The first American Airlines Airbus A321XLR is headed stateside. American, the first U.S. carrier to get the world’s longest range narrowbody jet, first began deliveries of A321XLR aircraft in July 2025 though planes were immediately placed into storage in Europe.
American’s First Airbus A321XLR is Headed to the United States
American Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR on July 29, 2025. Instead of flying the plane to the United States and placing it into service, American immediately put the aircraft into storage in the Czech Republic.
It’s odd, but not unprecedented, for a carrier to take delivery of new aircraft only to store them. Delta is currently storing some of its Airbus A321neos as it waits for the seats on those planes to be certified.
American also elected to store these aircraft because of interior issues but, unlike Delta, there was no certification issue to resolve. American’s delays were due to supply chain issues with the seats but it appears that the issue has been resolved as the first aircraft is on its way to the United States.
As flagged by xJonNYC, American Airline’s first A321XLR is currently en route to the United States. The aircraft, registration N303NY, is currently en-route from Hamburg to American’s hub at Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW).
American Has 50 A321XLRs On Order
American first placed an order for the Airbus A321XLR back in 2019. The airline converted 30 Airbus A321neos (of which it had 100 on order) to the XLR variant with an order for 20 more A321XLRs. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in 2023 but were delayed by two years because of aircraft certification issues.
After flying the aircraft to Dallas, I would assume the carrier will perform some familiarization flights on the plane before it enters revenue service. American has been training pilots for A321XLR flying by operating empty A321neos between its east coast hub at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Edinburgh Airport (EDI) in Scotland.
American is expected to begin A321XLR flights between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) later this year. These aircraft will replace the Airbus A321Ts that were previously used on the route. More details, including the first international destinations for the planes, will be revealed soon.
My Thoughts
While the introduction of the Airbus A321XLR will open up some new routes for American, I’m not a huge fan of the idea of flying on a narrowbody jet for such long distances. Delta has come out and stated that it won’t fly narrowbody jets on transatlantic routes, citing “brand issues”.
Given the constraints at New York JFK, I assume we will primarily see American deploy the A321XLRs from its Philadelphia hub. While one could assume Edinburgh to be one of the first destinations, given the training flights, at 3,348 miles it is well within the range of the A321neo. However, only the XLRs are expected to get the carrier’s new Flagship Suite Business Class.
Summary
After a two year delay, the first American Airlines Airbus A321XLR is headed stateside. The aircraft, registered N303NY, is en-route to Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport an is expected to enter revenue service before the end of the year.