Good afternoon from the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, CA 
I had just arrived from Miami, FL 
on American Airline’s Airbus A321-200 a report already available to check out, and now it’s time to continue the final leg of the journey over to Tokyo, JPN 
on of their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in main cabin, I’m glad you’re joining me once again. The TBIT at LAX is the primary terminal housing all international and select domestic carriers, it’s a really beautiful looking piece of architecture and it’s a fantastic way of welcoming foreign visitors to LA For domestic visitors, you don’t get this grand of a space but it’s not all that bad either, take Terminal 4, American’s primary base of operations at LAX, it’s very clean looking and reminds me of a central train station in a way. I’ve also noticed that most clocks across the airports are Rolex branded, I guess California 
has to show off them being the 4th largest economy in the WORLD 
and funnily enough, we’re flying to the country they took that title from. Now AAs long haul operations at LAX or really on the west coast in general have been trimmed a lot since the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the current routes, they flew to Hong Kong 
Beijing and Shanghai, CHN 
and even Tokyo’s Narita Airport along with the current flight to Haneda. They even flew to 2 cities in South America, São Paulo, BRA 
and Buenos Aires, ARG 
very unique destinations especially EZE. Following the pandemic, American retired aircraft and eventually decided to focus on European flying from the east coast with them essentially abandoning all the previously mentioned Asian destinations. It’s unfortunate to see the route network be a shell of its former self but I guess AA is moving on to better things now. Before heading to my gate, I stopped by a Mexican restaurant in T4 to grab some Tacos 
as the Mexican 
cuisine here is UNMATCHED apart from maybe Texas. After that very tasty lunch, it was time to make my way to gate 43 to await boarding time!
FLIGHT INFO:
Origin: Los Angeles Intl 
(LAX/KLAX)
Destination: Tokyo Haneda International (HND/RJTT)
Flight Time: 10:27
Boeing 787-9 (American Airlines)
Server: Expert
My ride across the Pacific Ocean
this afternoon will be N827AN, a 9 year Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner delivered to American Airlines in June 2017. This is my 3rd time on an American B789 and the 1st long haul flight I’ll do on one. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of their newer “B787-9Ps” which feature the new flagship suites and overall improved cabin. It’s the original Dreamliner cabin launched in May 2015 a whopping 11 years ago. The aircraft (and thus cabin itself) is still less than a decade old so it should still hopefully be enjoyable. This aircraft in particular was supposed to fly to HND yesterday but was forced to return back to LAX with the flight subsequently cancelled as a result with the reason being unknown.
Compared to the boarding experience I experienced at MIA earlier this morning, things here at LAX went much smoother, apart from pausing in the jet bridge from time to time.
American’s original B787-9s feature 285 seats in total split across a 3 class configuration. Boarding through door 2L, we unfortunately don’t get to see their flagship business cabin but it’s 20 total seats in a 1-2-1 configuration featuring Collins Aerospace Super Diamonds. What we do get to see upon boarding is the small 21 seater premium economy cabin featuring Collins Aerospace MiQ seats in a 2-3-2 configuration, these are the same seats installed on their narrowbody aircraft in the domestic first class cabin. Behind that are the remaining 251 main cabin seats featuring Safran 5751 slimlines in the typical 3-3-3 configuration.
My seat for this 10 and a half hour flight to Japan will be 28L. Waiting for me on the seat was a pillow and blanket which is always good to see before a long haul flight. The seat itself is very comfortable which is a good sign, the legroom is good for the time being but I wouldn’t be surprised if I start to feel tight as the flight goes on. There’s a personal seatback screen at every seat which we will be looking into later. Overall, it’s a good seat for a long haul flight, there are much worse seats to be on than this so I say it’s pretty acceptable. Soon enough, boarding concluded, we pushed back and made our way to LAXs RWY 25R for take off!
Till the next time, Los Angeles!
Our departure this afternoon was very unique, instead of flying directly west, we’d fly bordering the California
coast catching views of beach town after beach town, Malibu, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo etc… before we’d fully begin the journey west once we pass by Santa Cruz along with the San Francisco Bay Area. We’d also be cruising at 34,000ft for the entire ride and out the window, you can spot the Bay Area along with the famous golden state coast, I’m an east coast person and will likely be one my whole life but the scenery is something the west coast does SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER.
At this point lunch was served, we had either a pasta or chicken option albeit with a twist. Instead of a traditional pasta in a marinara or cheese sauce, we got Asian noodles which I did not expect. It came alongside a side salad 
bread roll with butter and chocolate mousse for dessert. A water bottle and beverage of your choice were also available which I chose a Coke. All in all a really fantastic meal, dare I say unexpected. Normally AA doesn’t seem to cater any special meals for economy class flights to specific destinations like I’ve eaten the same meal on a flight between Miami and London, GBR 
as on a flight from MIA to Santiago, CHL 
But not Tokyo, it seems like American or their catering contractors at LAX decided to cook literally something new for us and it worked. I was scared as a long time idol of mine named David flew from SFO to Narita on United and said that the food wasn’t good and he is usually very fond of airplane food. Now it wasn’t 5 star 
food you’ll find on the ground, but tasteful enough for this flight!
After the meal service wrapped up, the crew decided to let all the passengers rest. However, the crew did NOT lock the windows meaning I was able to still see outside but endless daytime ocean for 9 hours isn’t the exciting thing to see so in respect of my fellow passengers, I dimmed it just as we were catching the last view of North America.
In the meantime, let’s check out what the inflight entertainment has to offer. America installed the Panasonic eX2 entertainment system providing visual and audio content to stream on demand. The selection for movies and TV shows as usual is very extensive, you have iconic shows like Friends and The Office to more lesser known shows and even a lot of kids content if you’re traveling with children. Free WiFi is also provided with AAdvantage members getting free internet access while general passengers can pay a fee although it is quite hefty. As you should come to expect, internet coverage over the Pacific Ocean is very limited and thus, it only worked for like the first and last 90 minutes of the flight. So that means it’s time to do something else, the other thing in question, watch Friends, it’s a classic but still enjoyable!
I was HOOKED, and only was brought back into reality once the crew started preparing the pre landing service. The pre landing service was breakfast? Yeah you’re probably thinking, why? We are scheduled to land at 3:50pm and it would be 11:50pm back in LA
so who thought breakfast was a good idea? Anyways, for breakfast this afternoon, we’ll be having some waffles 
end egg 
which were pretty good. On the side was a warm croissant 
and vanilla yogurt, water bottle and another choice of beverage with me choosing an apple juice 
Yet again another solid meal, and even a surprising one again. Not this time with the main course but instead the croissant as usually, they are served cold in economy class but a warm one? Bonus pints for American!
At this point, we were passing directly south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, RUS 
and have about an hour and 15-20 minutes remaining so we aren’t far at all now!
Eventually we caught a glimpse of land and we began our descent into Tokyo, we would first fly into Japanese
airspace by Mito and make a series of turns to stay clear from Narita’s approach paths. We’d enter the city proper from the east side and make a 90 degree left base to final turn near Saitama and come into land on HNDs RWY 16R.
Down below you can make out the city of Mito and the vast countryside surrounding the city and even Tokyo. I can’t wait to be on the ground and see it for myself as I also enjoy exploring the outskirts of cities.
Tokyo is large, and when I say that, I mean it. No matter what direction you were facing, you were able to catch close up views over the city as we continued our approach. Now the left side probably saw the city center much better but at least I saw the mighty Mount Fuji
so there’s that. Anyways let’s sit back, relax and enjoy this smooth approach into HNDs RWY 16R.
TOUCHDOWN! Welcome to Tokyo, JPN
and I have to say, that approach was something else. Dare I say American Airlines actually delivered a very high quality product for this flight. Now when someone hears that name, you just assume a very mediocre product and maybe even below average on some days. And it’s true, AA isn’t entirely perfect but got right what they needed to get right most on this flight. The seats? Excellent! The crew? Hardworking and professional! The entertainment? Very sufficient and even the meals shocked me. I was expecting a standard chicken or pasta meal and maybe just a cold sandwich 
before landing but a very fitting first meal for the destination and a full breakfast before arrival is definitely something worth highlighting. I still however can get over the fact that breakfast was the 2nd meal served rather than lunch, but it’s honestly just whatever and something stupid to nitpick about. Overall, American delivered a fantastic product and would happily choose them for a trip to Japan again!
After a 10 and a half hour flight, the last thing you want is to be forced onto a bus. And that is exactly what happened this afternoon although it did give us this excellent view of the bird that flew us all the way here. She will be flying back to LAX later this evening while we make our way over to passport control
As I expected, it went extremely quick thanks to Japan’s very impressive innovations with security checks like those. The wait for my bags however took a decent amount of time but once those finally came out, it was time to make my way to my hotel to drop off my belongings before going out to explore what Tokyo and this beautiful country have to offer!
That will be it regarding this main cabin American Airlines flight on their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from Los Angeles, CA 
to Tokyo, JPN and I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the return to the states next Sunday and as always between now and the next time, see you in the sky! 
