I am based in London and fly mostly SH in Europe so my point of comparison is BA Club Europe. In the last week I have flown in First Class 4 times, 3 on US and once on AA (the most recent). All the sectors with US were on Airbus and the AA on a 737. I thought I would share my experiences...

My US experience

On every US flight there was a single person working First, and boy did they work ! Drink offered within 2 minutes of taking my seat, attentive service throughout the flight, and warm friendly demeanour from all 3 of them. They each introduced themselves and on 2 of the 3 flights I was addressed by name.

The seats were wide and comfortable and the lack of IFE was no problem even on JFK-PHX, though the lack of at-seat power could have been problematic for the unprepared

Food was edible, and drink refills were freely offered.

I had rather low expectations before taking based on reading reports here on FT but came off each US flight thinking "pretty good experience actually, I'd gladly do that again !". Overall, comparable to a very good BA CE trip, but in a much better seat...

My AA experience

Oh dear, the crew on US1312 yesterday (PHX-JFK op. by AA) really let themselves down.

A Purser and a junior FA working the First cabin (I use the term "working" loosely...).

The door greeting was OK and we took our seats in the front row at 16 minutes past the hour (remember this time for later !).

My seatmate needed to put a bag up so I took my bulky coat out of the overhead. The Purser saw this and said he would hang it once boarding complete. So far so good...

About 15 minutes passed and people were still boarding - it was an almost full flight - but unlike all 3 US flights no sign of a pre-push drink, even though the Purser & FA were in the forward galley chatting for most of that time ...

Another 10 minutes went past and I noticed the purser was now helping a Coach passenger to stow something in the wardrobe so I stood up coat in hand... He fair snarled at me "I'm not ready !!" ...

Another few minutes passed and we were wheels up and established in the climb. Great, now I'll get my vodka and tonic ! Umm no, the priority seems to be to sell $5 headphones - to people in First Class with $300 Bose ones of their own...

So now it's 19 past the NEXT hour i.e. 1 hour and 3 minutes since my tush cosied up to the seat cushion... Suddenly - would I like a drink ? <redacted> yeah.... and all is well for about 10 minutes more as I suck it down. Now the junior FA comes out of his burrow...

OK so I'm a Brit and we hate all that "Hi, my name is Deshonne and I'll be your server today" BS... but this guy was abrupt even by our standards. His literal words to us were "Beef enchilada or chicken salad ?". No introduction, no human warmth, I might as well have been served by Asimo...

When the food came it was edible.

So, now I am at the bottom of my first drink and the Purser magically reappears... "Ah Mr and Mrs 1A and 1B would you like another drink ?". I smiled inwardly at his perfect timing, then... "Ah Mr and Mrs 2A and 2B....." Excuse me ? Did I forgetfully slip on Harry Potter's invisibility cloak ? I actually had to call the guy over to get my second drink in 2 hours.... and even then he gave me attitude...

You know, I don't like to come across as a First World whiner (though I realise I may have done do above !) and to be fair to AA they got me to New York safely, in comfort and ahead of schedule.

But let's all pray that they keep the "American" brand with US Airways service rather than the opposite... !!!!

Well it's good you had some good experiences on US. I'm a FA for US based in CLT and I really do try to hang up coats asap, serve a PDB of passenger's choice, address passengers by name, be friendly and engaging. But I don't always succeed, occasionally on domestic, I won't serve PDBs if we are late. Some LUS FAs will be like the ones you found on AA and hide in the galley for the rest of the flight.

FAs can be really hit and miss especially on US carriers, you'll get good FAs and bad ones. I just hope that you mainly get good FAs on your flights.

Oh, and I don't do all that "Hello I'm blah blah" crap. I am from the UK too

AA beats UA...both are fine...with me...

I find the AA 737 to be much more spacious/comfortable in F than the US 321s. I find the service to be comparable, but if I have the choice I will always choose the Boeing. Thoughts?

F seems to be about the same except US FAs are more likely to do a full PDB while AA seats have power outlets and some domestic a/c have IFE.

I have never been on an AA flight where headsets were sold to FC pax, they are always given out gratis... Did something change? I have my own headset so I don't pay close attention to this "stuff"...

Most of the time the headsets seemed to be already out and placed at each seat.

As stated previously, headsets are not sold in First. And one flight each hardly make a data stream.

There's nothing to compare with AA and US domestic First / short haul Business with Club Europe in seating and comfort, and I'm not impressed by being served with plastic trays, "China" and undersized plastic utensils and a mini bottle of mediocre wine. 30-31" seat pitch in "Business", er Club Europe, really? What an embarrassment! And not on short flights alone - LON-ATH or IST are flat painful.

Flights on both AA and US - or other U.S. airline - can be quite variable (though my last few have ranged from fair to good), and I'd not rate BA on the several flights I've made over the years on BA - from decent to amateurish at best. One flight to Athens, they not only couldn't get it right, they broke glassware and spilled, dealing with it by leaving several napkins covering the mess mid-aisle to trip or be stepped on by all the aircraft's passengers.

Nonetheless, I'd not dare to judge BA cabin employees by such a small sample as perhaps 4-6 flights annually over the last couple of decades.

I would too. Plus I like, you know, power and occasionally free seat-back IFE.

I'd happily take an MD-80 over the (newer) US A319/A320 too.

PHX FA are usually very good, did my best to seek out sub-700 flight numbers. This will diffuse out since the FA union is now one.

I've had a refill on PDB on these flights. AA is pretty much water or OJ.

There are obviously exceptions both ways.

I don't think US domestic F service gets enough credit, ignoring things outside of the crew's control, like equipment (I like AA aircraft) and pre-merger standards. While my 'best ever' experience between AA/US has been on AA, I've found US to be more consistent, and consistently a bit better. Sometimes I think I get the same number of unprompted refill offers on, say, a US PHL-BOS as I do on an AA DFW-PHL.

I agree. While the in flight power and a few extra inches of pitch in the 737s are nice, and I've had SOME -rare albeit- fantastic service on AA (but I just got off a set of AA F flights where the crew was exactly as OP has described), I've found US to be much more consistent. Having flown both AA and US pretty equally in the past year, today I wouldn't hesitate flying US over ANY domestic carrier - certainly UA but have no problems flying paid F on US over AA, DL, and even AC. Is it the best? No. Does it match up to Asian standards? No. But then again I'm paying $800-$1,500 for F (ok, in reality it's some YUP fare booking into A) for most destinations in this vast expanse of land - being based in Cali. US works, they dont get enough credit, and they work comfortably well. I'd say they are a solid B+ player most of the time I've flown and I'm more than OK with that. In fact, I'm looking forward to my ATL-PHX-LAX journey this Saturday in paid F - all US obviously - which I deliberately chose over ATL-DFW-LAX ... For what it's worth I'm also a bit over the AA crew attitudes that OP had described, which I kind of picked up too over the past few months (not everyone but the few have really stuck out) - not sure if it is merger related.

I would agree that US wins the consistency game. It does seem that the US FAs work the cabin according to the prescribed service standards in their manuals (hang coats, offer PDBs, make refill rounds once in the air every 15 mins, etc) more often than their AA counterparts. AA, on the other hand, seems to be more polished as an airline, as the pursers always introduce the crew, aircraft have power, IFE, and the FAs wear actual uniforms.

I prefer Airbus aircraft, if only because the interior of US F cabin has become so familiar to me over the years. There are a few 319s and 320s on the East side that are starting to show their age (the 1998-2000 deliveries), but on the most part, US aircraft are much cleaner than AA aircraft that I have been on. Some of AA's 737s remind me of US's old 7-dirty-7s when they were still flying (and neglected).

Oh, and my biggest gripe - my roll aboard doesn't fit straight into the 737 bins. The Airbus bins are slightly deeper.

+1 And I will add md80 over any express aircraft

Far too many MD80 haters in this world

AA service in F has become horribly inconsistent of late. Coats are not taken until practically shoved in the faces of the FAs. No PDB on more than half of my flights (though I will say Eagle FAs do this well). Coats often not returned before landing. First Class gate check tags on the RJs are worthless as those bags never reach the jet bridge first. This said I do appreciate the ability to select my meal before departure and the power ports at all seats.

US ain't flashy but it is predictable and generally consistent. I do like the fact that when you order a cocktail on US the FA brings you a glass half-full of mixer and two, count 'em two, minis for you to mix it yourself. Makes it easier on them and on me.