American Airlines is making a notable change to Flagship Dining: beginning September 15, access will expand beyond Flagship First and Flagship “Business Plus” to include eligible Flagship Business passengers as well. Even better for West Coast travelers, the long-shuttered Flagship Dining room at Los Angeles International Airport is finally coming back.
American Airlines Expands Flagship Dining To Business Class, Reopens LAX Location
American Airlines announced a fairly substantial expansion of its Flagship Dining concept this week, and the biggest news is not the wine or chocolate, but access.
Beginning September 15, passengers traveling in Flagship Business Plus and regular Flagship Business on qualifying longhaul international, transcontinental, and Hawaii Flagship routes will be eligible for Flagship Dining.
Until now, Flagship Dining has largely been positioned as a perk for Flagship First passengers and, more recently, Flagship Business Plus customers. With Flagship First disappearing (eventually…), opening the restaurant-style dining experience to a much broader pool of business class passengers makes sense and is a very welcome change.
Flagship Dining Expands To Business Class
Flagship Dining is American’s private sit-down dining concept located inside select Flagship Lounges.
Instead of a buffet, guests receive full table service with multi-course meals, cocktails, wine, and dessert.
It has historically been one of the strongest aspects of American’s ground experience, but also one of the more difficult benefits to access. Now that changes.
Eligible Flagship Business passengers traveling on qualifying longhaul international, premium transcontinental, and Hawaii routes will now be able to use Flagship Dining at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Miami (MIA).
American says access will be space available. If no table is immediately open, passengers can join an electronic waitlist and will be notified when one becomes available (much the same process you see in United Polaris lounges and Delta One lounges).
Expanding access obviously creates the potential for crowding, so we’ll see how that plays out in practice.
But conceptually, I like this change very much.
United offers Polaris Lounge dining to eligible Polaris business class passengers and Delta has increasingly built premium ground experiences around Delta One customers. American’s old approach of reserving its best dining experience for a shrinking Flagship First population increasingly made little sense and was one reason the LAX Flagship Dining area never reopened after the pandemic.
Flagship Dining At LAX Is Finally Coming Back
Speaking of LAX, American says the private Flagship Dining space at LAX will reopen in “late 2026.”
American has a nice Flagship Lounge at LAX, but the loss of Flagship Dining removed one the only service element that distinguished first class from business class (and three-cabin aircraft continue to operate on several routes).
For passengers heading to New York, London, Sydney, or other eligible Flagship destinations, having a proper restaurant-style meal before departure is a nice option and gives American a more credible answer to the increasingly strong premium lounge offerings from Delta and United.
New Four-Course Menus
American is also refreshing the Flagship Dining menu.
The airline says the new four-course experience will feature seasonal ingredients and dishes inspired by the regions surrounding its hubs.
Examples include:
- Roasted purple cauliflower steak
- Texas pear and burrata salad
- Mesquite-grilled beef filet
- California artisan board
- Churro bread pudding
- The Flagship burger
Thomas Keller Wine And Chocolate Pairing
American is also adding an exclusive wine and chocolate pairing curated by Chef Thomas Keller.
The pairing combines KHK Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon with K+M Extravirgin Chocolate and K+M hazelnut dragées.
Keller co-founded K+M Chocolate with Italian olive oil producer Armando Manni and is also a founding ambassador for KHK Wines.
The pairing will be available in Flagship Dining and at The Chelsea Lounge at JFK.
The KHK Cabernet Sauvignon will also be poured in all Flagship Lounges and The Chelsea Lounge.
American notes that the chocolates and hazelnut dragées are also served at Keller’s three-Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California.
This Is The Right Direction For American
I think the most important part of this announcement is what it says about American’s premium strategy.
Flagship First is disappearing, but AA is taking some of the premium elements of that product and making them part of a stronger business class experience.
Opening Flagship Dining to eligible Flagship Business passengers does exactly that and reeopening LAX is equally important, especially for me based in LA!
American has spent years talking about improving its premium product. This is the sort of tangible improvement I want to see, even if it is (better late than never) responding to the competitive pressure of Delta and United.
CONCLUSION
Beginning September 15, American Airlines will expand Flagship Dining access to eligible Flagship Business passengers at Dallas Fort Worth and Miami, while the LAX location will finally reopen later this year. There is also a refreshed four-course menu, new KHK Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Thomas Keller-curated chocolate pairing.
As Flagship First fades away, American is moving one of its best ground experiences into business class, which is great news.
With the eventual elimination of international and transcon first class, I figured they had to something but this was surprising. I expected the access to convert to Global Services (and maybe Ex Plat/Emerald) members only for those routes. For those that still have flights in first, I wonder if they have priority for access?
Also happy to see the LAX lounge return. That always felt like a miss to not reopen.