It's completely pathetic. Problem if we speak back or say or mind we're off the flight. That's it. No win situation.

At the very least I would have gotten his name and wrote AA with the details of this person's actions.

Beginning to get the sense that the mainline FAs see refusing PDB service as a noble act of solidarity with their peers.

Ahh yes, the power-tripping FA. Definitely report (not that it will do any good.)

I am more curious about the 16,000 feet part.
What happens at 16,000 feet?

Does AA have an official PDB policy?

6/26 PHX-TUS mainline on an A321 with 20 in F. Everyone was offered a PDB by Richard the first class FA despite it being a very short flight.

Mesa.

The FA pair were quite memorable. Husband FA had what seemed to be a fairly biting accent, maybe South African. Wife FA sounded American. The whole experience was very odd.

Can't remember but somewhere AA indicated they should be done, however, FAs have some discretion. For example if a flight is running late and they're trying to get off the gate as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the "discretion" of many FAs is not do them at all or like the FA I had the other day (although it was Republic) that would only give out warm water-no ice.

A lot of it is "culture" which starts at the top.

6/29: PHX-TUS, OO E75. No PDB offered and I didn't ask.

TUS-DFW, 321. Open bar, cheerful service.

1/2 on the day, but at least the 'right' flight got the PDBs.

AA4670 ATL-LGA 7/4 - No PDB offered (not even water) notwithstanding an easily on time boarding and very light load factor (2 F seats went out empty with no one on the upgrade list). GA berated us for arriving at t-25 "y'all must not want to go to LGA today!" (Would have arrived earlier if 4670 didn't depart from D while the only AC is located in T, though maybe not if we knew the FAs planned to shirk service...)

ORD-LAS
No PDB.

To make matters worse the FAs were loudly talking about the colorado avalanche during boarding and i saw no reason why there was no PDB during the whole boarding except they were engulfed in their conversation. Catering looked all loaded.

To make it extremely annoying they announced as we were waiting to take off that some bumps were expected heading west and we will delay service for a while until it was CLEARLY safe. They emphasized clearly. It took 1.5 hours for them to serve a drink. Maybe a tad longer. Truly a situation where a PDB would have been extra nice for guests! The ironic part is we didn't even hit a single minor bump. Smooth as silk. Kept waiting for nothing. People were using the restrooms and they still refused to serve drinks. I heard a guy ask like an hour in and he got a real attitude. They just refused to service. I don't blame them for staying seated, weather happens, but they could have done a PDB even WATER instead of discussing the NHL playoffs! If you expect possible turbulence or something to delay service, they really should try to do a PDB. The dinner was all rushed and thrown at us. Ironically the smoothest flight, not a single bump. It seemed very much like the FAs were just not in the mood to work that day. They had a ok service is over attitude the whole flight and it was really bizarre to see, to make matters worse those 737 FC seats on AA are terrible.

I've read these stories but this was the first time ive seen a crew set on minimal anything. Never really had this experience before. Thought it was everyone being dramatic and exaggerating. Ironically on my Eagle EMB175 flight before this connecting, the flight attendant dude was super nice, fast, and very helpful to everyone. Got a PDB on my EMB175 flight and the opposite experience.

I've have had 8 domestic F legs in the last month:

DFW-PSP ---> Water and OJ offered
PSP-DFW ---> Nothing
DFW-GSP --> Full PDB service
DFW-OKC --> Water
DFW-PHL --> Water, and that was only after we sat on the plane about 20 minutes after boarding, waiting for maintenance to do paperwork (which took a full hour to complete).
MHT-DCA --> Water
DFW-STL --> Water
STL-DFW--> Water
--------------
Not impressed.

2 flights yesterday. MIA/TPA no PBDs from a young crew despite sitting at the gate for an additional 15 minutes. Nothing in the air as the kids were way to engrossed in their phone screen to care. TPA/ORD 2 older FAs, one did PDBs despite a late boarding and swimming up stream the entire time. Excellent service in the air.

Based upon recent experience I'm coming to the belief that it's the younger FAs that think their job description is to make a few announcements and play with their phone during the flight.

Was your MIA-TPA Eagle or mainline? I've actually had fantastic experiences with younger FAs on Eagle in the past few months with PDBs offered, multiple passes for drinks/snacks, and very pleasant service. I haven't had any PDBs on my mainline fights, however.

The vacuum system starts working (very few ac with this issue, but it is an issue)