I feel like I’ve been so uncharitable to American Airlines lately on Live And Let’s Fly, but it’s not deliberate…I’m rooting for AA to boomerang back as a competitive premium carrier in the USA and hope the new 787-9 deliveries accelerate that process. But my transcontinental 737-800 flight in first class was a reminder that American Airlines still has a long way to go.
American Airlines 737-800 First Class – A Rather Pathetic Transcontinental Flight
At this point in the year, I’ve flown American Airlines much more than United Airlines (my long-term go-to carrier). These days, I’m a free agent and buy based on schedule and price. As I mentioned last week, I chose American Airlines for a business trip to Pittsburgh because it offered convenient nonstop service and did not charge a premium for the nonstop flight…the cost was about $540 one-way in business class.
It was a beautiful morning in LA as I boarded my flight and settled into seat 4F. No pre-departure beverages were offered, but we took off on time.
I noticed immediately, though, that the cabin was not clean. There was dust and bits of garbage all around my seat and my tray table had not been wiped clean.
Internet costs $28 on AA…I find that absurd, considering it’s free on Delta and $8 on United. While American Airlines will roll out free internet next year, why not now? Why not lower prices to reflect competitive pressure? There’s nothing premium about spending so much for Wi-Fi.
Breakfast was served: a small cheese omelet with a side of fruit and a rock-hard cinnamon roll (which I’m sure my body thanked me for leaving on the tray). The omelet was fine, but not more than a few bites, and the fried potatoes were quite greasy. But really, the breakfast was a bright spot…
I got up to use the lavatory after breakfast and found it like this:
(wet floor, brown liquid on the seat, toilet paper in the bowl…)
Shame on the previous passenger for leaving the lavatory like that, but if AA wants to be premium, its flight attendants should get used to checking on the lavatory often. Before I used it, the lavatory had been unoccupied for 15-20 minutes.
What annoyed me most about the flight was that the flight attendants disappeared for the remainder of the flight. No roaming the cabin, no additional drinks, no nothing. While Delta and United offer a pre-arrival drink service on mid-con flights even in economy class, the (very senior) flight attendants working this flight could not even be bothered to check on their first-class passengers during the flight.
I mention “senior” only as a descriptive term: over and over, I’ve seen that age does not correlate positively or negatively to good service. But this domestic flight is very senior because the crew makes a quick turn in Pittsburgh back to LA, meaning they get 10 hours of flying in a single day and can still sleep in their own beds at night.
CONCLUSION
I’m not sure whether I’ll publish a full review of this flight or not…this pretty much sums it up: inattentive, indifferent service and dirty cabins and lavatories with ridiculously-priced internet. AA may not be able to add seatback screens or radically improve its soft product, but it certainly can offer more gracious service and clean the aircraft between flights.
On the other hand, of course, I arrived safely and on time…though I’m not sure that is praiseworthy as much as something that is always to be expected when you step onboard any commercial airline flight.
Thankfully, Joe & The Juice was near my gate and I was able to hydrate after landing:
AA is in a malaise and here’s the problem: I’m going back to United next time and making a stop. I’d rather fly United or Delta with a stop than AA nonstop…that says a lot.
I mainly collect AA miles for their partners, living on the West Coast, AS is a good one.
Their award chart is the best among the big three. You still can find a 70k business class award on AA ( or partners). This is not available on UA or DL.
Also, travel domestically, the economy class is good enough unless they offer dirt cheap to upgrade at the check-in counter lol
AA would be suicidal to devalue AAdvantage right now…
retired my wife and I fly quite frequently on American and our biggest complaint is they break the damn suitcases every time you sit at your seat and watch the ground crew load the luggage crackheads would do it neater and quicker
how do you know they are not crackheads?
Precisely none of this should surprise anyone who’s been following AA’s race to the bottom.
It’s wild that they’ve now conditioned many of their ExPlats to PAY for this garbage FC experience. Fools.
Well, fool me once…but never again.
Any idea why they start at Row 3 on this configuration?
As for the restroom issue, I blame the dirty customer more than the FA’s. I’m not sure I even want FA’s serving drinks or food after cleaning that but other than shutting it down, someone has to do it, and that someone is them.
As you know I’m an AA defender but unfortunately they have a sizable segment of their employees that just don’t give a F. I do wonder how you change that culture with the seniority of much of the staff and the unions fighting everything? Whereas the employees at the Admiral’s Clubs always go out of their way to be polite and solve issues immediately.
It’s just sad that bad ones are what we mostly remember over the ones that care.
I assumed because first class is rows 1 and 2 on the 777-300 and so AA reserves rows 1-2 only for “real” first class.
I don’t think that’s right… I fly on American 737 every week and it’s always row 1,2,3,4 in First. It hasn’t started with row 3 in years. Your photo above in fact shows row 4 as where you are standing at back of cabin.
I was going off a SeatGuru map, which was my mistake. Stupid SeatGuru… absolute rubbish these days. I fished out my boarding pass and found I was indeed in row four. My mistake.
Matthew,
Aerolopa.com is the new seatguru for what it’s worth.
Which is what I use for all my trip reports, but SeatGuru came in #1 for the seatmap and AeroLopa was below the fold. Never again…tragic how Trip Advisor has ruined SeatGuru.
Not really true. Historically LUS aircraft started at 1 and LAA started at 3 but nearly everything else today starts at 1. In fact, as I write this, I’m seated on a 738 that starts at 1. Are you certain you had row 6? That really seems like an anomaly.
You’re right, I was in row 4…my bad. Post updated.
The executives at AA need to be reading this, something has really gone wrong with AA, they need to get their act together.
37 year AA FA here. Man, I wish I’d have a reviewer on one of my flights. I’d greet you at the door by name, ask what you’d like as a pre departure drink, be available the entire flight to FC and YC too, I routinely push open all the lavatory doors to see if papers need picking up, I pick up missed trash from the overnight cleaners, and I’m going to do my REQUIRED 15 minute cabin walk-throughs. I’m sorry this was your experience. It makes me sad.
I’d love to fly with you, JB!
I recently flew Chicago to John Wayne and had the best flight in domestic business that I’ve had on AA. There was a choice for lunch… Strong hints from the fa what not to select; attentive service throughout the trip including the pre departure drink offering; and an upbeat and pleasant attitude throughout. All in all, it was what I hope for when I fly business, but rarely get. In large part it seems to come down to whether the flight attendant actually cares about their customer service.
Glad you had a good flight – every flight should be like this.
Same here, I fly the SNA-ORD route quite often and get great service every time.
On AA domestic, senior usually means good service and junior means lazy. The opposite is true in long-haul. This flight sounds bad, and also doesn’t surprise me at all. What a shame.
As for WiFi, the $49.95 monthly subscription really is a good deal. I’ve had it for years.
I’ll only fly United. Convienent, friendly, pre drinks, they’re asking before you even sit in first. They call you by name throughout the flight. Can’t ask for anything more!
I was reading this review and I thought you were on my last Delta flight from SNA to DTW. Ancient flatbed in FC, but that’s where the perks ended. No PDB even though we boarded early and left late for paperwork, flight wasn’t catered (though it was on the outbound, and we pre-selected for the return), and FA hid behind the galley curtain for 4 hours. No response from Delta. It’s really luck of the draw. You can have a bad experience on any of them.
I have flown American predominantly, since 1986. Having achieved 5,000,000 miles in the AAdvantage program, and having maintained Concierge Key for several years now, I have to agree that my favorite airline has lost its way relative to superior passenger service. I’m sure running an airline these days is stupidnot easy, and I try to not be hypercritical, but there’s no doubt that over the years quality of service has declined substantially. That said, I have so much time invested in this brand that I’m likely to stick with it. I’m sure many of you will think that that’s simply stupid, but all things considered status is the only way on any airline that you can get a modicum of value for your traveling dollar, in my humble opinion.
I love whiners!
And I despise lazy FAs!
Didn’t you find the legroom to be a little tight, considering it’s domestic first class that has roughly the same pitch as UA economy plus? I’ve flown on those 737s in first and while the seats were fairly new, they were kinda crammed in there. Not horrible like the Eurobusiness scam, but very skimpy as far as domestic first goes.
The rest of your review is not a one-off, as it has been experienced by me as well (at one time or another on AA), which is why I switched to UA many years ago.
Legroom was on the tighter side, but did not bother me.
Remember Herb Kelleher said “Happy Employees, Happy Customers.
Why is that so difficult to understand?
Leave it up to the bean counters, they ruin things.
But my question is why are employees not happy? Two FAs for 16 first class passengers is a good ratio on this aricraft and FAs have a new contract with pay bumps (unlike at UA).
Thank you for the reply.
I have frequent contact with AA employees outside the workplace.
There has been a steady erosion since Robert Crandall left. A bit of a hardass that emphasized both the hard and the soft product. There has been an erosion in professionalism all around our culture and US airlines are no exception. The fact that we even debate whether fringe political messages should be worn as part of a uniform is symptomatic.
Say what you want, but Al Baker led and assembled an outstanding airline. Would not tolerate debates about attire, attitude, etc.
The final demise happened when the USAirways guppy swallowed the American Airlines whale. Doug Parker used a divide and conquer approach, and it was thought that Scott Kirby was his heir apparent. Kirby left AA, it showed the source of the malaise. The USAir team, whose former ID was LCC (Low Cost Carrier) injected the low cost attitude and does not reward excellence.
I have been (stuck) with AA for 4 decades. I can hear he difference on phone calls, and can tell I am speaking with the few remnants of the old guard who try to cling to the dignity of what AA used to be.
The staff is treated with disdain by management, and the disdain is then extended to the customers. Haggling endlessly with your employees, changing directions, not leading by example.
Even those of us who work in the industry (and not for a competitor) know American is worse than even a few of the budget carriers. They treat suppliers as bad as customers. They have a culture of rudeness that perpetuates through the entire operation from supplier management, to customer service, to tech ops. There’s an arrogance that they know better in everything that they do. Until that’s addressed, I would continue to expect a continuation of their descent to the bottom.
The flight attendants disappearing is a known issue on AA. It’s a coordinated effort by AA flight attendants and their union. Shameful and is one, of many reasons, that I never fly AA
Seems as if AA needs a MAGA, as in ‘American’, program!
I’ve outlined that here, red hat included:
Make American Airlines Great Again: A Five-Point Blueprint
AA had a real chance to be a premium airline in 2013 when they were adding seat back screens, had large main cabin extra sections, generous pitch in economy, and doing all the things United wasn’t doing at the time with Smisek. Then they got tangled up with US Airways, Smisek left United in disgrace, and the trajectories of the airlines flipped. AA turned into a slightly better version of Spirit
I’m shocked you were shocked at the totally lackluster service that is AA First. As a south FL resident, I’m usually stuck taking them out of convenience (MIA hub), and it’s just a usual thing on every flight that the FAs do the absolute bare minimum. I just assumed it must be in their contract that they only have to do one drink pass and one snack/meal pass, and the rest is up to them. And the usurious prices for WiFi is also sadly not a shock.
I really hope that either they pull it together and at least come up to UA & DL standards or even possibly – gasp! – surpass them. Or, I hope UA will align with B6 so that we’ll have more options than the horrid WN or NK out of FLL.
Do you happen to remember where they were based? Though it would be logical for them to be based in LAX, they really sound more like a MIA or CLT based crew.
LAX based.
Some senior FA ruin the reputation on good FA, normal part of being human. FAA regulations require FA’s to monitor cabin every 15 minutes with walk through, when not in isles providing service. You could report this Crew to American and FAA. You have date and flight number. Senior FA feel they are untouchable. Some earn close to $60 per flight hr. That $600.00 before taxes for a 10hr duty day, 1-2 a week. Then multply that hourly wage by 65-80 hrs per month flying pay. I have little respect for lazy FA. Your paid well to do work. Retire if your too tired. But wait! You cant retire lol, You can’t afford your current lifestyle when you retire.
@Matt – have you flown UAs non updated 737 recently with the old leather seats and tiny non working DirecTVs?
The AA hard product is better than that aircraft.
Agreed on the service and amenities. $28 for WiFi is crazy…a monthly pass is only $50…
Sure, take the worst version of United’s planes (which are rapidly being updated with much nicer screens) to compare to AA. But even those planes also have streaming entertainment, same as AA.
@ Matthew — But where else could you have purchased zillions of miles at $.0042 per mile and saved the earth all at once? We may have no reason to ever buy another AA ticket with cash again. I’m happy wih a $200 roundtrip “first class” transcon or $630 roundtrip business class trasnatlantic ticket. I’ll just take an Ambien and sleep the whole way at that price. Keep expectations LOW and you won’t be disappointed!
Don’t remind me that I missed the deal of the century. Feel free to share the wealth! 😉
PHL transcons have been the opposition lately: very inexperienced crew. Some try but most don’t. I hate to use the term, but truly lAAzy. No PDB, no second drink service even in F, etc. etc.
It’s bad. Thanks for highlighting it.
My wife and I just flew first class on American from Cabo to Dallas. Horrible service. Flight attendants didn’t acknowledge us until 4o minutes into the flight. Watched them eat their lunches and look at their phones. Once they did finally acknowledge us, the service was mediocre at best!! Absolutely zero customer service. I find it difficult to believe that the higher ups at American don’t realize that this is a huge problem. It appears to me that the flight attendants feel as though we as customers, work for them, rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, this type of behavior appears to be accepted by American Airlines management!!
Finally I understand why BA chose to partner with AA
.
You could be describing Amy BA midhaul flight except for the seating which would be overly densified in a 3 +3 with minimal pitch
That bad? I have yet to have a bad flight on BA.
We’re flying to Costa Rica in a few months and have been checking out flights. AA has a few favorable schedules and fares. Haven’t flown AA in several years but after reading all this I think we’ll spend a few extra bucks and stick with United, which has been good for us on all of our recent trips. What a shame what’s happened to AA.
AA would rather be a below-average crypto currency than an average or above airline operation.
That mindset shows up over and over again on every AA flight experience.
If they cared about flight ops, flights would be better
But they don’t.
So flights aren’t. And won’t be.
My family and I are flying UA LAX-EWR in Business next week. But my mother is concerned about the EWR ATC issue and is thinking of flying into JFK on another carrier (US is offering cancelation weaivers). I really hope it’s not AA – Delta and Jet Blue are fine with me. At AA, it’s still the America West/US Airways mentality. Cut costs and give the bare minimum with occasional “disguises” of a premium product.