AA87 London Heathrow Terminal 3 – Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5 (MAIN CABIN EXTRA)
Still for the Friends
Let’s see how American Airlines does in Transatlantic Economy Class and in the Main Cabin Extra subclass. Are things down the back improving… or degrading?
- Still for the friends
- But first. A trip to Liverpool, North West England. But why?
- To the… daytime Heathrow run?
- Lounging around with Cathay Pacific and American Airlines
- AA87 London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (Main Cabin Extra)
- Into the USA, A Scammer Taxi driver and the Crowne Plaza O’Hare
- The Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Airplane Art Extra from the Hyatt Regency O’Hare
- Exploring Modern Photography at MCoP
- Gundam Base, Chicago
- Quick Food Adventures
- An Early Return to O’Hare and the American Airlines Flagship Lounge
- AA882 to Chicago O’Hare to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (Exit Row)
- An Atlanta Transit
- BA226 to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 3 in World Traveller
- Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
- Still for Friends
Down we go
Jetbridge view
AA87 London Heathrow Terminal 3 to Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5
American Airlines
Boeing 787-9 (78P) Configuration
Seat 22L, Main Cabin Extra
3951 Miles Flown, 988 Tier Miles Earned, 1 Sector Earned (RJ Programme)
I was welcomed aboard and headed down the right-hand aisle. As I was aboard an 78P, this is one of American Airlines’ newest configured aircraft, with the Evelate Aerospace (Adent) Ascent Business Class seats, the Safran Z535i recliner in Premium Economy, and for the Main Cabin, the Collins Aerospace Aspire seats (with the first two rows appearing to be configured for Main Cabin Extra, with the rest as Main Cabin.
Business Class seats by Elevate Ascent
Premium Economy Seats by Safran
Main Cabin Extra (including my seat) with the Collins Aspire.
I made it to my row, with my rowmate already getting in situ. I took the chance ot putting my rucksack in the overhead bin and my day bag and camera on the seat.
From the looks of things, the seat map indicated that the middle seat would be free for this segment over the pond, in effect giving a Eurobusiness cabin for 8 hours or so.
Whilst not the best outcome (the best of course, is no seat mate in the aisle), this is more than adequate – and considering that in past journeys, I’ve been crammed tight into not comfortable conditions.
The only downside was.. Well, the toilet block is behind me. On the 78P, the Premium Economy and Economy Class toilet block is between Main Cabin Extra and Main Cabin (with none in the rear of the cabin). Oh well, the sound of flushing would be my friend for the flight.
Looking at the seat, it’s reasonably appointed, with the Collins Aerospace Aspire being an upgrade over the previously used Safran seating, and with the extra leg room, there’s space to spread out a little – especially if the middle seat person never shows up.
Boarding continued apace, as the 787 mostly loaded up for its trip to the Windy City, with what seemed like a lighter load than usual. Meanwhile, I made the small mistake of looking upwards at the air vents. The good news is that there are air gaspers.
The bad news, no one has cleaned the air vents recently.
During this time, earbuds were distributed for economy class. As usual, these are… basic. That’s the only nice term I can use. Basic.
Dankpods would enjoy making them smoke, though.
With the doors closed and the aircraft secure, it was time to commence our travels across the Atlantic.
Time to push back
But of course, that means pushing back from Heathrow in one of the enclosed zones in Terminal 3…. And the safety demonstration. For the first time in a long time, the safety demonstration was conducted manually… not that I could make it out to start with. Eventually, I could see the crew conducting the demonstration.
At least I didn’t have to see the safety video. Here it is for the rest of you who haven’t suffered enough.
With that complete, our 787-9 began its taxi out of the “enclosed” part of Terminal 3 and out onto the main taxiways.
Cabim during taxi – Note, the map just showed that. It seems the FlightPath servers were unreachable.
Off we go.
Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1000 on tow
As the aircraft was departing towards London, the aircraft began its taxi, passing the Terminal 3 overflow airplane park, then turning right as it headed to the southern runway, passing by Terminal 5 on the way, and the many speedbirds.
British Airways Airbus A350-1000
British Airways Boeing 787-9 (the class leader).
And another British Airways Airbus A350-1000
Traffic.
Pick a speedbird
Any speedbird…
Terminal 5
Eventually, our 787 turned for the runway, as it was time for us to head into the sky.
And into the sky we went, with the aircraft taking a departure path past London.
Thames
Docklands and East London.
With the 787-9 climbing into the sky, it was time to get comfortable and experience all the passenger experience things.
Let’s start with the Wi-Fi connectivity. Now, your author wouldn’t want to spend an extra 55 minutes on the ground, so they got free Wi-FI on a flight… right? Well, a new interior and a newer plane, with free wifi, is a better option than a clapped-out Boeing 777–200ER that would do the Chicago run (I’d get one of those on the way home).
Logging into the free Wi-Fi session was easy enough – connect to the AAInflight SSID, and log in with your AA account details.
It’s a good thing I could remember my password. With that, there were two adverts – one for AT&T, the other for a credit card I couldn’t have. With those done and the browser dumping me on the landing page to sign up for a credit card, I could browse the internet.
Portal
Sign in for your free Wi-Fi.
Adverts
Connected!
On this aircraft, Viasat provides the connectivity, so there was decent connectivity when I tested it, as well as just general browsing, with no drops encountered in the YouTube testing.
Crab Rave
Rush E
Thunderbirds – The Imposters (Thunderbirds 24/7 stream)
And running the odd Speedtest, things seemed good.
Moving onto the IFE system, this was a new IFE system (well, one that I’ve seen in trade shows more than once) – the Thales AVANT Up System, which, in my case, featured a 4K QLED screen, USB-A and USB-C power at the seat. That meant the power-hungry beast that the iPhone 17 Pro had juice across the pond without adaptors.
Of course, an IFE screen is nothing without content. And this is where American Airlines shines with its content catalogue, with enough to make me take an interest on screen – be it The Big Bang Theory, or going through the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It’s helped by the Thales AvantUP 4K screen, which American Airlines chose for this aircraft, being a fluid experience.
Sheldon in his spot
Even an information shade.
So for content, entertainment and connectivity, I was sitting pretty for once. These are good things.
Except for the map, which was offline during the entire flight. Hmm.
In-flight service began soon after, with a drinks round to start with. I went for a Gin and Tonic… because I’ve got oldish. I’ve got minimal love of wine over the years, barely any taste for bubbly (apart from knowing which ones are acidic like anything… the joy of flying BA), so Gin/Vodka are my home spirits these days.
This was served with some pretzels. Nothing inspiring, but a good enough welcome service.
The meal carts followed afterwards with a choice of chicken or pasta. Remember, in economy class, we’re lucky to have that choice these days (see Finnair, which just offers one choice of main).
The tray arrived… and it looked. Well, a little bare to be honest.
I’m not sure whether American Airlines’ catering issues were still a thing by late March, but budget cuts had arrived in force. Heck, if they delete the salad offering in economy class, it normally isn’t worth it. But what’s the term… corners felt cut.
At least the chicken main had some flavour in it.
With the meal cleared down, the windows dimmed to try to send the cabin to sleep. I settled into Return of the King again to try to sleep.
I managed a couple of hours on and off during the flight. Whilst the body wanted to sleep when I was in the lounge, it had produced enough adrenaline to keep me awake when flying.
Which was damn peachy, especially on three hours’ sleep the night before.
As such, I was awake for the two water runs that were carried out during the flight, but no ice cream offering was made mid-flight.
For me, all I saw was a blue window for most of the flight. No matter. And I drifted in and out of consciousness… enough that I had drifted out when the fight attendants started their arrivals service.
Thankfully, I was awake enough for the drinks service. From what I gathered, it was a sandwich and yoghurt. Not the normal hot arrivals hot pocket by any stretch of the imagination.
On the plus side, I missed out on things I wouldn’t have eaten.
On the minus side, I had to use the toilets. Whilst they were one row behind me, these are the “slimline toilets” that occupy the least possible space on an aircraft. That’s good for LOPA’s, but four toilets for economy class passengers… is tough, especially when you have just enough spare to spin around in – let alone anything to swing a cat.
Dear deity.
That and the lack of Main Cabin Extra seating make the 78P a tougher sell than normal.
With 40 minutes on the clock, the crew began the cabin clear-down for the aircraft, and the window controls were unlocked at this point.
I took the time to relocate things I needed for the next phase of the day – mainly my passport. After the Istanbul Incident, I’m taking things a little more slowly and carefully.
With the map being offline, I had been tracking my flight with FlightRadar24 so I could see when the aircraft started its transit across Lake Michigan (as the world had turned cloudy.
Hmm. That means we’re in for a bit of a bumpy approach into O’Hare.
Descent
Brakingf
Arrials information
The clouds cleared as we passed the coast of Lake Michigan, as the Boeing 787-9 lined up for an arrival at O’Hare.
Clouds clearing
Crossing into Chicagoland
Nearing O’Hare
With ease, the aircraft landed at its home of Chicago O’Hare.
Pulling off the runway, the 787 turned onto one of O’Hare’s many taxiways, as it started the taxi back to Terminal 5 (as international arrivals that require US Customs and Border Patrol all have to clear there).
United Airlines 737
Air France Airbus A350-900 pulling off the runway.
And no matter how early you land, it’s a 15-minute taxi over to Terminal 5.
Patiently taxing.
Given that our aircraft was early, the gate that it was expected to park at was occupied, so there was a five-minute wait for it to be vacated.
Approaching Terminal 5
Oh. You.
This is going to be a forgotten sight at O’Hare soon.
Waiting for the return flight
Tum tee tum.
With the other aircraft gone, ours made it to the gate to end its journey.
With the engines off and the seatbelt signs released, I gathered my items together and bade my seatmate farewell, as I wanted to get my skates on the moment I left that aircraft, as I had no idea how bad US Immigration would be.
The line moved forward, and I thanked the crew as I exited. It was time to deal with the joy of entering the USA.
Overall
A little disappointing to be honest. Whilst the hard product was great (and the Collins Aspire on this aircraft was a great move for an economy class passenger – one I can get sleep on, with great IFE and free Wi-Fi), the soft elements of the service felt rushed and incomplete, with elements missing.
At the time, American Airlines was going through a change of catering provider at Heathrow, with some meals being catered from the USA. If that accounts for some of the missing items, that’s fine.
But again, the service felt incomplete and a bodge job, rather than the usual flowing service (which is possible in economy class).
I’d be a little more worried if this were a pattern going forward. We’ll have to see later this year.
Next
Nothing says “Welcome to Chicago” more than another scammer taxi driver.
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