American to put lie-flat seats on some U.S. flights

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines says it will become the first U.S. airline to put lie-flat seats in new planes used on transcontinental flights.

American said it will put the seats in new Airbus A321 aircraft that it will operate between New York and California beginning in November 2013.

The airline said each of the 10 lie-flat seats in first class will be on the aisle, and 20 seats in business class will be two on each side of the aisle. They will replace Boeing 767-200s on flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Several airlines offer lie-flat beds on international flights.

The jets are part of an order for 460 new Airbus and Boeing planes that AMR Corp.’s American announced last July. American plans to take 130 Airbus jets and 100 Boeing 737-800s in the next five years. It expects to get versions still in design — 130 Airbus and 100 Boeing jets — after that.

The planes are designed to operate more cheaply by using less fuel than current planes.