I just had a very interesting convesation with the FA on my SAN-LAX AE flight. (Yes, take with a grain of salt and call me in the morning...) Some highlights:

>Naturally, I asked how well it's going, and she rolled her eyes in gest. A LOT of unhappy pax, especially those who aren't elite and are charged, but are sitting next to an elite who gets a free one. Apparently, the standing order from mgmt is to give that non-status pax the free drink, as to not make them unhappy.

>Unfortunately, all the complaints are going to the FAs (who can only report hearsay) and NOT reaching the right people. So apparently, regional mgmt (?) sees revenue, and they've only received ONE complaint (!!!) about it. Hence, they think it's working.

(As an aside, service to MRY will become an RJ, and AA plans to get rid of the Saab340B+'s and retain/put into service more 340B's)

On the suggestion of the FA, I am emailing a letter to AA about my thoughts, and you should too! I would like to help push an email-writing campaign to tell AA this is a bad idea... the people sitting on their pedistals don't realize this.

For those of you who don't know, email Customer Relations by gonig to aa.com, selecting "Contact Us" at the top, then "Customer Relations" on the left-hand menu.

We must stop this here and now!! (Insert favorite battlecry here)