Just 244 Seats: Where American Airlines Is Flying Its Very High-Premium Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

American Airlines currently has 134 widebody aircraft. According to ch-aviation, half are Boeing 787s, of which it has both the -8 and -9 variants. It has 30 787-9s, which now have 244 and 285 seats. It has eight 244-seat 787-9s. They are the so-called 787-9P aircraft, with ‘P’ standing for ‘premium.’

All eight frames were delivered between April and August 2025, with numerous additional aircraft with this low capacity to arrive through 2029. They are particularly noteworthy as they feature new cabins with much newer technology. They are much more premium than the oneworld member’s standard 787-9 layout. They are American’s answer to United’s 167-seat 767-300ERs.

American’s 244-Seat 787s

It is worth briefly examining the configuration, which is broken down by cabin below. It has 51 new Flagship Business suites, with 30 more than its original 285-seat layout. Based on the Adient Ascent platform, they have privacy doors and are in the full reverse herringbone layout.

The 787-9P has more business-class seats than any other type or variant in American’s fleet except for the 777-300ER. With 32 premium economy seats, only one 777-300ER config has more. And with just 143 main cabin seats, only the 787-8 has fewer of them.

Some 21% of the 244-seater’s capacity is Flagship Business. Even when American’s Flagship First product is included, the 787-9P has the joint-highest proportion of premium seats. It is tied with the non-first-class version of the 777-300ER. Then it’s 20% for the first-class-equipped 777-300ER, 14% for the 777-200ER, 11% for the 285-seat 787-9, and just 9% for the 787-8.

Where The 787-9 Will Fly Internationally: November Through February

Examining American’s schedule submission to Cirium Diio indicates that eight international routes will see its 787-9Ps from November through February. This reflects what’s planned as of October 23 and certainly may change. While they’ll be from four of its hubs, Dallas/Fort Worth will account for 55% of the departures. When all equipment is considered, American has 84% of the Texas airport’s movements.

Let’s initially focus on Dallas/Fort Worth. The 244-seat 787-9 will fly to Brisbane from October 25, with this being American’s longest route by block time network-wide. The following day, it’ll be deployed to London Heathrow (British Airways’ A380s will return to this market next year) and Buenos Aires. Heathrow will have two flights on it from November 7 to January 4, while Argentina’s capital will only see the config until January 5. It’ll be flown to Paris CDG between December 18 and January 5, from when it’ll be deployed to Auckland.

Chicago O’Hare-Heathrow will have two daily 244-seater services (down from triple daily during the summer). Philadelphia-Heathrow will be daily (down from a high of two daily departures). Finally, there’s JFK-Heathrow, which will have 787-9P service from December 3 until December 16.

Although unsurprising, the configuration’s operation focuses enormously on Heathrow. As everyone knows, it is a very high-yielding market, which partly results from considerable premium demand. 68% of services will be there, ten points higher than for United’s 167-seat 767s.

They’ll Also Be Used Domestically

Sticking with November through February shows that American will use the 787-9P on three domestic routes. However, there are extremely few services and, as usual, they’ll all be between its hubs. It often deploys twin-aisles in such a role.

On November 29, November 30, and December 1, it’ll fly from Dallas/Fort Worth to Chicago O’Hare. It’ll be on AA764, which will leave Texas at 10:45 and get to Illinois at 13:14. On the same days, AA764 (the same flight number) will leave at 14:24 and return at 17:10.

Then there’s Philadelphia-Dallas, which will see it on November 1 (AA2064: 16:20-18:56). (It’ll also operate on October 25, albeit on different flights.) It’ll be followed by JFK-Dallas on December 18 only (AA214: 08:59-12:01). In both instances, the 244-seat 787-9 will not operate in the reverse direction.