After flying to McAllen and back to check out Delta’s new intra-Texas routes, I headed up to Dallas via American Airlines Airbus A320 First Class.
Booking
I booked my one-way flight from Austin to Dallas/Ft. Worth for $216 in Economy directly through AA.com two weeks before departure. With all of my travel, I got the dates mixed up and accidentally booked for the day after I needed to travel. I realized this after I arrived back in Austin on my Delta flight from McAllen and didn’t have a boarding pass in my American app.
Fortunately, I was able to switch my ticket in the app to the same flight on the proper day. Surprisingly, the fare difference was only $3 for a last minute flight change.
Pre-Flight
With a couple of hours to kill before my flight, I headed for the American Airlines Admirals Club Austin. The lounge was on the smaller side and somewhat crowded but the layout provided a decent amount of privacy. My full review of the lounge can be found here.
Since I had to switch my flight a few hours before departure, the wonderful AAgent at the Admirals Club got me re-added to the upgrade list which cleared promptly. The A320 has a small, 12 seat First Class cabin and there were still 7 open seats a few hours prior to departure.
Boarding
My flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth was departing from Gate 23, directly across from the stairway to the lounge. Since it was such a short walk, I arrived at the gate a few minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin.
N650AW, a 26 year-old Airbus A320, was waiting to shuttle us up to DFW this evening.
Boarding was scheduled to begin at 5:00p and started a few minutes ahead of schedule. Passengers needing extra time along with active duty military members were invited to board first, followed by Group 1.
American Airlines
AA 509
AUS-DF (Austin-Bergstrom International – Dallas/Ft. Worth International)
Seat: 1F (First)
A320-200 (N650AW)
Scheduled: 5:30p-6:45p
Actual: 5:21p-6:26p
A short walk down the jet bridge and I was boarding our A320 for the short flight to DFW.
Seat
American’s First Class cabin on the Airbus A320 consists of 12 seats spread across 3 rows in a 2-2 configuration. I was seated in 1F, the bulkhead window seat on the right side of the aircraft. The seat itself is quite comfortable.
Legroom on the A320 wasn’t too bad, certainly not an issue for such a short flight. A literature pocket was located near the floor on the bulkhead.
Unlike Delta and United, American elected to remove all of the seatback IFE screens from their narrowbody aircraft. On my recent 737 flight to Los Cabos, device holders were present in the seatback and tray table though my bulkhead seat had neither on this A320. Not an issue for a short flight, but something to consider if flying longer distances.
The tray table is located in the armrest closest to the window.
It can be folded in half or opened completely depending on your needs.
In between the seats, there is a shared armrest with a small tray that can hold a glass or bottle of water.
Audio controls were also located on the exterior of the armrest though they were inoperable during this flight.
American’s A320s have an average age of 23 years, making them the oldest aircraft type in the fleet. Decades of wear and tear are evident when looking around the cabin as many surfaces are stained and discolored. These birds are long overdue for a retrofit or retirement from the fleet.
Departure
Boarding wrapped up ten minutes ahead of schedule and we pushed back as a light rain began to fall on the airport.
During my three hour layover, they switched runway directions at the airport and we taxied out to Runway 36L for departure. With no traffic in front of us, we were quickly cleared for departure and headed off to Dallas.
During our climb we passed through a low layer of clouds before breaking through into blue skies.
In-Flight
The flight from Austin to Dallas/Ft. Worth is only about 40 minutes total in the air. Because of this, service started well before we reached our cruising altitude. The FA working our cabin came through taking drink orders shortly after takeoff. The inflight menu and entertainment options read as follows.
I ordered a vodka soda, which was served in a DIY fashion with two mini-bottles of Tito’s and the full can of club soda.
Surprisingly, there was no snack basket or snacks of any kind offered on this short flight. However, drink refills were offered by the crew.
The seatbelt sign came off briefly and I took the opportunity to visit the forward lavatory. Like the rest of the plane, the lavatory was also showing its age. The upside of this is the fact that it felt more spacious than the lavatories being installed on newer aircraft.
Back at my seat, since we had no seatback IFE or device holders on this flight, I just stared out the window to pass the time and soon we were approaching DFW.
Arrival
We flew west of the airport and looped back around to land from the north. For whatever reason I always enjoy this approach as you overfly Lake Lewisville and Lake Grapevine.
We landed on Runway 18R, on the west side of the airport. After touchdown, we had a long taxi across the airport to the east side and our arrival gate.
We arrived at Gate A35 almost twenty minutes ahead of schedule. From there I headed out to the curb where I caught my waiting Uber.
Summary
American’s fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft are very old and in need of some TLC. The trip from Austin to DFW in First Class was comfortable for a short flight but the plane lacked some of the amenities found on newer American aircraft. American mostly sends their Airbus A321s and Boeing 737s to Austin so this isn’t an aircraft type I’ll fly very often.
