My +1 got back one day late from GRU-DFW (mechanical issues) and then encountered this on her connection DFW-IND (AA1948), seat 20+:

She was asked what she wanted to drink. Response "Coke, please". She got a cup filled with ice and then the FA said "OK, I'm done." and then left. No more service to other pax in rows further back. No snacks either on a 2.5h flight. I guess that's typical for AA.? I don't fly AA on purpose and have one more reason now...

Mods: please move to a designated 'rant about FA' thread if there is one - can hardly imagine.

No, it is of course not typical, assuming of course that the service wasn't stopped due to turbulence or some other external reason. Send a complaint to AA.

Not typical. But also not unheard of.

Like many large organizations, there are sime great staff. There are also some that are an embarrassment not just to the company but to their co-workers. When you face little to no consequences this can happen.

Since we don't know the details here we can't decide this is the case for this specific incident. But bad attitudes from AA staff isn't rare. It's almost like complaints could fill an entire section of a travel focused website 😁

It's too bad you had poor service. But, if you think AA is bad, try flying United. One hour into a 14 flight from EWR to DEL last month, the pilot announced that the plane's refrigeration system had broken and they couldn't fix it, so they could not serve us any hot food after the dinner. Fortunately, I was on a diet, so I managed but I feel bad for the families with small children who were on the plane. The FAs had left a few apples and crackers at the back of the plane. But that was it.
A FA later told us that the pilot had the choice of returning to EWR and canceling our flight and made the decision to fly on. And I'm grateful she did because it would have been a hassle to spend a night in EWR and get another flight the following day.
I hear Delta is a better airline. We may all need to jump ship.

No to drag on unnecessarily, but this was an FA who just couldn't be bothered. There was no turbulence etc. - and this was early in the morning. I feel sorry for that FA's pax on later flights that day.

I've had good/average service on DL and UA. The best service has been in Europe - LH, AF, KLM, BA - didn't really matter which airline. There may be some underlying cultural differences and it probably also depends on the training they receive.

Ah, so Delta is the airline where nothing ever breaks, so the crew doesn�t have to decide whether to return to base and cancel the flight (impacting at least two plane loads of pax) or offering a reduced meal service.

How is this a FA issue, on the basis of this thread?

Which is why I'm flying DL more than the other domestic US carriers these days - Who I feel most sorry for are the other crew members (if they've got any desire to provide a proper service) - I've been on flights where one doesn't play nice with the others - to the point of once telling a UA FA from Y doing much of the F cabin's service "Thanks for doing her job" - she said "You noticed?" I replied "how could you not?"

So... based on THAT SINGLE experience with ONE SINGLE flight attendant... you are able to judge 30,000 other people.

Gotcha.

By the way... were you even on the flight?

from a years of experience... your going to have great FA's and not so great FA's
some of the worst FA's that I have experienced have been in long haul F or J (yes shocking I know)
I am thinking that they know they are senior and thus dont really have to necessarily do their job..
I am of the belief.. that I will allow everyone the chance to have a crappy day.. but to take it out on passengers isnt proper

That's the key, -- consequences.

AAB may have been a martinet at QR and may have been hated by cabin crew, but their attitude towards the passengers and the way that they deliver inflight service is, IME, consistently superior to that of AA.

We all have choices and one bad experience (either by me or my SO) is sufficient to reconsider which airlines I pick. AA rank below DL and UA for a reason. My comment regarding "typical for AA" was referring to no snacks being offered on a 2+h flight.
My home airport is IND. The only lounge we have here is from DL, and that is important to me.
I have a trip to MIA coming up. AA flies direct, DL does not. Cost is about the same, but I'd rather fly with DL as time is not an issue for me and getting a drink in the Amex CL in ATL on the way and having some food at IND helps lessen the pain of flying in general.
To some folks cost is all the matters, for others it's convenience - we make choices and not just about which airlines we fly with for very personal reasons.

When I think back to all of my long-haul AA flights in business class over the years, few FAs stand out as being truly exceptional. Many did the job, but not in an above average way. And a sizable minority were downright unpleasant or refused to do work and made their colleagues pick up a lot of the slack.

On my most recent flight, I watched as the sour FA working my wife’s side of the plane bypassed her during breakfast service, despite the fact that she was awake with her tray table open. I had to go find my side’s FA and ask for service. I could tell that my FA was very annoyed with her colleague on the oppose side.

AA won’t be a premium airline until they move to a merit based assignment system (especially for the premium cabin). FAs are not pilots. They are replaceable, and shouldn’t be treated like a skilled trade with a union seniority system.

Every other US airline with a long-haul premium cabin needs to do the same.

There are consequences when Management learns of these issues. If you contact AA with specifics to where the issue can be pinned to a specific flight attendant, Management takes action.
I use to assume there were no consequences, but since my daughter became a flight attendant, I was surprised to learn that this is not the case. She's been with MQ and AA and they both take specific feedback from passengers regarding flight attendants seriously.

I was also surprised to learn that, during the hiring/interview phases, both airlines put a heavy emphasis on candidates' customer service skills and experience.

The root issue of these attitude and other issues, IMO, is the CEO and BOD and the rudderless ship they're running.

The other day, I was flying AA and a person in Row 1 appeared to either be extremely drunk or having some kind of manic incident. I'm not qualified to say. They were babbling aloud to the point where others in the cabin were asking the flight attendant if the person was OK. The flight attendant calmly walked over and patiently listened to this person, who clearly wasn't in great condition, for nothing short of 10 minutes. They were empathetic and thoughtful.

About three minutes in, I noticed that the call button had been pressed a couple of times. I looked over from my seat in Row 4 and saw that someone on the other side of the row wanted their tray to be removed. They were staring directly at the flight attendant, who was dealing with someone who appeared to be in some sort of crisis. He proceeded to hit it every 30 seconds for about two more minutes, at which point he started dinging it every two seconds until the flight attendant looked up and said she was dealing with a situation. To describe this as childlike entitled behavior would be selling it short. I was embarrassed for the other passenger.

Before all of this had happened, I had asked the flight attendant for a Diet Coke. Obviously, I recognized that she was dealing with two very needy passengers and didn't say a word. I assumed she had forgotten. Once she picked up this man's tray and dealt with his temper tantrum, she brought over the Diet Coke and apologized for it taking so long to get there. I laughed and thanked her for remembering. I don't know if AA has Job Well Done certificates like DL did, but she absolutely would have deserved one.

Just a data point in recent experiences with AA FAs.