In January, American Airlines stopped doing second drink service on long domestic coach flights. By making passengers request a second drink, either making you press the flight attendant call button and risk angering crew or heading to the galley for a drink and risk angering crew, the airline would save money on soda. The message when CEO Robert Isom took over was clear, ‘never spend a dollar you don’t have to’.
Shortly after that, though, the airline started talking internally about making a pivot to premium.
- Increasingly customers are willing to spend more money for a better experience.
- They’re no longer just buying on schedule and price.
- This even caught low cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier flat footed, with both adding first class products. (Even Southwest is adding extra legroom seating.)
- American’s traditional model (since US Airways management took over) of focusing only on operational reliability, but still not delivering it, was no longer sufficient. The airline has lagged the industry financially.
They’ve already reversed course on the plan to dehydrate coach passengers. A spokesperson shared that beverage service ramps back up tomorrow.
American remains committed to further enhancing the customer experience throughout the travel journey. Starting May 14, American will reinstate a second beverage service on domestic long-haul flights (1,500+ miles) and including a pre-meal beverage service for select international flights departing before 9:01 p.m. local departure time.
Here’s what flight attendants are being told:
This is an important change, and it’s a quick reversal of course. It comes after testing holding planes for connecting passengers when doing so won’t be disruptive to the operation; announcing that premium cabin customers will no longer have their headphones collected an hour before landing; and launching a plan for free wifi on most of their planes starting next year.
We’re only weeks away from the inaugural of their new business class and opening of their new style business class lounge in Philadelphia. They have a long way to go with inflight food and beverage, but it’s really good to see some green shoots at the airline.
A major step they need is rolling out a more robust buy on board economy food program. While the premium improvements are great, most passengers fly economy. Things like restoring second drink service matter, but you’re lucky to be able to purchase a cheese plate on a three hour flight.
Adding Tostitos snack boxes at a higher price than Allegiant charges for a more robust offering to flights longer than 1,300 miles doesn’t cut it. Before the pandemic they were offering pre-order meals in coach.
The threshold for second drink service should drop closer to 1,000 miles. 1,500 misses a lot of routes from DFW/ORD that used to have it before the pandemic cuts.
Gary, did you see what Ben Schlappig posted yesterday about his LGA-MIA flight with AA?
Those types of gate agents need to be weeded out fast or American can offer a third drink service with unlimited free Dom and Krug and nobody would fly them because of the absurdity of being met with a condescending insult at the ticketing counter, despite being a paying First Class customer. American already has to charge less for the same routes compared to its peers because the shit service has become well known even in casual travel circles.
American needs a way to institute a system of customer satisfaction surveys (with photos and agent names) and immediate termination for cause of any agent who receives negative feedback from 2 or more customers in a 7-day period. ConciergeKey should confer the benefit that any agent rated poorly by even a single CK customer is immediately fired for cause with no ability to collect unemployment benefits.
That’s how to make American great again.
This is a HUGE item they could improve. A lot of “premium” (pax with Plat Pro and above) are stuck in the back due to corporate travel policy and lack of availability of upgrades. Premium passenger treatment needs to be experienced from tip to tail. To date Skyview’s excuses have been lazy and cheap, and they blame the lack of providing the tools to the cabin crew on Skyview thinking cabin crew don’t charge or give away too much….Skyview just needs to account for this, offer incentives not punishment to cabin crew and stop being so cheap and unimaginative!
I flew JetBlue a week ago and they had a second drink service in coach. In fact, the flight attendant offered me an additional can of Pepsi Zero but I turned it down because it would have caused an additional lavatory run.
What’s the thinking behind not offering more buy on board in coach? Since those items are for sale, what do they really have to lose by offering it? (I know there’s a price to load the food, etc., but still…)
I’m glad that American is adapting here. It’s also a balancing act of not wanting to over-hydrate your passengers, because then the lavatories will indeed get backed-up.
@jns — I’m with you on the frequent lavatory visits. jetBlue is more generous than most, often providing a full-can of whatever to each passenger, if they wish. Also, for Even More, they provide up to three alcoholic beverages. Just saying, three Bombay Sapphires in rapid succession is a lot.
@Unintimidated — I personally would like better experiences for us passengers, yet I also don’t think cruel and unusual firings are going to make that ‘a thing.’ So, please consider less hyperbole, and a little more ‘gratitude’ that this airline is actually trying to make necessary improvements.
I’m curious, did American decide this once they saw that travel was drying up a bit, like, due to economic strife. If so, the motivations are indeed interesting, and also, where things go from here. What new tantalizing offers and amenities might we soon see to get our business back… Bah!
@1990
And if you don’t feed them on a 14 hour flight, they won’t poop.
Time to get off the jumpseat twinkles…….work is comin’ back!
1990
AA simply and finally listened to its customers that said how uncompetitive AA had become compared to DL and UA.
Even AA’s beancounters recognize that AA’s financial outlook is very troublesome -much higher labor costs than the revenue they can get.
Who knows if AA can stem the loss of high value passengers even outside of NYC, CHI and LAX but it will be a herculean effort to regain passengers in those competitive markets where DL and UA are also upping their game – even if UA might have a whole lot fewer flights at EWR after meetings with the DOT tomorrow.
Good luck with them getting the FAs to actually do the second service. While there will be some who will do the second service, there will be many that don’t. They had a staffing arbitration where that was a staffing issue regarding one service or two and the number of FAs that should be on board. The company got what they wanted when they lied and said the policy was to only do one service (the FA policy manual said two services), hence they officially reduced it to one service. Now they are officially going back to two services so there will be union push back on this.
Now that Parker (Former CEO) is gone things will continue to improve at American Airlines. Parker was the worst and should have been fired long before he was able to destroy a once a great airline.
As with all of this, the proof will be in the pudding.
I had four flights with AA last weekend and on two of those they failed dismally in terms of service.
The first was LAS – PHX in First where we did get a PDB, but absolutely no service in the air. The excuse was that it was a short, 47-minute, flight. I have had way shorter flights where the whole plane got a drink (and AA used to do that on LAS – LAX and PHX but stopped).
The second was PHX – LAS where, once again, there was a PDB but no service in the air due to non-existent turbulence. The captain said the radar / weather was clear but he didn’t believe it so told the FAs to remain seated.
I complained (twice) to AA but got a “Sorry, not sorry. Please go away” response. It’s a damning indictment of the current attitude at AA where Customer Relations simply doesn’t care about not just poor but non-existent service in the air.
What a JOKE! Sure, let’s bring back service. But supplies are limited onboard. Crews keep getting reduced, although American reinstates service or upgrades service. Look now, they’re trying to get crew size reduced more now by the FAA. Just a few more brib bucks, and they’ll have it. But on board is a joke. Bring back real food, salads, wraps. Maybe a partnership with Farmers Fridge you see in airport. Bad leadership and decisions since USAir took over and Isom.
BOB needs to come back. I’m flying DFW/ANC at the end of August and so far cash upgrades are coming in at over $2.5K (321neo). Anything under $800 I will probably bite but there’s a chance I might be doing that flight and the return to ORD in coach. The flight to ANC is a daytime flight and lack of food on a near eight hour flight other than a crappy cheese plate? I least I will get that for free.
It was very hit or miss to see second drink service on long flights even before the January service change, not optimistic that officially reversing it will change that much. AA’s buy onboard is a joke compared to DL, UA, or even their partner AS, they have lots of tight connections through DFW and CLT especially where people can’t otherwise stop for anything and then get no options.
The raggedy planes and often grumpy service already had the desire to retain AA elite status in question.
I had noticed the missing second drink lately.
Bit by bit AA pushed me to fly UA and DL.
Some people think they are going to a restaurant when boarding a flight…
@Tim Dunn — Yeah, the tides may finally be changing. Still holding my breath a bit. I continue to think this is more macro-economic (recession fears, layoffs, tariffs, etc.) than anything meaningfully airline-specific. Though, I’ll take what we can get here. When management actually listens to customers and workers, that’s a good day, usually.
As for competition, you know from my comments on here that I prefer more, not less, namely so that us passengers get better, more reliable service, and that workers are retained and can grow with these company. Yet, for investors, top executives, etc., I acknowledge that there is a different calculus (usually, quarterly earnings, ROI, often focused on short-term wins, PR stunts, etc.). Even if the majority shareholders were seen as the primary ‘customers,’ these airlines do still need to serve actual ‘passengers’ eventually. So, the uppity-ups can enjoy the pump-up schemes like stock buybacks and the quick wins of credit card points program revenue, but they still gotta fly!
On American specifically, of course they can always fallback on their fortresses at DFW, CLT, MIA, and PHL. The folks in those places are mostly trapped there anyway (especially CLT and DFW, as are those in ATL to Delta). So, in that regard, I’d like to see more markets like NYC, ORD, LAX, where it is actually somewhat more evenly-distributed, at least between the big-three.
@CHRIS — Bah! Yes, I’m reminded of some long-hauls on LCCs, like Icelandair and Norwegian. Basically, you just get one bottle of water for crossing the Atlantic. Yikes.
@Tony n — Depends which airline/route/class of service. If it’s long-haul Business Class on most airlines, I’d argue that you very much are going to an onboard restaurant. Even domestic First in the USA, most airlines, 3+ hours flight, you’re getting a half-decent meal. Mmm short rib!
Somehow, I’ll wager that “never spend a dollar you don’t have to” does not apply to his salary.
Have always gotten a full can on American Airlines. Thank you American flight attendants.
@Justin — That’s an excellent point. In 2023, Isom received $31.4 million total compensation, supposedly; meanwhile, some new hire flight attendants barely earned $30K. So, did he ‘earn’ that, like, did he work 1000x harder? And, can no one else possibly ‘lead’ the airline? Oh no, in 2024, he only earned $15.6 million. Sad face! I guess he only worked 500x harder.
I really don’t care about how many drinks they serve. I would be happy if they would just fly the flights that I book on time and actually get me where I want to go.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Offering me a second beverage is not going entice me to return to AA. Their philosophy of “may the bridges I burn light the way” has destroyed any goodwill I once had for AA…which was once THE airline to fly. They can add all the premium lounges and improved business class seating they want but when it’s being staffed by some of the rudest, most hateful, anti-customers employees and led by people who think the way to success is turn up the water in the pot and see if we’ll jump there’s not a chance in hell I’m coming back any time soon.
AA has a lot of work to do before they get a second chance from me. I put UA in timeout long before the Dr. Dau incident and they remained there until I had to fly them under duress one day and they proved they had made sustainable changes.
1990
you do realize that just half of AA and DL’s revenue comes from its hub markets? the number is higher in revenue from hubs for UA but the point is that there are huge amounts of revenue in small and medium sized cities that is up for grabs.
AA might have managed to trap the people in their hubs but they cannot succeed if DL and to a lesser extent UA keeps taking revenue in competitive cities.
All of the big 3 are simply built to be hub and spoke carriers; they cannot expect to succeed unless they offer competitive service across their networks.