AA backpedals on cheapened domestic first class meals

[737823]

Jim,
The new offerings are downright pathetic.  The AA meals pre-9/1 were actually pretty decent on many routes and there was always a vegetarian option available.  Now often both breakfast items include meat and are often a omelet OR french toast where as before it an omelet OR steel cut oats with fresh berries.  I don't know how much transcon flying you do but it used to be ALL transcons received enhanced meal service that was IDETNICAL to JFK-LAX, only difference was it was standard domestic FC seats not the recliners and later lie-flat on the 32B.  Gone are the menu cards, gone are the pre-arrival service, gone is the third menu selection.  The pax on my BOS-LAX a few weeks ago were very displeased with gutting of the premium service it is now treated like any other domestic flight although they do still load the Samsung Tablets and Bose headsets.  
 
I don't care for the junk food basket, the AA warm nuts and cookies were far superior on flights that did not have a service.  Pretty soon I'm sure they will gut the international service as well, I can't imagine the new regime is too fond of the walk-up bar.
 
Josh

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

Can someone tell me what "steel cut" oats are?

 

[737823]

Can someone tell me what "steel cut" oats are?

http://www.airplanefood.net/photo/onboard/american-airlines/aa-312.jpg/view


Josh

 

[jimntx]

Can someone tell me what "steel cut" oats are?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel-cut_oats
 
According to prevention.com, Steel-cut oats are equal in nutrition to rolled oats (the more common version) in most categories, but have a few less calories and score better on the glycemic index.

 

[jimntx]

Jim,
The new offerings are downright pathetic.  The AA meals pre-9/1 were actually pretty decent on many routes and there was always a vegetarian option available.  Now often both breakfast items include meat and are often a omelet OR french toast where as before it an omelet OR steel cut oats with fresh berries.  I don't know how much transcon flying you do but it used to be ALL transcons received enhanced meal service that was IDETNICAL to JFK-LAX, only difference was it was standard domestic FC seats not the recliners and later lie-flat on the 32B.  Gone are the menu cards, gone are the pre-arrival service, gone is the third menu selection.  The pax on my BOS-LAX a few weeks ago were very displeased with gutting of the premium service it is now treated like any other domestic flight although they do still load the Samsung Tablets and Bose headsets.  
 
I don't care for the junk food basket, the AA warm nuts and cookies were far superior on flights that did not have a service.  Pretty soon I'm sure they will gut the international service as well, I can't imagine the new regime is too fond of the walk-up bar.
 
Josh

If you want to call turkey sausage a meat, ok.    I have questioned the "omelet or french toast selection", but no response.  I am still seeing the steel cut oats on some flights.  I'm also having difficulty accepting the no hot bread on continental breakfast flights because we are now putting a paper sack of commercial miniature cinnamon rolls on the tray.  Not everyone wants that much sugar first thing in the morning (and there is a LOT of sugar on those rolls).  In addition, my passengers very much preferred the baked on board biscuits to the premade warmed on board biscuits that fall apart if you touch them.

 

[MAH4546]

AMEN!  I want to split a hair with the OP on his thread title.  The cheapening of the meals--lower quality, less attention to detail--has been going on for some time.   The reduction in the  offering of tray service meals from 2+ hour flights to 2 hours 45+ minutes is the recent mistake that seems to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.  

 
That's simply not true. Under Horton, AA implemented much improved domestic meal service, including a brand-new trans-con product with three meal choices (which is now relegated to JFK/MIA-SFO/LAX, but used to be on all trans-cons pre-Parker), improved lunch and redeye menus (AA was very lacking in both these areas before 2013) and an increased amount of flights receiving full meal service (e.g. eastbound DEN-DFW, ORD-PHL) and more flexible meal windows (e.g. DEN-LAX received meal service outside meal windows). 

 

[737823]

If you want to call turkey sausage a meat, ok.    I have questioned the "omelet or french toast selection", but no response.  I am still seeing the steel cut oats on some flights.  I'm also having difficulty accepting the no hot bread on continental breakfast flights because we are now putting a paper sack of commercial miniature cinnamon rolls on the tray.  Not everyone wants that much sugar first thing in the morning (and there is a LOT of sugar on those rolls).  In addition, my passengers very much preferred the baked on board biscuits to the premade warmed on board biscuits that fall apart if you touch them.

 
Yes both hot breakfast options now include meat, unlike before.  In fact most of the omelet dishes didn't include any meat before.  
 
As you well know there are different cycles going depending on the flight and market.  The oatmeal is still out there but it lacks the fresh berries (now has cheaper packaged dry fruit) and is served in a tacky casserole dish instead of the proper AA bowl like before.  The new cookies and biscuits are disgusting-I completely agree.
 
Josh

 

[jimntx]

MAH, let's not let the fact that I see the meals almost every day, and they WERE getting crappy over the past couple of years, stand in the way of you calling me a liar.  The caterers, particularly at DFW, were using substandard product--note that the backtracking announcement mentioned improvement in quality of chicken products.  And, some of the dishes--like the miso chicken--looked like they had some sort of preservative gel, rather than a gravy or sauce, on top.  Oh, and by all means, let's not forget the pasta with "Romano" sauce.  I've been all over Italy, and not once have I ever seen a gray pasta sauce not even when it was a mushroom sauce.
 
Also, using transcon menus as an example is a rather cute avoidance of the issue.  The transcon meals have ALWAYS been better than what is offered on most domestic flights, as it should be.

 

[jimntx]

 
Yes both hot breakfast options now include meat, unlike before.  In fact most of the omelet dishes didn't include any meat before.  
 
As you well know there are different cycles going depending on the flight and market.  The oatmeal is still out there but it lacks the fresh berries (now has cheaper packaged dry fruit) and is served in a tacky casserole dish instead of the proper AA bowl like before.  The new cookies and biscuits are disgusting-I completely agree.
 
Josh

Just fyi, you're not going to win on the proper oatmeal bowl issue.  We flight attendants all like the fact that the dishes now actually fit on the tray.  As opposed to years of jockeying with dishes to get everything that needed to be on the tray on it and not in danger of falling off the sides.    And, yours is the only negative comment I have seen or heard about the new dishware.  Everyone else seems to like it.

 

[737823]

You realize it's the same dishware USAIR has used for years? And many of the cycles are also from USAIR?

Josh

 

[MAH4546]

MAH, let's not let the fact that I see the meals almost every day, and they WERE getting crappy over the past couple of years, stand in the way of you calling me a liar.  The caterers, particularly at DFW, were using substandard product--note that the backtracking announcement mentioned improvement in quality of chicken products.  And, some of the dishes--like the miso chicken--looked like they had some sort of preservative gel, rather than a gravy or sauce, on top.  Oh, and by all means, let's not forget the pasta with "Romano" sauce.  I've been all over Italy, and not once have I ever seen a gray pasta sauce not even when it was a mushroom sauce.
 
Also, using transcon menus as an example is a rather cute avoidance of the issue.  The transcon meals have ALWAYS been better than what is offered on most domestic flights, as it should be.

 
The fact remains that after years of decline, Horton started improving domestic meals, and US reversed that. I'm not arguing the new chicken is garbage - it absolutely is. It's PMUS catering, which was all garbage. PMAA was decent. The current catering sucks. It's also not what was being served in August 2014. 

 

[UPNAWAY]

Speaking of meals, I was just made aware of a food fact watching one fo the food  channel shows. At 30k feet 1/3 of our taste receptcels are dormant, they reason airline food tatse so much less appealing.

 

[jimntx]

Speaking of meals, I was just made aware of a food fact watching one fo the food  channel shows. At 30k feet 1/3 of our taste receptcels are dormant, they reason airline food tatse so much less appealing.

It could also be because the airline food is, in fact, much less appealing.  Airline food has never been the standard for gourmet cooking in the U.S.
 
P.S.  Thanks for the piece of trivia.  I can use that the next time a passenger complains that the entree is tasteless.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Mark, MAH4546, why don't you like the A321T? I work it all the time and the pax give me rave reviews.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

Let them eat spam.