When I think back to all of my long-haul AA flights in business class over the years, few FAs stand out as being truly exceptional. Many did the job, but not in an above average way. And a sizable minority were downright unpleasant or refused to do work and made their colleagues pick up a lot of the slack.

On my most recent flight, I watched as the sour FA working my wife’s side of the plane bypassed her during breakfast service, despite the fact that she was awake with her tray table open. I had to go find my side’s FA and ask for service. I could tell that my FA was very annoyed with her colleague on the oppose side.

AA won’t be a premium airline until they move to a merit based assignment system (especially for the premium cabin). FAs are not pilots. They are replaceable, and shouldn’t be treated like a skilled trade with a union seniority system.

Every other US airline with a long-haul premium cabin needs to do the same.