Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines is making progress with interior transformations across its subfleet of legacy Airbus A319s. The process, which involves removing seatback screens from the planes, is nearly complete, with more than 70% of the subfleet already retrofitted.

The news comes as American officially confirmed on Tuesday that its entire A319 and A320 fleet is set to receive the same cabin overhaul, which mirrors the interior that debuted on its brand new A321XLRs and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Its first A320 has also been quietly retrofitted and reportedly entered service earlier this week.

Confirmed: All A319s & A320s Receiving American’s Latest Interior

Credit: American Airlines

The interior overhaul has been planned since at least 2024. Simple Flying previously reported that American originally planned to align its 32 legacy A319s with the remainder of its narrowbody fleet by implementing the Oasis interior. These aircraft, delivered between 2013 and 2015, are much younger than the rest of American’s A319s, and are the only A319s equipped with sharklets operating in the US.

While retrofits were slated to begin in the Spring of last year, they were delayed as a prototype aircraft was not selected until the Summer. At the time, American seemingly still planned to install the Oasis interior, but development on the matter went quiet until earlier this year. In February, N9002U entered service after spending five months on the ground in El Salvador for the retrofit. Instead of Oasis, the cabin is aligned with features seen on the A321XLR and newly delivered 787-9s. However, the aircraft are no longer equipped with seatback screens – a departure from their original interiors and a distinct difference from the A321XLR and 787-9 interiors.

The new cabin also features an expanded first class, boosting the number of premium seats from eight to 12. There are also larger overhead bins and power outlets at every seat. Only four months after N9002U debuted, 23 of the 32 legacy A319s have received the cabin overhaul, according to Thomas Beam. Should American continue at the current pace of retrofits, all 32 airframes will boast the new interior by the end of Summer.

“We are excited to introduce our refreshed interiors and new premium seats on our narrowbody aircraft, offering our customers more space to stow their carry-ons and a convenient way to power their devices,” American’s Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden explained on Tuesday. “We’ve strengthened the journey from curb to cabin, and we are excited for customers to fly on these aircraft this summer and beyond.”

A320 Interior Overhaul: Seats Removed & Blocked?

Credit: Shutterstock

American has not forgotten about its A320 retrofits. N107US reentered service officially on Sunday, becoming the first A320 with the transformed interior. It also has more first class seats, expanding capacity from 12 to 16 passengers. While the plane’s total capacity of 150 passengers has not changed, it reportedly has more Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats, which feature more legroom.

According to a Reddit thread, the new interior has 33 MCE seats, up from 18 on its previous interior layout. As such, to keep total capacity capped at 150, three seats on the left side of the cabin in row eight were reportedly removed and replaced with a closet behind first class. A blocked middle seat near the rear of the aircraft to maintain capacity is also being speculated, but has not been confirmed. Should the number of passengers onboard exceed 150, a fourth flight attendant would be required.

Credit: American Airlines

American said its interior overhauls represent its “continued commitment to expand premium seating, invest in the customer experience, and provide a consistent design and feel across its mainline and regional fleet.” In 2024, the carrier expected its fleetwide premium seating would “grow by more than 20%” by this year across “planned refresh of existing aircraft and the expected deliveries of new aircraft.”

No Plans Of Retirement

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The retrofits also illustrate that American has no plans to retire its A319s and A320s any time soon. The remainder of the A319 fleet comprises airframes inherited from US Airways and America West Airlines, as well as a select few retired by Frontier Airlines. With 132 A319s in total, the fleet has an average age of 22.2 years, according to ch-aviation.

American has a total of 48 A320s, all of which are ex-US Airways and America West Airlines jets. Collectively, they are much older, with an average age of 25.2 years. Last Summer, ch-aviation listed the projected retirement dates for American’s 100 older A319s and all A320s for as early as 2026. That estimate has since been pushed back to at least 2030.