Originally Posted by MrAndy1369

That's true, but alot of people go in with the expectation that CLT-LAX would be treated the same as CLT-SFO; ie, a cross-country non-premium transcontinental flight. This is because people consider CLT to be on the east coast and California to be the west coast, so regardless of NorCal/SoCal, they assume they would get the same service. They then are disappointed that CLT-LAX is essentially a longer mid-con (Basic Plus) service despite the distance. Consistency is key, but perhaps a simplified formula such as "east coast state that touches the ocean < > west coast state that touches the ocean gets transcontinental meal service", then everything else can be mileage-based like the old system. Perhaps a carveout for 2200+ mile flights that doesn't go entirely coast to coast, such as PHX-BOS, can be made? AA used to offer exception flights, so it can be done.

Or, AA could make it even more premium (ha, dream on, right?) and offer their non-premium transcontinental service on, let's say, 1700+ mile flights. Differentiate themselves from the crowd, offer printed menus, sundaes, and other goodies on longer midcons. It'd be a nice throwback to the old days when travel actually used to be premium.

OP: Sorry, I don't have specifics to your question, but wanted to provide my insight.
Mods: Perhaps this would be best merged in the main meals thread? Just a suggestion.