I flew economy class on one of American Airlines' busiest international routes - here's what it was like

• With dozens of flights a day with a number of major airlines, the New York-London route is a high-traffic and competitive route for airlines.
• American Airlines and British Airways, which operate a joint-venture across the Atlantic, offer the most flights a day and are arguably the most prolific operators of the route.
• I flew American Airlines's main cabin from New York to London this month to see what that airline is like - here's what I found.

American Airlines and British Airways, which are partners in a trans-Atlantic joint venture, offer around 15 flights between New York and London on an average weekday, more than any of their competitors offer on the high-volume route. In effect, even though United, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, and low-cost-carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle offer numerous daily flights, the Oneworld partners are arguably the most prolific carriers of the route.

When you search flights on one of the airlines' websites, results from both airlines appear virtually indistinguishable from each other. That's how I found myself with a round-trip itinerary between New York and London that featured both airlines, after booking steeply discounted flights through a British Airways flash sale.

My outbound flight was on American Airlines - originally a red-eye, but I had to change it to the daytime flight departing at 10:20 a.m. I usually fly between New York and the UK once a year or so, but I hadn't flown a long-haul American Airlines flight in economy for a very long time - although I did fly a red-eye in business class on a frequent flyer award ticket last year. I also hadn't flown this route during the day before, usually opting for the red-eye - and, in coach, the fitful sleep that comes with it. That made this a fairly new flying experience for me.

Here's what the flight was like, and what I'd recommend to any traveler.