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Discussion: AA Catering still Disgusting (separate from description / menu threads)

Discussion: AA Catering still Disgusting (separate from description / menu threads)

Old Jun 13, 2015, 6:56 pm
  #91  
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Originally Posted by justforfun
Sorry, don't understand this sentence.
It's just the added surprise from the OP that a decently palatable meal can be offered in Y (economy) class on some carriers.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 7:09 pm
  #92  
 
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Even international business meals are about the same quality as domestic first nowadays. This was my meal from GRU to JFK! This is no where near the quality as it was two years ago. this is just a standard domestic first meal now:

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Old Jun 13, 2015, 7:17 pm
  #93  
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Originally Posted by AA-Flyer-SAN
Even international business meals are about the same quality as domestic first nowadays. This was my meal from GRU to JFK! This is no where near the quality as it was two years ago. this is just a standard domestic first meal now:
?? That looks rancid. Furthermore, why are domestic F style meals being served in intercontinental J?
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 7:31 pm
  #94  
 
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Originally Posted by cmd320
?? That looks rancid. Furthermore, why are domestic F style meals being served in intercontinental J?
It was horrible
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 8:51 pm
  #95  
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Originally Posted by cmd320
It's just the added surprise from the OP that a decently palatable meal can be offered in Y (economy) class on some carriers.
An AB meal in Y beats a domestic AA F meal.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 8:54 pm
  #96  
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Originally Posted by seawolf
An AB meal in Y beats a domestic AA F meal.
Can't say I've ever flown AB personally, but I certainly don't doubt it!
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 9:00 pm
  #97  
 
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Originally Posted by seawolf
An AB meal in Y beats a domestic AA F meal.
What doesn't these days? Effing air asia, for $3, serves a chicken curry that's better than anything AA has ever served. But hey at least dougie is getting rich.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 9:32 pm
  #98  
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Originally Posted by no1cub17
What doesn't these days? Effing air asia, for $3, serves a chicken curry that's better than anything AA has ever served. But hey at least dougie is getting rich.
I suppose someone has to...
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 11:30 pm
  #99  
 
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Rather than trying to get the U.S. Govt prevent the ME3 from expanding, maybe they can work on their "game".

That's what people really like about the ME3. Its not that they are always the cheapest, its that for a good price they provide service, entertainment and decent meals and practically one-stop destinations via their hub.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 12:04 am
  #100  
 
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Originally Posted by BlissWorld
Delta is THE best domestic carrier at this very moment when it comes to products.
Their food may be better, but their seats suck compared to AA. Paid F, LAX-DTW on their domestic 767. The seats were the most cramped F seats I've ever seen. No room to open my laptop and do work once the person in front of me reclined.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 12:56 am
  #101  
 
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Originally Posted by QueenOfCoach
Folks, it's AIRPLANE FOOD. There is a limit at what anyone can do at 35,000 feet given the tiny ovens and cramped galley.

Did you expect anything other than Airplane Food? Did you buy into the hype?

Pah. Forget the hype. Airplane Food varies from delicious (I still remember a chef's salad I had in Coach, once) to truly horrible. If you find you really can't stomach Airplane Food, then get something of your own choice while still on the ground, then pass on the inedible disgusting food while in flight.
The heart of the matter is that yes, this is airline food, but with Doug & Co.'s cuts, the level of quality went from best in F amongst US carriers to barely edible, in most cases.

For those that actually pay for F, having a decent meal was surprisingly a deciding factor for many people choosing AA. Seriously.

At best, most domestic First Class meals are what U.S. domestic carriers served in coach in the 1990's, just with slightly fancier plating. But at least meals served prior to the 9/1 changes tasted better than meals from a public school cafeteria. Now public school cafeteria meals look more appealing.

Flying First Class is usually an enjoyable experience; adding a decent, edible meal, heightens that experience level. Take that experience away, and you diminish the overall enjoyability, and are essentially pissing on your "premium" product.

Doug & Co. only keeps meals in domestic First because there would be such an outcry from people if it they were completely replaced with snack baskets. [though I doubt he'd ever replace First Class meals on Flagship Transcons, and the DFW-Hawaii flights] Look at AA's response to returning the meal windows--- such a change was only made because of complaints from customers.

Because of such pressure, Doug & Co. feel that meals are an obligation, not something to differentiate AA from the competition.Thus, there is no real incentive in his mind to improve the quality/restore the higher level of quality.

Profit before a quality product. The new American has arrived.

Last edited by Max M; Jun 14, 2015 at 1:08 am
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 4:07 am
  #102  
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Originally Posted by smilinganddialing
I call Stockholm Syndrome on anyone who (a) has a well traveled set of tastes and (b) really thinks AA Domestic F catering is worth a damn.
Seems a bit of an over-generalization to me. As I said upthread, I had a great dinner on 32 LAX-JFK in F last week.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 12:22 pm
  #103  
 
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I've had both good and bad food up front since switching over from DL:

The good: Had a miso chicken dish that was not bad and a red sauce pasta that was decent.

More recently, the bad:
First fight of the day was lunch service with choice of salad with 'grilled chicken' or pasta. Had the salad/chicken. When the dish was served, the salad looked good, but didn't seem to have the chicken. It actually was on the plate, but I mistook the chicken for a dinner roll!! I almost laughed at myself out loud. It was just a sad tan/brown piece of chicken, no fake grill marks or anything. Didn't touch the chicken, but the salad was actually pretty tasty.

Second flight of the day was dinner and I ordered the teriyaki beef. Gross! Fatty stingy beef with pineapple rice. It was disgusting. The red wine and cookies and cream ice cream were good, though.

Coming from DL, it's about the same: some meals are ok/decent, others are just terrible.

Hopefully AA will up their game!
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 5:27 pm
  #104  
 
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Originally Posted by justforfun
Just had the duck on JFK-GIG yesterday. When I pre-booked it it was called Char Siu Duck, but on the menus it was just Roasted Duck. It was actually pretty tasty.
Good to know. I guess it actually makes sense - this aligns with one of Tyler Cowen's food rules: order the strangest thing on the menu; chances are the chef put some thought into it.
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Old Jun 15, 2015, 2:56 am
  #105  
 
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Originally Posted by QueenOfCoach
Folks, it's AIRPLANE FOOD. There is a limit at what anyone can do at 35,000 feet given the tiny ovens and cramped galley
Let me preface this comment with two facts: 1) I have eaten countless MREs and government contracted slop over the years, and 2) I am definitely not the picture of anorexia..... (Basically meaning I will eat anything)

Having that been said, the food quality 10-15 years ago (even two years ago) compared to today is drastically different. The tiny ovens and cramped galleys served pretty solid meals in the past (and the ME3 carriers don't seem to have this issue in their Boeing and Airbus aircraft) have been the same or improved in the past two decades. For someone who paid $4500 for a business class seat and got a meal that looks like it came from a Mrs Swansons TV dinner box isn't acceptable. The quality has nose dived to pathetic offerings. Yes, it's airline food. That's a given. But that's not an excuse to make it worse than it has to.
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