American Airlines has indicated its plan to add more seats to its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Boeing 737 fleet. Lauri Curtis revealed in an internal message that they “expect to add seats to the 737 and MD-80 fleets, but we haven’t yet determined the right number of seats, and as a result, the impact on revenue and cost”.
She added: “ This will allow us to provide a higher level of onboard service while meeting the FAA staffing requirements. While this would obviously be good news for all of us, we are still working through the specific details and timing.”
American’s MD-80 currently has 140 seats, while its Boeing 737-800 has between 148 and 160 seats.