American Airlines on Tuesday became the first US airline to take delivery of a Boeing 777-300ER, marking the first new aircraft type to join the American fleet in nearly 14 years.
The new aircraft brings a number of new products to American, including a premium economy section and international wifi service, both of which will eventually make their way to other American aircraft.
Most visibly, the plane forgoes American’s iconic bare metal livery in favor of a currently incomplete scheme that now consists of two shades of gray on the fuselage and tail. American, which is in the midst of a restructuring effort and could end up merging with US Airways, is expected to reveal an all new corporate identity starting with this plane before it enters service on the Dallas-Sao Paulo route on Jan. 31, 2013.
The delivery marks the first new aircraft type to join the American fleet in nearly 14 years, since the Boeing 737-800 came online in February 1999. The 777-200ER first joined the fleet in January 1999.
It was not clear why the delivery took place a few weeks sooner than had been expected. In late October, American told employees that it had delayed the first delivery until January 2013 after experiencing issues with First Class seats supplied by Zodiac.
