FAA Grants American Airlines Exemption To Install Up To 70 Mini Suites On Boeing 777-300ERSUMMARY
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed American Airlines to install new business class mini-suites on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
The new business class seats were part of the airline’s effort to refresh its long-haul fleet’s cabins.
While the FAA has already granted an exemption to install the seats on the Boeing 787-9, the regulator was yet to approve the exemption for the A321XLR.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted American Airlines the permission to install up to 70 mini-suites on its Boeing 777-300ERs as the airline aims to refresh and newly equip its aircraft with more premium seats.
Regulations prohibiting doors
In its initial application in January, filed under the FAA-2024-0257 docket, American Airlines stated that it intended to install 70 business class seats with mini-suites under a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC).However, specific sections of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which do not allow the installation of doors in any partitions between passengers, as well as the operation of aircraft built after 2006 with a door installed between any passenger seat that could be used during takeoff or landing, or any emergency exit that would cross any evacuation path.In the public’s interest
In its argument, American Airlines detailed that the mini-suites would not impact safety since they would provide passengers with multiple redundancies to ensure a safe evacuation during an emergency.
Furthermore, the FAA would be serving the public’s interest by granting the exemption since these suites “are becoming common type of premium seating for long-range travel throughout the public aircraft transport industry.”s
