If travelling internationally with American Airlines, chances are you’ve heard about the carriers wide-body fleet touting all-aisle-access and fully flat beds on certain key routes. However, if you are flying on a less prestigious city pairing, you may still be flying on one of American’s slightly more dated 757 products.
The good news is that American Airlines Boeing 757 retrofit programme is now underway, with the first completed aircraft now flying around their network (although still in the original livery). Part of American’s previously-announced $3 billion investment in the customer experience, the roll-out includes retrofitting aircraft to have a more modern look, newer technology and connectivity.
The 757 is the last aircraft in American’s international fleet to begin being retrofitted, with the 767-300s now complete and the 777-200 programme well underway. Similar to the offering found on American Airlines A321 transcontinental fleet, the new 757 cabin offers fully lie-flat seating in Business Class and an updated economy class.
In total, 24 757 aircraft are due to receive the retrofit. The new product will have the new American branding, look and feel including the installation of new lie-flat Business Class seats as well as a new trim and finish, Samsung Galaxy tablets for IFE in Business Class. New laminates, monuments, curtains and carpeting and new leather seat covers in economy.
The new lie-flat seat is the B/E Parallel Diamond, similar to the Business Class seat on the A321T. Business Class is in a 2 x 2 configuration, with 16 seats total in the cabin. Main Cabin has a 3 x 3 seat configuration, with 160 total in the cabin. 52 of these will be ‘Main Cabin Extra’ seating, offering up to 7” of extra pitch.
The carrier isn’t consistently able to guarantee the new product on a particular 757 operated route until more of the fleet have undergone the upgrade, but passengers can now expect to see the new product gradually be introduced on International routes into Europe and Latin America including Edinburgh, Manchester, Dublin, Amsterdam and Paris CDG.
TheDesignAir 
U.S. carriers are just so hopeless when it comes to cabin interior design, and I can’t figure oit why that is. Of course, Virgin America is the shining exception, as well as Hawaiian (although I was a bit underwhelmed with HA’s new J class design, it is still leagues above the U.S. legacy carriers design wise).
P.S. I will give American credit for using a sheer curtain to satisfy the FAA rule rather than those ugly “fishnet” curtains that Delta and United use (and sadly, even Hawaiian).