Originally Posted by
Betteronacamel
Nice summary there; we're very tempted to give AA aanother whirl once the 77W is guaranteed.
I'm going to echo your 'disappointment' that BA didn't use the opportunity of the A380 and 787 to move forward with their CW design. F I can understand as it's fairly new, but the current CW arrangement is fairly dated now. There isn't much in the cabin set-up to get excited about in either F or CW for the new planes - no bars or lounges or anything particularly different. I guess we lose the centre pair in CW on the 787 and the Upper Deck of the A380 which may get some people worked up.
AA has been marketing their J product as one where you don't have to 'step over' another passenger which is the key point. BA jumped ahead of the pack all those years ago when it gave J passengers a lie flat bed which was a real step change for J. A number of carriers have now moved ahead and for me this AA set-up is excellent.
As you suggest, BA is probably still slightly ahead on the soft product. My recent experience of AA crews (pretty much all internal flights) does indicate a wider spectrum from god-awful to excellent with BA more consistent. I prefer the wider choices of food on BA, who also tend to have better lounges. But it's getting closer in most aspects with BA gradually becoming less of a 'no brainer'. With BA shooting themselves in the foot by degrading food in the LHR lounges (or seeming to do so) they make it tougher for themselves.
Although I understand your sentiment about the changes in the lounge catering, did you realise that BA, AA and IB have a joint service agreement over the transatlantic and all revenue from these services is shared out proportiately (BA having the largest percentage). Therefore BA benifit as much as AA, in fact more than AA, from the changes AA have made.
Of course BA need to keep their game up too but the more people that AA attract to their service, particularily from other airlines not in the Joint agreement, the more money BA makes.