andymcdonnell

Last week I flew return on AA LHR-JFK in business, out on 772 (AA101) back on 773 (AA100). The service on the outbound was excellent with a friendly crew, good food, drink always on hand etc. On the way home, the crew seemed a little disinterested & I wonder did this translate to the speed of service. I first got a drink 1hour 10mins after takeoff & my meal (all on one tray) 1hr 20 after. To me this seemed rather slow. The mini cabin I was in was full, not sure about the bigger cabin behind

ijgordon

Hmm, I've always had rather fast service on LHR-JFK, including AA100, to the point that I'm usually able to eat dinner before the ambien kicks in. (I don't pop the pill until takeoff!) I skip desert though.

cynicAAl

did you try ringing the call button (you know, that button with a pictogram of a person serving a beverage) 30 min after the 10,000 foot "ding" ?

Dallas49er

IMHO and experience-JFK TATL and South America crews generally create a vacuum 50% of the time, do what they must 40% +/-, and go for great 10%+/-.

FL at JFK outstanding, but not worth the male bovine excrement that "passes" for service in/out of JFK.

YMMV and great you got a the outlying good/great crew on the out bound.

andymcdonnell

I know now why your name has the word cynic in it, I could think of other alternatives. My comments weren’t an attack on the crew, just an observation. Everyone got their drinks over an hour after takeoff so if everyone in the business cabin followed your suggestion it’d have made zero difference to the speed of service. Thanks for your telling contribution however

LINDEGR

Or maybe they'd get the point and actually start working a bit harder!

andymcdonnell

Which pretty much answers my original post, the service was slow, correct?

brc757rr

Just curious...was the crew made up of a short haired blond woman, dark shoulder length haired woman with an accent, younger male on the starboard side and an older gentleman? Was unfortunate enough to have them both directions on the 77W JFK-LHR route. Some of the absolute WORST in the AA system...was like a bad dream when I walked on and saw the exact same crew.

andymcdonnell

Ha no. I didn’t have those particular “gems”

LINDEGR

Seems like it to me!

rossmacd

On short overnight TATLs JFK-LHR, best to take a BA service (ideally on a 747 sitting in the UD) - this means you can get to sleep from wheels up until 20mins out from LHR. No need for service whatsoever, and you can arrive refreshed (possibly taking a shower in either an arrivals lounge or a regular lounge if transferring further). You avoid the AA crews on the overnight who tend to be grumpy - I mean who wants to work nights in any case? The advantage of BA overnight means much less disturbance from trolleys/cutlery etc and more sleep, which makes me avoid AA overnight. BA offer a 'sleeper service' which means any service is dealt with relatively quickly and maximises sleep time.

AA is a no-brainer on the way out LHR-JFK, of course. I find the AA cred during the day usually pretty good and the overall hard product is better than BA.

3Cforme

If there's an AA service standard for commencement of meal & beverage service - say, ASAP after passing through 10K when no turbulence is forecast - I haven't been able to infer it.

Lots of AA (and UA and DL...) FAs with ample seniority, evidently. I've never observed TATL or TPAC crews going particularly junior in the bid/award process.

DCP2016

What, you expect AA crews to actually do their JOBS? With a SMILE????

Oh man, that's not how it works over at Parker and Co. #GoingForGreat

wetrat0

Undoubtedly they were waiting in hopes that many/most passengers would fall asleep.

ijgordon

I used to absolutely agree with this (and VS was the other option), but now I think I would only do BA in a 747 UD window seat. AA has the FL which is arguably better than BA's preflight dining (free-flow Bolly!). With ambien, earplugs and eye shades (oh my!), I don't find the service all that disruptive, even in the main J section (though obviously mini cabin would probably be better), if I really need to try to get to sleep quickly.