Reiterating a decision made last month, American Airlines will eliminate first-class seats on international flights. American Airlines chief commercial officer Vasu Raja commented on the change In a third-quarter business call on Thursday.

"First class will not exist on the 777, or for that matter at American Airlines, for the simple reason that our customers aren't buying it," Raja said. "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."

The airline plans to replace the first-class seating with new "Flagship Suites" which include privacy doors and lie-flat seating. The new business class seating will be installed on the airline's Boeing 787-9s and Airbus A321XLRs starting in 2024. The Boeing 777-300ERs will be retrofitted with the new interior later that same year to a total of 70 Flagship business-class suites and 44 Premium Economy seats.

American expects premium seating in their long-haul fleet to grow more than 45 percent by 2026. The decision follows similar moves by United and Delta Airlines, which have both removed first-class seating options and expanded business-class seating in 2016 and 1998 respectively.

Despite increased fuel prices and fares, the airline has had a bump in revenue this past quarter, reporting $483 million in profits, which is up 13% from 2019 and expects more growth through the holiday season.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a Thursday note to employees, "Demand remains strong, and it's clear that customers continue to value air travel and the ability to reconnect post-pandemic." Next year, Isom said he also expects the airline to bounce back to ninety-five to one hundred percent of the company's 2019 capacity.

American Airlines