American Airlines Airbus A321XLR landing
American Airlines is set to introduce its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft into commercial service, with the narrowbody jet being scheduled between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) during its first day of flying passengers.
On December 18, 2025, American Airlines’ first A321XLR, registered as N303NY, is scheduled to enter service, operating flight AA 3 from JFK to LAX, and flight AA 4 from LAX to JFK. The single-aisle jet is scheduled to depart JFK at 11:00 local time (UTC -5) and arrive at LAX around five hours later, at 14:18 local time (UTC -8).
The aircraft joined the carrier’s fleet on October 22, having been directly ferried from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), where one of Airbus’ A320neo family aircraft final assembly lines (FAL) is located, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
According to planespotters.net, the airframe operated its first flight on August 28.
Flight AA 3 is one of several daily flights that American Airlines runs between the two coastal hubs, with Cirium’s Diio Mi showing that the airline has nine daily departures from JFK to LAX in December.
All nine will be operated with A321 aircraft, including the A321XLR, as well as the A321T, known as the ‘Transcon.’ The latter aircraft subtype, specifically operated on coastal routes, only has 102 seats: 10 first, 20 business, 36 premium economy (Main Cabin Extra), and 36 economy class. In comparison, American Airlines has configured its A321XLRs to accommodate up to 20 business, 12 premium economy, and 123 economy-class passengers.
The long-range narrowbodies, which are essentially Boeing 757 replacements – albeit with worse performance due to the sheer power of the 757’s engines – are going to begin flying international American Airlines routes in March 2026.
Then, the airline will deploy the A321XLR on the JFK to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) route, which it has not operated since October 2018, when it used to utilize the 757 to move passengers between the two cities, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.
American Airlines has taken delivery of another A321XLR, registered as N305NY, on December 16. The aircraft, like the airline’s first A321XLR, was assembled at XFW and flown to DFW on its delivery flight, arriving at the Texan airport at 15:37 local time (UTC -6).
In total, the airline has 50 A321XLRs on order, having signed a deal for the type during the Paris Air Show in June 2019. The order included a conversion of 30 A321neo orders to the A321XLR, along with an incremental order for 20 more aircraft.
Three of its other A321XLRs are currently stored at Ostrava Leos Janacek Airport (OSR), awaiting their cabins, including N301NY, which was moved from XFW to OSR on December 11.
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