray table pops up and out from the hard armrest panel of the seat closest to the window on the front-facing seats and the aisle side on rear-facing seats. Large enough to make a good workspace, it’s got a nicely grained wooden finish and slides both forward and back, so you can adjust it to a position that’s comfortable for you. American unfortunately didn’t order tablecloths to match this table’s size, so you end up having a place setting with half the table exposed; it’s a small quibble, but a detail that was clearly overlooked. The seats have international adapters and USB ports for device-charging, as well as an overhead lamp and a reading light.

 

The major drawback to these seats is the utter lack of storage space. Even the little pocket by the USB port where you would want to stick your iPhone literally says “no stowage for takeoff and landing. And don’t even think about keeping a bag with you or trying to put your tablet or laptop … anywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of privacy, I preferred the rear-facing seat, as it’s more isolated from the activity of the aisle. However, the fact that it’s narrower than the front-facing seats might be an issue for some.

 

 

Amenities and In-Flight Entertainment:

 

These seats have 16-inch touchscreen monitors with about 200 movies and 200 TV shows, as well as hundreds of musical selections. I personally watched Pitch Perfect 2. Don’t judge me.

 

The entertainment screens are slotted into the side of the seat, and you have to release a latch to get them to flip out so you can watch them; for takeoff and landing, they must be stowed. Though there are touchscreen controls, it’s actually easier to use the entertainment system’s handheld remote control, which is slotted into the side of the seat.

 

Passengers are lent Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headsets, but they’re not passed out until 20 minutes after takeoff and are retrieved 45 minutes prior to landing, so if you opt to use them, be aware that you’ll miss about an hour’s worth of in-flight entertainment. Better just to bring your own. The airline now offers paid Wi-Fi on its retrofitted 777-200s, but you get free access to aa.com, where you can check flight times and connection information, book another flight, etc. Otherwise, Wi-Fi costs $12 for two hours, $17 for four hours or $19 for the entire flight.

 

Business-class passengers have four lavatories from which to choose — two at the front of the plane near the cockpit, and two between the two sections, one on either side of the galley.

 

Meal Service:

 

Though they weren’t very friendly, the crew for my 9 hour outbound flight to Paris were certainly efficient about meal service. The quick beverage service was accompanied by bowls of warm nuts, and the main meal service included: Assorted breads (I always go for the pretzel roll). Roasted beet and quinoa salad with herbed goat cheese, toasted pepitas and dried cranberries. Spinach and frisée with strawberries, blue cheese and vinaigrette. On the flight down, the choice of mains were: Boursin-crusted beef filet with creamy demi-glace, mashed red-skin potatoes and sautéed kale. Herbed turkey cutlet with sour-cherry sauce, orzo pasta and broccoli with garlic. Pepper and olive tapenade-crusted halibut with parsified potatoes. Chilled Mediterranean panzanella salad with fresh prawns, toasted brioche, yellow tomatoes and tarragon aioli. For dessert, there was a choice of a cheese plate with Fontina, dill Havarti and smoked cheddar, or cookies-and-cream ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At non-meal times, the bar area between the two business-class sections and just aft of the galley was stocked with fruit, chips and some breakfast bars, juice, soda and tiny water bottles. EXCELLENT!!!

 

 

Overall Experience:

 

Though head and shoulders above American’s old 777-200 business class — which had angled lie-flat seats in a cramped 2-3-2 configuration — this new business class fell a bit short of the flagship version aboard the airline’s 777-300ER. Both the front- and back-facing seats were pretty comfortable, but the major drawback was the lack of storage space. What good is it to have universal adapters if you can’t put your computer anywhere while it charges? 

 

I’ll also say that, while competent, the crew in both flights were SUPER  friendly. The flight attendants actually smiled a lot and really made a difference! Looks that they were having Delta's trainning in this matter .. :-)

 

Everyone was courteous and fun, so flights were a lot of fun. Given a choice, I’d probably try to fly American’s 777-300ER, but the 777-200 was still very nice and a much better option than the airline previously fielded on this aircraft. Once the issue with manufacturer Zodiac is resolved, I can’t wait to check out the even newer seats that American will put on its 777-200s.