American Airlines' longest route ever — AA7 from Dallas/Fort Worth to Brisbane, launched in 2024 — covers 7,216 nautical miles. Yet the reason it makes money isn't the distance. It's the cabin. Since October 2025 the route has been flown by American's refreshed Boeing 787-9, the '789P', which carries 51 Flagship Suites and 32 premium economy seats — a big jump from the standard layout's 30 business seats and 21 premium economy. Overall capacity actually dropped from 285 to 244 seats, but the extra premium rows generate far more revenue on a route where operating costs are enormous.
There's a second reason Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city, got nonstop service from Dallas at all: money from Queensland. The state government has been subsidising airlines to fly into Brisbane, which is why all three US legacy carriers now serve it — United from San Francisco since 2022, American from Dallas since 2024, and Delta from Los Angeles since December 2024. Those subsidies keep the routes viable even when loads are soft.
The competitive set-up matters too. United codeshares with Virgin Australia and Delta with Rex, but American runs a full metal-neutral joint venture with Qantas, coordinating pricing, schedules and revenue as if they were one airline. So American lets Qantas cover Sydney and Melbourne while it flies Brisbane itself, timed to feed connections at its fortress DFW hub. American has always been conservative with expensive long-haul flying — it doesn't serve Melbourne with its own planes at all.
The route also highlights a broader shift in American's strategy. After merging with US Airways in 2013, the airline packed in economy seats and slimmed down premium cabins, even on planes meant for business-heavy long-haul markets. That backfired badly on routes like Chicago O'Hare to Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo, all cut after dense 787-8s with only 20 business seats couldn't compete on revenue. With premium demand now at record highs, American is adding suites across its 787-9s and refurbishing its 777-300ERs with 70 Flagship Suites.
For travellers, this is good news in two ways. If you're flying DFW to Brisbane, you'll get the airline's newest, most premium cabin — one of its best long-haul products. And the route is a useful seasonal counterweight: demand to Australia peaks during the northern winter, exactly when American's widebodies would otherwise sit underused. Expect the route (and its fancy suite cabin) to be at its best from roughly November to March.
