American Airlines has made a major upgrade to its business class soft product. As reported by View From The Wing, the carrier has announced that it will soon be rolling out mattress pads on all long-haul flights. The airline already offers mattress pads on select long-distance flights, and it’s now rolling them out across its entire intercontinental network. This comes as the carrier continues to make a push to become more premium.
Related comments from American Airlines leadership at the opening panel at Skift’s aviation forum indicate that company leadership is focused on moving upmarket and is highly confident in the airline’s current moves. The airline has some advantages over its competitors, but still has work to do in several areas. Decisions such as adding mattress pads will help the company maintain competitiveness with 
Delta Air Lines and 
United Airlines.
The Newest Change To American Long Haul Flights
American Airlines will soon be rolling out mattress pads for Flagship business passengers on all long-haul flights. The carrier had previously removed mattress pads and pajamas for Flagship business in 2024, and then began to offer these again on routes to Asia and Oceania in the summer of 2025. Now, mattress pads will be offered on all routes in American’s long-haul network.
Delta Air Lines has also begun to offer mattress pads on all long-haul flights, while United Airlines is known for offering perhaps the best bedding in the entire airline industry. For American not to offer mattress pads on any flights is simply uncompetitive, especially as American Airlines is now looking to compete directly with Delta and United, two carriers that are building and maintaining a premium image.
American Airlines has fallen behind its competitors in a number of key financial indicators. The carrier made a series of decisions to move downmarket in the 2010s, and it’s now paying for it as consumers now prefer upmarket carriers with superior international networks and large premium cabins.
General Overhauls At American Airlines
The mattress pads are just the latest in a series of minor and major updates that American Airlines has been making to its passenger experience, particularly in premium cabins. These include improving onboard and lounge catering as well as the new rollout of mattress pads, which are part of the “soft product” (essentially the aspects of the experience that are variable), as well as a new “hard product” (in other words, the seats).
With new Boeing 787-9 deliveries, American has debuted new seats in all cabins. This includes a reverse-herringbone business class seat based on the Adient Ascent with doors and updated technology. All cabins will also come with an updated color scheme and will be retrofitted on all Boeing 777s. American is also debuting similar cabins on its new Airbus A321XLR deliveries, including a new herringbone business class seat with doors based on the Collins Aurora.
|
Aircraft |
Business Class Seat Model |
Layout |
Design |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Airbus A321XLR |
Collins Aurora |
1-1 |
Herringbone with doors |
|
Boeing 777-200ER |
Collins Super Diamond Safran Concept D Adient Ascent (future) |
1-2-1 |
Reverse herringbone Alternating forward reverse herringbone/rearward herringbone Reverse herringbone with doors |
|
Boeing 777-300ER |
Safran Cirrus II Adient Ascent (future) |
1-2-1 |
Reverse herringbone Reverse herringbone with doors |
|
Boeing 787-8 |
Collins Super Diamond Safran Concept D |
1-2-1 |
Reverse herringbone Alternating forward reverse herringbone/rearward herringbone |
|
Boeing 787-9 |
Adient Ascent Collins Super Diamond Safran Concept D |
1-2-1 |
Reverse herringbone with doors Alternating forward reverse herringbone/rearward herringbone Reverse herringbone |
Not only is American Airlines improving the premium travel experience, but it’s also adding more premium seats. Prior Boeing 787-9s featured only 30 Flagship business seats and 21 premium economy seats, while the new 787-9s with the Adient Ascent feature 51 Flagship Suites and 32 premium economy seats. The 777-300ERs will go from eight Flagship First seats, 52 Flagship business seats, and 28 premium economy seats, to 70 Flagship Suites and 44 premium economy seats. The 777-200ERs are also expected to receive a more premium layout, although the exact layout has not yet been revealed.
How American Airlines Is Facing Off Against Rivals
American Airlines has strong potential against its competitors. The carrier currently has four types of widebody business class seats, all of which are reverse herringbone seats that are fairly similar to one another. United currently has just one seat model for widebody business class, but the Safran Optima used for Polaris is specifically designed for density rather than space. Delta, meanwhile, has outdated seats on its Airbus A330-200/300 and Boeing 767 fleet.
American has a larger lounge network than its competitors, but the Flagship lounges for business class passengers in particular are generally regarded as being inferior to United’s Polaris lounges, which themselves have been outclassed by the newer DeltaOne lounges. As such, improvements can be made here to truly compete with United and Delta.
American upping the sizes of its premium cabins is a sound move, but the airline still operates nearly 100 fewer widebodies than United Airlines. The airline has holes in its long-haul network, and the long-haul premium leisure market continues to grow. As such, not only will it need to add more premium seats, but more widebodies are needed to properly develop the carrier’s long-haul network.
