Flight review: American Airlines Flagship business class

With daily flights from Sydney to Los Angeles back on the menu, the Flagship long-haul service is put to the test.

graham erbacher

American Airlines Flagship business class on the Boeing 787-9.

3 min read

12:00AMFebruary 04, 2023

American Airlines offer their Flagship Business on international flights between the US and Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America, boasting lie-flat seats and a revamped menu.

The seat

I have the sense of total privacy in my pod in the business class cabin with its 1-2-1 seating configuration, which gives every traveller aisle access. In the first row, the seat is close to a “bathroom” (it’s an American airline) and galley, but it’s not noisy. The seat is a comfortable 56cm wide and long enough in the lie-flat position to accommodate a tall person. There are compartments each side for personal items, although one houses the TV remote and phone-charging outlet.

American Airlines’ Flagship business class with lie-flat beds.

Tech talk

A panel has a power point and USB charger; with Wi-Fi access and a tray table at comfortable height, the pod can be arranged as a workspace. However, this is an overnight flight and, to a person, the name of the game is sleep. High-quality Bang & Olufsen headphones are great for entertainment and cancelling aircraft sounds; they are collected well before landing. The large TV screen is reliably touch responsive, which is not always the case.

On the menu

American Airlines partners with the James Beard Foundation, an American culinary organisation promoting “good food for good”. After a welcoming glass of fizz, dinner follows with a choice of straightforward dishes: grilled beef fillet, roasted chicken, tortelloni with corn, and pappardelle pasta with shrimp in citrus cream sauce, mint and chilli, which I select and follow with an ice cream sundae. Breakfast before landing is “American” or “continental”. Express meals can be requested to allow uninterrupted time to work or sleep, and dine-on-demand selections are available during the flight. The bubbly on offer is from France; the white wines from Australia (a chardonnay from Dandelion Vineyards in the Adelaide Hills) and New Zealand; and the reds from California and Italy.

Entertainment

The library is 300 titles strong, with plenty of choice from streaming services such as Apple, but I’m thinking the first-release movies are a little light on, apart from action dramas. Maybe that says more about today’s Hollywood than the airline’s choice. Talking of where, I’ve been visiting LA, so a rerun of a classic, Citizen Kane, is in order. One of the sleds emblazoned with the enigmatic word Rosebud used in its filming (but not the one that burns) is on display at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

US bedding retailer Casper supplies the mattress, duvet and pillow.

Service

The crew is efficient but not effusive, which suits me well. US bedding retailer Casper supplies a roll-up mattress, light duvet and pillow. The seat easily converts to a bed at the touch of an icon on a screen, pyjamas are a comfortable fit and I’m set for a seven-hour sleep. A soft pack prepared by Detroit lifestyle brand Shinola contains the usuals, including socks, pen, toothbrush and paste and a small tube of moisturiser.

On the ground

Express check-in and expedited passage through immigration allow more time in the Flagship lounge in terminal 4 at LAX, where the atmosphere is relaxed (just after peak hour), seating plentiful and the buffet remarkably good. Spot the group hovering around the beverages: it’s a self-service cocktail bar, which probably encourages the sound sleeps to come. There are showers to spruce up during a flight layover and workspaces. LAX seems a more welcoming and efficient US arrival and departure hub than it has been in the past. On a sour note, the business-class Priority label on my suitcase doesn’t count for much at Sydney airport, where it is among the last to appear on the carousel, negating the benefits of our early arrival.

American Airlines has resumed daily flights from Sydney to Los Angeles.

In the know

American Airlines, which partners with Qantas and is a Oneworld Alliance member, has resumed daily flights in its own planes from Sydney to Los Angeles and return after a five-month break earlier in the year.

The verdict