AA A319 PIT–DCA Main Cabin Extra Review
AA 1473 PIT–DCA on a 27-year-old A319 — Main Cabin Extra middle seat, biscotti, 45 minutes in the air, and a modern Pittsburgh airport.
A 27-year-old A319, a deliberate middle seat booking in Main Cabin Extra, biscotti, and 45 minutes of airtime. Pittsburgh airport turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Flight | American Airlines AA 1473 |
| Route | Pittsburgh (PIT) to Washington Reagan (DCA) |
| Departure | 6:04 PM |
| Arrival | 7:15 PM |
| Aircraft | Airbus A319 (N708UW) |
| Vintage | February 1999 — 27 years old |
| Cabin | Main Cabin Extra |
| Seat | 9B |
Pittsburgh Airport
It was my first time departing PIT and I was pleasantly surprised. The airport is clean and modern. Having some time to walk around before the return flight was a good excuse to take it in.
I spotted the Southern Air Express ramp a few days prior. And on the way to the gate, the remnants of a Spirit Airlines gate.
Closer to departure I was able to watch our inbound AA aircraft - registration N708UW - arrive before boarding. The 27-year-old A319 was originally delivered in February 1999, making it older than many of the passengers on board.
The Upgrade Situation - and Why It Didn't Matter
There are eight first class seats on the A319. As covered in the recent post about AA's A319 retrofit program, that number is in the process of being expanded to 12. For the time being N708UW is running the original configuration. Clearing was never realistic.
That was fine, because the plan was never to upgrade. I opted for seat 9B - a middle, Main Cabin Extra seat. It's been a while since I've sat in a middle seat and a 45-minute hop felt like the right low-stakes opportunity to check it out again.
The verdict: no surprise but the MCE legroom makes a middle seat significantly more tolerable than standard Main Cabin. On a flight this short it was perfectly manageable.
Takeoff
We pushed back a few minutes late. The taxi took us past Pennsylvania Air National Guard aircraft. A few minutes later we were in their air.
But not for long - only 45 minutes total. Despite the quick trip beverage service was offered - but no Buy on Board offerings, which is consistent with AA's distance based policy.
Wi-Fi and Entertainment
AA now offers free Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members. A Speedtest run mid-flight clocked 32 Mbps down, which is solid for most needs.
Landing
Shortly after reaching cruise, we started descending almost immediately. That's the reality of a 45-minute flight. Overall the flight was pretty unremarkable.
Final Thoughts
All things considered this was a pretty standard flight - but I'll take a boring flight over one with delays. Pittsburgh Airport was a highlight of the trip and one that I hope to pass through again soon.
Related: Southern Air Express EAS IAD–DUJ–PIT Review · AA Is Retrofitting A319s With More First Class Seats · AA DCA–FLL A319 Main Cabin Extra Review 2026