PDBs Coming Back? (anecdotes, experiences)
#95
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Midwest USA
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 591
#98
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: New York
Programs: AA, Bonvoy, Delta, Hyatt
Posts: 92
#99
Join Date: May 2016
Location: United States
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 21
AA communicated to the flight attendants this week “if your flight starts boarding late, or if you have a full cabin provide water, juice or champagne.” So expect more limited options for PDBs if offered anything.
#100
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: CoUniHound 1K 1MM, AA EXP 2MM, DL Plat, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,625
#101
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: Some/Most/All
Posts: 240
I was somewhat surprised by a conversation I had with an FA last week. First, I was 2/2 with upgrades as a lowly, low-spending GLD DFW<>LAX, so that was a nice delight. (And presumably, will vanish into thin air henceforth.) But, I was 0/2 with PDBs. And otherwise, those were some of the best FAs I had in quite some time. Attentive, good-spirited, etc. Everything you hope to get when you're boarding and sizing up the crew. Except, of course, for the whole PDB piece.
On one of those trips, I had occasion to stop by the galley mid-flight and make a request. As above, it was cheerfully fulfilled, but we engaged in a bit of conversation around the current environment, and I was shocked to hear that they weren't always certain what level of service they were intended to provide. (I didn't make any direct reference to the lack of PDB.) They mentioned there were emails, internal postings (jetnet or something similar, I presume?), and even notes around the crew rooms, but there were so many that they couldn't keep up with what goes where. (And I would guess that the type of flight plays a role here. Short-haul, mid-con, transcon, etc.) On one hand I wondered if this FA just couldn't be bothered to care, but on the other, they certainly put a good face on while they were in the plane, so that doesn't directly correlate.
Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't, but I thought it an interesting data point I hadn't seen before.
On one of those trips, I had occasion to stop by the galley mid-flight and make a request. As above, it was cheerfully fulfilled, but we engaged in a bit of conversation around the current environment, and I was shocked to hear that they weren't always certain what level of service they were intended to provide. (I didn't make any direct reference to the lack of PDB.) They mentioned there were emails, internal postings (jetnet or something similar, I presume?), and even notes around the crew rooms, but there were so many that they couldn't keep up with what goes where. (And I would guess that the type of flight plays a role here. Short-haul, mid-con, transcon, etc.) On one hand I wondered if this FA just couldn't be bothered to care, but on the other, they certainly put a good face on while they were in the plane, so that doesn't directly correlate.
Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't, but I thought it an interesting data point I hadn't seen before.
#104
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 407
This is totally nuts. With the new upgrade scheme, this effectively means the end of made-to-order PDB service on every single AA domestic flight in F.
Why can't they just offer the same PDB service they did throughout the 1980s and 1990s? Didn't matter if the F cabin was full or not, everyone got to order what they wanted. And the FAs did not seem to have any problem getting the job done.
Why can't they just offer the same PDB service they did throughout the 1980s and 1990s? Didn't matter if the F cabin was full or not, everyone got to order what they wanted. And the FAs did not seem to have any problem getting the job done.
#105
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: NYC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, GHA Titanium, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 283