As I get older, I find myself shifting more toward the above mentality. I live in Japan and fly to the US regularly (in J), so when flying OW I can choose between JL and AA. For years I slavishly preferred JL. But lately I've become tired of several aspects of JL's approach: meals that drag for 3 hours, cabin lights on full brightness for 6+ hours (3 hours after takeoff and 3 hours before landing), closing all the inflight service way too early, and other issues. I've written about this in more detail here: Service flow in long haul business class

These days I really just want a quicker meal, more quiet time to rest and relax, and less pressure from FAs to close all the service and do landing prep so damn early. At these particular things, AA is better than JL.

I don't think that unions are the reason that AA premium cabins aren't really competitive on international routes, but they, and the mentality that they engender, are certainly a contributing factor.


True enough, but AA and QR do compete on TATL routes. And unless one is selecting an airline based on how it treats its employees, it's not really a factor.


I don't get the connection at all. How does paying an employee less motivate that employee to give friendly service? Yet the QR cabin crew is almost always friendly and passenger-service oriented. Not 100% certainly, but a lot closer than AA cabin crews.

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