aa ORD PEK Boeing 777 Inflight Amenities

American Airlines direct flight between Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports.

"China and the United States are two highly, mutually-complementary markets containing enormous business opportunities," said The Honorable Ping Huang, the former Chinese Consul General in Chicago. "The coming take-off of the flight is just opportune and will, in turn, inject fresh impetus into the ever deepening and expanding Sino-U.S. relations and bring great benefits to the people of our two countries."

The Beijing flight will be flown with a Boeing 777, featuring 14 First Class, 37 Business Class and 194 Economy seats.

Employee Involvement

American's Asian Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group (APIERG) has been working with Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, Los Angeles, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Fort Worth, Texas-based employees to plan and prepare for the new Beijing flight – from menu design, Chinese language and culture consulting, sales and other pre-launch activities.

Food

American has collaborated with celebrity chef Sam Choy to create new Asian-fusion menu items that will be featured on the new flights between Chicago and Beijing. The new, enhanced menus artfully blend the deep traditions of Chinese cuisine with the flavors of Western fare. Chef Choy is a four-time nominee for the James Beard Best Pacific Regional chef award. American has utilized Choy's culinary expertise by collaborating with him to design premium class menus for Hawaii flights in 2007 and for flights between the U.S. and Tokyo this February.

Inflight Amenities

American will have Mandarin-speaking flight attendants on each flight and premium passengers will be able to read a host of different newspapers while on board the aircraft, including the Wall Street Journal Asia, USA Today Asia, and the Beijing Morning Post. Additionally, two Chinese movies in Mandarin will be available for viewing: The Rebellion and Storm Warriors. In various cabins, American also will offer six films with Chinese subtitles: Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, The Invention of Lying, The Blind Side, Michael Jackson's This Is It, and Planet 51.