I've got a presentation to make in Dallas at the end of the month. Price/elite status aside I'm looking for a nonstop either to/from EWR or LGA. Whose seats are more comfortable? Whose got better pitch? Who has food either free or I can buy? I just want to make sure I can get something to eat besides peanuts.

Which airline is better in coach?

Its kinda hard to guage which is better; it partly depends on the equipment. If you manage to get on an AA 777, the coach seats are very nice. That said, CO actually feeds you... for free! AA will only have "food for purchase" on the LGA / EWR - DFW route, and thats generally junk food.

Also, AA hardly opens up any seat assignments to non-elites before day of travel. Back when I was doing my first AA status challenge, I was constantly finding only seats way in the back of the 757s which run TUL-DFW-TUL.

Overall, I would say that CO is a better fit for people who do not have elite status on either airline. Unless AA has a 777 on the route (which would probably be JFK-DFW rather than LGA-DFW).

One other note: AA does have the benefit of having significantly more flights to the LGA / EWR / JFK area in the event of irrops. DFW seems to have mostly moved from monsoon to drought, so it might not be as much of an issue now... but in May / June, flying any airline into DFW was a pretty miserable experience.

I know you said elite status aside, but depending on the travel policy of whoever's paying, CO's Y fares book into F class for all elites, an excellent deal!

This is actually a wash in the sense that AA has the same deal for both Y and B fares for elites. In fact, on AA, those fares allow the elite pax and one companion to book directly into F. That said, I prefer CO's domestic F to AA's (better food; CO nearly always has pre-departure-drink - whereas AA only occasionally does, and that is just h20, OJ, or sparkling wine).

AA coach is more comfortable, but not by much. CO's "food" leaves much to be desired.