Flying first class to an international destination will soon become a thing of the past; at least if you’re flying with American Airlines. The largest U.S. airline by the number of passengers announced on Thursday that it plans to remove first-class seats from its planes for all international flights in the near future.
According to American Airlines’ CCO Vasu Raja, the main reason for the decision is that the customers “aren’t buying” the first-class seats. Instead, the company will double down on the business class seats, which will become the new premium.
“The quality of the business class seat has improved so much. And frankly, by removing [first class] we can go provide more business class seats, which is what our customers most want or are most willing to pay for,” Raja said during a recent investors call.
However, it appears that the passengers won’t see much difference even when first class becomes obsolete at Americana Airlines. According to airline consultant Mike Boyd, this will mostly be a name change rather than a major revamp.
“This is mostly a name change,” Boyd explained. “Business class at most carriers is what we would have called first class 20 years ago.”
When reached out for comment by CNN, American Airlines’ spokesperson confirmed that the change would take place only for international flights. The company will still offer first-class seats for domestic flights.