I think this could really suck. Personally, I do alot of flying from the west coast on AA to the Caribbean. They do not offer any non-stops on any of the routes I fly (for ex.: PDX-DFW-MIA-PLS) and I usually have to change planes at least once. While each flight segment may only be 2-3 hours (or less), I am essentially a prisoner to the planes for the better part of a day (and night, usually), with little to no time in between flights to go out and get myself something to eat. Does this mean now that I will have to lengthen the time I spend in the air simply so I will have enough time to eat on the ground between flights? Boy, they are going to make flying so inconvenient that I may have to really reconsider whether it's worth it or not.
Now I LOVE traveling to the Caribbean, don't get me wrong, and I typically do so 2-3 times per year in addition to my other travels. I always fly either AA or TWA, depending on my destination. If they take away meal service on my routes, I will have to basically take 2 days to reach my destination, possibly necessitating an overnight somewhere in between, simply so I can eat (this would be necessary because of the times of day AA runs their flights and connections on the routes I fly). Add to that the fact that I can no longer even take a pair of nail clippers with me, nor a corkscrew, and the extra delays for security checks (and I am NOT saying that the security precautions aren't necessary, I just have to take all this into consideration) and I am looking at a MAJOR hassle just to take a week in the Caribbean. My family will now have to consider drastically cutting back on the number of trips we take each year, which will cost the airlines money too. I'm sure I am not alone here when I say that.
At what point do the airlines balance saving $$ now versus lost future revenue due to passenger inconvenience? I normally do fly first class on these routes, so possibly food would not be an issue for me, I would really have to look into that further, but the bigger picture here is how many other people will all this become an issue for and how will all these changes affect their leisure travel plans? I think some of you have a valid point that AA may lose alot of coach passenger revenue to the "no frills" airlines if they take away the "frills" that made them worth the price difference. The no frills may even see the potential passenger gain and begin flying many more routes to capitalize on that.
I sincerely hope that AA takes these issues into consideration before making any hasty decisions that may cost them big $$ down the line.......