Yesterday, just about the last thing the first class FA did before buckling up for final descent was to pass out sealed (refrigerated!) continental breakfast boxes as though they were parting gifts.

Standard procedure?

Yup - that's pretty much how it's worked for my last half dozen domestric transcon redeyes. FA walked around with an armful of shrinkwrapped boxes and offered them to anyone awake just before landing.

Same here. The good news is that if you sleep through the box distribution, you haven't missed anything.

What's in it?

Please explain which exact flight / city pair you were flying. Thanks.

It may be different on different domestic redeyes (which I presume this was), and of course it's yet different on international redeyes.

Small smoothie in a bottle. Small croissant wrapped in plastic. Small packet of jam, small packet of almond butter. Small package of Emerald brand "breakfast on the go" nut and oatmeal mix.

(Think that's about it?)

a) This is in addition to the post-takeoff snack service (warmed nuts + hummus/pita or fruit/cheese), right?

b) Do only transcon redeyes get the breakfast box, or is it also distributed on midcon redeyes (i.e., LAX/SFO/SEA-DFW)?

Route flown was Seattle - Charlotte, contents as described. Hummus plate after takeoff was pretty good, although I could've used more pita bread.

Thanks for the info...actually sounds decent to me if it's in addition to the in-flight snack item, especially for someone who has to go right from the airport to the train station and doesn't have time to stop for breakfast.

I actually like this service. On an overnight flight, I've almost always have a normal dinner beforehand, so i'm not looking for a meal at 10pm at night. But it's nice to have somethng to eat for the morning arrival. This boxed breakfast service allows for me to not be awaken with the clamoring of a normal meal service an hour before landing. And it allows me to eat this after I've deplaned.

Think coach before landing in Europe from a red-eye.

IMO it's a pretty poor showing in F. People like to excuse the airline of offering a full meal under the guise of "most people are sleeping" however it wouldn't kill them to cater a few actual breakfasts for those of us who aren't going to be sleeping.

My problem is that I hate strawberry (drink and jam).

Me too. And I can't eat almonds. So that leaves a plain croissant as the only thing in the box that I might eat. My diet is not AA's problem, but it would be nice to have an option for a real breakfast like on the early morning departures.

They should reheat some cinnamon rolls or other pastries - much better than the cold box. I actually don't care much about the food issues anymore, but the cold box is really low class.

My problem is not with the concept, it's with the contents. You'll walk out of that breakfast with 50 grams of sugar, which is outrageous and like drinking a soda.

Why not a couple hard boiled eggs, a much lower sugar granola variety (there are plenty of good tasting brands), and a reduced sugar smoothie, or even better a piece of whole fruit such as a banana or an apple?

Or, package up a fruit and cheese plate similar to the ones served in Y BOB. That would make a very decent breakfast, as well, and could be eaten on the plane, but also be portable and could be eaten in the AC during your connection or wherever else is convenient.

There are plenty of ways to strike a balance between the customer preference, providing a meal of acceptable quality (much less one worthy of transcon FC), and one that is decently healthy.