IWontRegretThis

/notraisingmyhopes

After more than a few DL F flights with meals - I would almost choose a domestic Delta F meal over a transcon/intl F meal.

JonNYC

HA! Thanks for being such a good sport about it! ^



Look, all's I can tell ya is this looks to me like a huge amount of change. And **they** certainly think they've done a great job of it this time 'round. In fact, I strongly suspect when they announce this you'll even hear a bit of "oops! we made some mistakes!" and/or "yeah, we screwed up" type claptrap.

And, the wines will definitely be better. And the flagship lounge is definitely returning to DFW. And a lotta other $#%* that SHOULD really make a difference.

If this food revamp doesn't work, I hereby pledge to never comment on AA's food again.

NO ONE could argue that they haven't overpromised and underdelivered one too many times at that point.

JonNYC

Gary weighs in:
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....t-this-summer/

krlcomm

With all of the very positive changes DL is making to the well booze in the SC I'm really hoping AA is forced to follow suit soon! Some of the comp alcohol in the SC is actually drinkable now!

cmd320

I agree. The new selection of SC alcohol is on par with what I would expect in a lounge (overlooking the wine selection).

AA-Flyer-SAN

What? You're saying that the gas station sandwiches and vending machine rejected snacks being passed around in first was an underdelivered product? I even noticed that the "fresh fruit" went away too. There has GOT to be someone from US management that's getting some giant kickback for serving that crap.

Dr. HFH

I have to agree. Far from great, but hardly disgusting. Am I the only one here who sometimes buys meals on the ground to go and eats them on the plane? I do this ex-DFW from the BBQ restaurant in the terminal near the usual NRT and HKG departure gates, for example.


Do you run a business? As an owner, what's more important to you, -- being elite/great or being profitable? Anyone?

cmd320

If I treated my customers the way AA does, I wouldn't be in business for very long. They get away with it because of they have very few competitors, and the airline is too large.

aero0729

Disgusting was the proper word. Here are some examples.
- Puddles of water in eggs and other dishes
- The herbed potatoes make me gag.
- Rubbery chicken (even on the new salads)
- inedible pita bread served (on my last flight it had no substance, it just crumbled)
- beef that was far below fast food quality - have you tried the Terriyaki beef?
- Biscuits at breakfast have been tasting like flour and have been cold.

And good companies make profits by providing the best product. Im sure Apple could save a Billion on the next iphone by using a cheaper screen and they could save even more by reducing the staff in their stores by only 10%.

kmersh

Personally, I do not find that APPLE is all about giving value to the customer, but maybe I just do not see it.

COSTCO, surely, I almost get the feeling that COSTCO goes out of their way to return value to the customer, in fact IIRC COSTCO was unable to sell APPLE products for a long while because COSTCO didn't want to mark up the product to levels APPLE was happy with. Though that has changed recently as COSTCO is carrying APPLE products again.

I am not exactly sure what AA was thinking or if maybe they simply didn't care until lack of caring caused loss of revenue? I am by no means a business person and I openly and honestly admit that I DO NOT UNDERSTAND BUSINESS, but as a customer (with lack of understanding of business or Airline Economics specifically) any sort of loss of service or quality is no bueno.

I always say to my wife I wish I was a fly on the wall when these types of changes are discussed as it would elucidate the thinking behind such decisions and while it wouldn't help the food go down any easier, at least it would make say well at least I understand it.

Maybe it is a simple as saving $$$$$, I do not know.

Clearly whatever the reasoning was, they are changing up their plans according to a blog, so maybe things will improve and the reason, whatever it is, doesn't matter. IDK

BlissWorld

I saw the new catering coming....whenever. It doesn't really matter.

4 words

Lipstick on a pig.

Oink oink.

The main issue is those pathetic looking plates and dishes and the fact that USdbaAA decides to put a pathetic amount of food on them. They just look cheap and pathetic.

Back to the title of this thread. AA Catering is still Disgusting.

cmd320

$100 says the food that actually ends up on board will look absolutely nothing like what is shown in the blog...

ashill

Speaking as someone who has owned essentially zero non-Apple computing products since the mid-1980s (OK, I did own TI scientific calculators and a PalmPilot in high school and my watch is a scratched-up $30 Timex), I don't think the Apple really is all about giving value to the customer; they're about producing the best product and charging and getting a premium for it (although, comparing oranges-to-oranges, Apple's prices aren't all that high; they just don't compete in the bargain-priced markets so their cheapest product tends to be much more expensive than the competition's cheapest product). But Apple is a very, very different business than AA; I doubt that international F class has margins that beat Apple's average margin. And to me, that makes sense: I'm willing to pay a premium for something I'll own and use frequently for multiple years; I'm much less willing to pay for a premium for something that, no matter how special it is, is over after 16 hours (for the very longest flight). It's also a lot easier for a computer company to choose its markets, since their assets don't have a hard expiration time like the departure of a flight and their fixed costs are much lower. Really, this is just an example of there being multiple ways to be profitable within one industry, and that comparing airlines to computing companies or grocery stores isn't very helpful.

More clearly on topic, jetBlue is bringing Mint to BOS-SFO and BOS-LAX in 2016. I wonder if AA will respond by upping the ex-BOS product. (Mint is also coming to a Saturday-only BOS-Barbados, but I can't imagine an AA response to that.)

Dr. HFH

So if you ran a business, would you spend, say, twice as much as you had to on certain expenses if the expenditure didn't change your revenue? AA management has a legal obligation to the owners of the airline.

no1cub17

Aren't AA's revenues down from last year? Well there's your answer. If you want to keep cutting a la Dougie, you go ahead. Looks like many here have already bolted for DL/B6.