Sensational Suites, Whats next in long haul travel

Fort Worth-based carrier American Airlines and Chicago-based carrier United Airlines have seen the premium surge on some long-haul flights. It all started with American Airlines flight 98 from Chicago to London Heathrow, operated on a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. It contains thirty business class, twenty-one premium economy, and two hundred thirty-four economy seats. The route was seeing business class and premium economy sell out far in advance, but in many cases, saw economy having over 80 seats open. It got American management thinking. They noticed that flight 98 wasn't the only example and decided that for many routes, they needed to have a more premium travel-focused 787. They agreed that, in addition to their two newly delivered premium version 787s, all 30 on order will be the premium layout. The new premium layout consists of fifty-one business class suites, thirty-two premium economy seats, and one hundred sixty-one main cabin seats. Hopefully, this can restructure demand inconsistencies and allow for much more revenue on flights with high premium travel demand. Right as American opened these suites, United decided they needed the same concept on some of their routes as well. United ordered many and decided that they will start between San Francisco and Singapore, followed by San Francisco to London. This will allow both carriers to compete in business travel. That is one of the most profitable things for airlines. 

Carrier United Airlines announces huge Partnership with Spotify

Chicago-based carrier United Airlines announces partnership with music company Spotify to incorporate an in-flight entertainment boost. On June 5th, 2025, United and Spotify executives agreed to offer Spotify on more than 130,000 screens for in-flight use. This includes music, playlists, podcasts, video podcasts, and audiobooks. This partnership further shows United's commitment to customer experience. It is arguably the best news for in-flight experience expansion, competing with Delta’s Shake Shack. United is continuing to set itself up perfectly for the future with their Spotify agreement, new Starlink wifi coming soon, new premium Boeing 787 Aircraft, Jetblue agreement, Caviar service, new Polaris lounge, Pacific flight expansion, and their next generation aircraft.

Delta announces many improvements to its Delta One product

Atlanta-based Airline Delta airlines improves premium customer experience with some new additions. Delta Airlines, a legacy carrier based in Atlanta, Georgia, is stepping up their in-flight experience, adding nicer bedding sets to their Delta One product, their wide-body Business class product. They have partnered with Missoni, an Italian brand, to increase quality on their mattress pads, blankets, pillows, socks, eye mask, pen, complimentary skin care products, earplugs, toothbrush, toothpaste, and their in-flight experience for Delta One customers. Additionally, Delta has previously tested offering Shake Shack, a popular fast food restaurant, in its in-flight menu. This has been a success, with delta deciding to expand and offer Shake Shack to first class customers on domestic flights in and out of West/Southwest airports, flights between Austin and Anchorage, and on Delta One flights out of Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Orlando, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Tampa. In addition to offering Shake Shack, Delta is further expanding premium customer experience by offering Champagne Tattinger, a popular Champagne, Jordan Vineyard and Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, a high-end steakhouse style wine, Bodegas Riojanas Vina Albina Reserva Rioja, a Spanish red wine, Nortico Alvarihno Branco, a light wine, and Prejuges Chardonnay, a Mediterranean-inspired wine. This further shows Delta’s customer commitment, something they're known to specialize in. This puts Delta on track to win more business travel demand and have a much stronger customer experience. Something all airlines compete for. Delta’s Delta One product is a consumer favorite and is further aiming to be a traveler favorite. 

How United set itself up to corner the market on flights from the U.S. to Asia

Chicago-based carrier United Airlines recently announced a huge expansion for flights to Asia. While the airline actively offers nine high-demand destinations, United has seen the potential to now offer twenty. United has aircraft based in the United States Territory of Guam as a mini hub from pre covid. They were successful until post-COVID currency value changes, which left Guam, unfortunately, with a low travel demand. United's network planning mastermind, Patrick Quayle, came up with a beautiful plan to use the Guam-based aircraft without sending them back to the United States. He decided it would make more sense to expand the airline’s offerings to Asia and offer connections from the flights from the U.S. to large destinations like Hong Kong and then use the Guam based aircraft to fly from Hong Kong to a smaller airport like Bangkok, making United able to sell tickets to Bangkok without connections on other airlines Americans might not be familiar with, making United the preferred carrier. This gives United a competitive advantage over other U.S. carriers, which will need to sell a codeshare flight to fly from places like Bangkok, for example. This makes United able to conquer the market in many Asian destinations, in addition to offering the fastest itineraries, as the flights with the previously Guam-based aircraft are perfectly timed for connections on United flights to the United States. If this works well, United will be able to expand and offer the quickest itineraries to dozens of Asian airports and win over passenger demand from the competition. Passengers will always pay to make their flight itinerary quicker, and United will now be able to win passenger demand and charge higher ticket prices for offering the fastest ticket, allowing for more potential revenue. This model has never been done, but it can open the door to changing aviation. United is very well set up for the future of Asian travel to the U.S. and now will have a huge competitive advantage.

Why American Airlines Is Competitively Far Behind

Background

Fort Worth-based airline, American Airlines, is a legacy carrier, and is part of the three big legacy carrier competition in the United States: American, United, and Delta Airlines. Currently, American Airlines is experiencing the worst financial results. We will dig into learn why.

Chicago

Arguably one of the most important markets globally, Chicago O'Hare has been a huge part of both American and United’s global networks and competition, being a perfect spot for a hub. It has a perfect geographic location for connections and huge nonstop demand, given that Chicago is the biggest city for business in the Midwest, provoking a lot of travel, and also has the most daily flights in the world of any airport. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, American shut down multiple routes based in Chicago and also moved its large Boeing 777 aircraft to Charlotte, North Carolina. Unlike American, United Airlines moved toward maximizing demand in Chicago. They opened routes to Japan, multiple long-haul routes to Hawaii, and several more to Europe. In 2025, American sought to recompete for market share by filing lawsuits against O’Hare for gates; they aimed to reopen routes and return to pre-pandemic offerings. American is trying to catch up, but with limited aircraft, it is falling far behind competitor United in market share. It seems that in the near future, American will not be able to reach United’s level of connectivity from Chicago due to how much United has expanded.

Nonstop services to Africa and Europe

American actively falls short of competition with airlines United and Delta due to minimal European service and no service to Africa. United actively serves six African destinations, and Delta competes with six destinations as well, making American uncompetitive. For European competition, American depends on its partnerships with British Airways in London, Iberia in Madrid, and Finnair in Helsinki for connections to Europe. Every American destination in Europe is also served by another United States carrier, leaving no room for cornering a market. Unlike American, United serves multiple destinations in Europe that no other competition flies to, giving them the corner on the market from those destinations to America. This again shows why, in Europe, a key market, American falls behind. American passengers would rather fly a U.S. carrier than a European carrier, leaving American far behind in many markets.

The West Coast Long haul travel

American is a big competitor in the West Coast competition on flights to places like Asia and Australia. They offer flights to six long-haul destinations crossing the Pacific Ocean from their Los Angeles hub. Competitor United offers thirty destinations on the other side of the Pacific from its hubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Making American fall far behind in offering flights across the Pacific on its own aircraft. Competitor Delta offers eight destinations across the Pacific, both leaving American as the least competitive.

Customer Experience

It has been shown that American has lacked customer experience for a long time. With a lot of attempts to cut costs. A couple of examples are reducing drink service frequencies, changing in-flight offerings, etc. They additionally were not competing on in-flight offerings. Delta and United went and gave free internet, while American charges up to fifty dollars per flight. Delta and United are putting screens in newer aircraft, while American only is installing on long-haul aircraft. Little things like those examples add up, leading to unhappy customers.

Frequent Flier Program

American opened a loyalty program over forty years ago called AAdvantage. Competitors United and Delta also have loyalty programs for frequent fliers, allowing for rewards. American targeted their program in more recent years toward credit card spenders in addition to frequent flyers. This opened the door to a lot more frequent fliers and less exclusivity to status. Now, with Americans Executive credit card, spending one hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year without any flying earns you their highest tier, Executive Platinum. Competitor United offers the opportunity to earn status by credit card, but by spending at least four hundred and forty thousand dollars, and having at least four flight segments flown. Making United’s Highest status tier, Premier 1k, A lot more exclusive and hard to maintain. American, for this reason, is having problems with too many frequent fliers. Once on a flight from Dallas to Austin, there were more people with Executive Platinum status than people that don’t, showing why Americans program is less exclusive and competitively behind on requirements.

Looking toward the future

American recently had a strategic plan led by executive vice president, Steve Johnson, and American is working to fix its recurring problems. This started by offering free WiFi this January(2026), opening/expanding over fifteen routes in Chicago, and more to come. American is working hard to fix their competitive disadvantages, but I am unsure whether or not American can fix these problems in the near future. There is a lot to fix, but anything is possible

What Does Flagship Business Look Like In 2025

A very controversial topic in 2025 is whether U.S.-based carriers’ long-haul business class is up to standard and competitive, and I recently went to find out. A companion and I recently flew on American Airlines’ Flagship Business class to figure out what all the controversy is all about. On June fifteenth twenty twenty five I departed on American Airlines flight seven forty-six from Philadelphia to Nice, France. A seven-hour redeye flight. The service included dinner and breakfast. The flight was operated by a reverse herringbone seven eighty seven dash nine aircraft, offering 30 business class seats.

On to the review

Service started with a warm introduction from the flight attendant, addressing you by name and welcoming you on board, followed by a welcome drink, with the choice of water, orange juice, and champagne. Something many airlines lack is pre-departure beverages, with American surprisingly offering them twice, followed by hot towels, whilst still on the ground. During the taxi the crew came to take our orders. I opted for the truffle ravioli, with the choice of ribeye, salmon, and grilled chicken instead. The sides were salads. For dessert, you had a choice of an ice cream sundae or a fruit and cheese tray. Once airborne, service started. I must comment American’s service is overhated. I would argue it’s better than British Airways by a long shot. Food was good, with good offerings. The truffle ravioli was rich tasting and strong, but not too much. While I would say the food was good, I wouldn’t call it Michelin, but I would consider it restaurant-level and of high quality. With a good taste in my mind, I opted for the internet, costing an absurd thirty-five dollars. Definitely too much, and lacking many airlines’ free internet, including competitors United and Delta. From what it sounds like, this is only temporary, and free wifi is meant to roll out this January. Following that, I reclined my seat to the fully flat position and used the in-flight pillow and blanket offered. Sleeping was good and smooth. To test the whole product, I went to try the in-flight entertainment offered on our screens. It wasn’t special; it was definitely competitive with other U.S. carriers. I personally believe the future of in-flight entertainment should be complimentary internet, and that once it rolls out, screens will be unnecessary. As my experience is slowly coming to an end, breakfast was served; you had a choice of a bacon omelette or a cheese tray. I opted for a cheese tray, which was good and fresh. Definitely needed, given the dry feeling of an airplane.

Overall

Overall, I would say American Business Class is a competitive product with many European carriers and is definitely proclaimed as worse than it is. While I don’t think it’s worth nearly ten thousand dollars in fair difference in rare scenarios, I think it’s definitely worth a premium, and I would fly it again in a heartbeat. The food was great, in addition to the soft product. My only complaint was the internet, which in the grand scheme of things is definitely not a big deal. Good work, American Airlines.

Next steps

Making meals more courses, as it was all rolled out at once, complimentary internet, and a mattress topper for the seat, just to make the bed more cushy and comfortable.