MrAndy1369

To be clear - it's the new, US-style plates that are chipping?

I hope you took a picture and reported it. Should be easy to fix, unless the plates are cheaply manufactured, and break easily. In that case, methinks AA/US should order new plates that are more durable.

FlyerBeek

SFO777 - You travel with your own ramekin? I already held you in high regard, but you just went up a notch.

-FlyerBeek

MAH4546

I don't think it's too shocking to believe that American Airlines flight attendants are now embarassed to be associated with US Airways' and their poor service standards. This is the first merger between two major airlines at total opposite ends of the service spectrum.

Yes, I know, you think US Airways is amazing, not a low cost carrier, etc., etc. We aren't going to agree.

You also apparently think it's okay that glass plates chip. You know how many glass plates I've bitten into in my years of flying? Zero. Maybe I need to watch out if I ever fly US Airways, though, so thanks for the heads up.

SFO777

LOL. Yeah, but I didn't realize that I'd also have to bring a lime and a real glass when I fly Air Koryo Express.

Fanjet

Except that poster was on an Eagle flight. And their catering is still the same until the end of this month. So is Eagle still using the old AA plates, or the new ones?

arlflyer

Old. Dougie will be happy to hear that it was thus fully depreciated, though I doubt they took it out of service anyhow.

McFlyPHL

Mine was chipped glassware. Don't recall if it had the old flag or the new eagle on it, though. Either way I let the FA know and got a fresh glass. Not the end of the world - things sometimes happen.

If it becomes a regular occurrence that's when I'd get concerned. If you take enough glasses in and out of racks you're bound to chip one at some point along the way. When that happens I'm not sure what else can be done beyond tossing the glass, apologizing, and replacing it.

McFlyPHL

We've been through this before. It's not unprecedented by a long shot. But hey... keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll come true, right?

Though hey... when you get some facts that support your argument and don't rely on hyperbole and bluster, be sure to let us know.

Of course I never said - nor even implied - anything of the sort. Then again, when you've got nothing else to support your argument, just make something up. Not the first time we've seen it from you, doubtful it'll be the last.

flyingmusicianlax

Slightly off-topic: have you had the food in the Centurion Lounge? It is of excellent quality - surpassing some restaurants - and beautifully presented. Your perception, I think, is due to the fact that it's beautifully presented as a buffet, but those who take pictures of their individual servings have plated it themselves.

Back on-topic: Speaking of presentation and plating, that's one of the biggest differences between meals post 9/1 and meals pre 9/1. pmAA got a lot of the subtleties right in a lot of peoples' minds: a well-balanced meal on meal flights and a substantial snack on shorter / later flights, a thoughtful combination of ingredients (Google "American Airlines lemon thyme chicken salad"), paper menus and three-course meals on all transcons, and baked on-board cookies and biscuits. The combined meal service, while certainly not lacking in substance on flights over 1000 miles, cuts many of these corners. To many, this looks chintzy.

McFlyPHL

I've had it, but not in DFW. I was unimpressed with the food in LAS when I was there.

I agree with you here to an extent. I don't miss the salads much on shorter flights because most of the time I'd rather work through them and eat better food on the ground. My point is that the difference between the two was/is largely presentation, as you suggest. I just don't need someone putting down linens on my tray table to make me feel special/warm and fuzzy.

Would I prefer a service that incorporated US' appetizer with AA's baked on board cookies and sauces on the side in a ramekin? Sure. I suppose that'd be nice... but neither was terribly gourmet to begin with and pretending like either was is dishonest. Some may miss the single use plastic salt and pepper shakers, but it seemed like half the time they didn't even get used and even when they did they are, to me, wasteful.

All that said, I (and the vast, vast majority) of passengers aren't changing airlines over presentation. If they did, they'd see it's all variations of the same thing. Don't like the cookies served on plates? Try Delta's prepackaged cookies tossed on the tray in F. The notion that AA was head and shoulders above everyone else and US was basically Spirit with a *A sticker on the side is simply not true.

What we've seen here is a bunch of people who don't like change and are convinced their beloved AA was a bastion of premium everything tossing out extreme hyperbole and bluster. Nothing more, nothing less.

MAH4546

What facts are you disputing? The below are all facts.

• US Airways is a low cost carrier.
• US Airways had industry-worst meal windows.
• The new meals of are noticeably poorer quality and come from US Airways.
• The new meal windows are the worst in the industry.
• American Eagle is the only regional airline that will not be serving meals as of early next year.
• The new meals are of noticeably smaller portions on most routes.
• US Airways has discontinued baked on-board cookies and biscuits.
• US Airways has discontinued tray linens

You're grasping really, really hard to justify the significant cutbacks in meal service. The difference isn't just presentation. There is a noticeable reduction in the quality of the catering - it went from AA's catering to US' catering. If this was all about linens and baked-on board cookies, people wouldn't be complaining loudly, and flight attendants wouldn't have to be apologizing to customers.

No, people aren't going to abandon AA only because of the meal service. I'm not. People are going to be abandoning AA because of an overall cheapening of the product to US Airways-standards. PMUS was never able to attract the business/premium customers that PMAA, DL and UA have been able to, and it's poor product across the board (FF program, on board product, customer service, etc.) was certainly a driving reason. Bringing that product over to the merged carrier isn't the best idea.

cmd320

I'm sorry but to defend the current US meal offerings as acceptable while calling the food offered in the Centurion Lounge unimpressive really make your statements appear to lack credibility. Anyone who has experienced both knows this is simply untrue. US has turned AA into an embarrassment. So much so that even UA, the laughing stock of airlines worldwide has chosen to improve their domestic meal offering upon hearing of the disaster that is AA's new domestic soft product. The "new AA" is nothing more than US masquerading around with AA name and to me it's a disgrace having been close to the real AA for 25 years now. Poor CR Smith is probably turning in his grave.

UA-NYC

UA's changes were likely in the works well prior

And all their changes are doing is bringing them up to near parity w AA and DL. Quality still not great or anything.

brewdog11

Oh, I totally beg to differ...

How were y'all's ubiquitous first class meals on non-transcon flights? Did you enjoy having to pay for preferred seats even if you were a CP? How about those plastic cups in F? Did you enjoy listening to a 10-minute presentation on a credit card? I could go on and on...

The notion is profoundly correct.

SFO777

Don't feed the trolls.
Too bad there is no way to have the Ignore List apply to quotes.