American Airlines has told flight attendants to refrain from offering premium cabin amenities in economy class in order to promote a “consistent customer experience.”
American Airlines Reminds Flight Attendants To Avoid Special Favors In Economy Class
In a memo shared by JonNYC titled, Calling for cabin consistency, American asks its flight attendants to refrain from offering premium cabin amenities in economy class:
As part of our commitment to ensuring a consistent customer experience, please refrain from offering Premium Cabin amenities/service items (i.e. pillows, blankets, amenity kits, and certain food items) to customers who are not seated in a Premium Cabin.
https://twitter.com/xJonNYC/status/1722003720534188271?s=20
On the one hand, it is understandable that American Airlines wants to provide a predictable and consistent product in its economy class.
People get envious when others get things and they do not–just look at the discussion over whether an economy class passenger should have been served a leftover first class meals.
> Read More: United Airlines Frequent Flyer Threatened With “No Fly List” For Requesting Leftover First Class Meal
But as View From The Wing points out, the memo, at its core, reads do not provide better service to coach passengers. And that is a missed opportunity. Not so much because it is practical or realistic for economy class passengers to receive “leftovers” from business class, but because there are certain instances where such gestures of kindness can make a huge difference and even win long-term loyalty.
I’ll never forget the time I was flying United Airlines in economy class and hungry. Taking pity on me since there were no buy onboard items available, a flight attendant brought me a leftover first class meal. What a kind gesture…I still remember it to this day and it was one small gesture that played a role in making me a loyal United flyer a decade later.
There are circumstances where discretion is warranted and that sort of empathy-driven discretion promotes the bottom line. American Airlines should reconsider its policy. Sure, it must be done discreetly, but these gestures are a good thing, not a bad thing.
CONCLUSION
American Airlines has told its flight attendants to refrain from offering premium cabin amenities in economy class. While reasonable on its face to promote a consistent product, it strikes me as the sort of micro-management that discourages flight attendants from providing genuinely good service, especially when special circumstances arise.
image: American Airlines
I totally disagree with you on this. You may just be a handful of people who will base your loyalty on such actions, but the vast majority will be upset that you got it and they didn’t. It is not micromanaging at all. It is providing the service and items paid for. What needs to happen at AA for the sake of all customers is to hire and train sensible, competent and friendly employees.
Going for meh.
I remember once flying AA international business class where there empty seats in business and ai grabbed an extra pillow from an empty seat to support my back. FA came to me and said that was not allowed because other passengers would probably want an extra and there not enough for everyone to get two. Oh well….. It has been over 10 years since I last flew AA international and I haven’t missed it. On the other hand, on a few times I flew Delta international in coach, FAs have came to me to acknowledge my Diamond status and ask if there was anything they could do to make my trip more comfortable. I never asked for anything special but received business class amenity kits while in coach and once was given a bottle of wine once they knew my wife and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary on that trip. It is all about the little things.
Flight attendants at AA are here exclusively for your safety and should not be providing any sort of “service.” If you want a vodka tonic before takeoff then fly private.
I remember a story from many years ago about SAS receiving a complaint letter from a passenger about not having a newspaper on his flight. This was rather confusing to SAS as the man was in economy class and newspapers weren’t supplied in economy class. Turns out that there were left over newspapers in business class and the carats gave them out on a first come, first serve basis to economy class passengers.
Flight attendants were advised to stop passing the left over newspapers in business class back to the economy class cabin.
The AA article reminds me of the SAS situation.
The bigger problem is the inconsistency with AA FA’s on offering ExP benefits to customers sitting in Main Cabin. Very few offer the free snack item unless you ask. Should be consistent across the board. These are earned benefits, not special treatment.
I flew on a domestic cross country last winter in lie flat first on a AA 787.
It was a red-eye flight. I asked for a pillow and was told they didn’t offer them. On a red-eye. In first class. In a lie flat seat.
It would seem difficult for them to get much worse than that in economy.
@jd: LOL! Maybe it is because of Covid. You know, that is still the favorite excuse for laziness.
Classic.
I’m surprised that you didn’t also get told that by policy you cannot lie the seat flat if they haven’t issued you a pillow. A pillow that they don’t have.
Last year I had a UA purser approach a fellow 1K and myself who were sitting in 7C & 7D respectively whose upgrades didn’t clear. The thanked us for our loyalty and offed us anything we wanted from “up front” and as many as we wanted.
Why is this shocking? AA doesn’t care and I doubt they ever will. With the FA’s asking for higher pay than Delta and AA refusing for months to the point the flight attendants voted to strike I’m going to take a wild guess and say many of the FA’s don’t either
I can just picture the corporate meeting where this memo was discussed and written – ugh.
I think that, within reason, the FAs should be empowered to make the customer experience more pleasant, and that as humans customers will appreciate that. It also helps to keep employee morale up if they are not micro-managed. Just my $0.02.
Agreed.
I am a platinum with Qantas and was seated in economy on a flight from LAX to SYD a few years ago (my upgrade didn’t clear but I seriously doubt the FA would know this). She brought me champagne from business before take off along with an amenity kit and PJs – and halfway through the flight she dropped not one but two bottles of Veuve La Grande Damn in bright. yellow duty free bags. I was astonished but I was also thankful the cabin was dark when the bubbles arrived. Fellow passengers wondered who I was with all the pre-take off goodies arriving and that was embarrassing but it was super nice to be recognised although the Veuve was a bit over the top. The only other time I was gifted champagne was on a Swiss flight where there was a medical issue which I helped with. Alan Joyce would have been very unhappy to learn of this generosity but I was both amazed and very thankful!
So say a frail old woman or child is shivering because the air-conditioning is to cold.
And than it is not allowed to offer a blanket ?
That is just cruel.
I don’t think the issue was about what was allowed, but what resources were available. Airlines have cut blankets and with the pandemic overkill reaction, probably all the old ones were thrown away.
Any public, confined space environment should be on the Cooler side. A warm environment can increase anxiety and discomfort. Bring your own clothing and dress in layers.
That is insane. We were on a 10 hour flight MUC-CLT. It was so cold that we got sick from it. no need to have an airplane be cold.
Also, be sure to be stern and mean like the police; Put your seat and tray table back up headphones off, sit in your seat, and don’t move.
Is there a week goes by when American does not give yet another reason to spend your money with another airline?
No one care what you think. Expecting more for less is outrageous. You get what you pay for and that’s it. You’d have people saying “ Well my last flight they did it.”
Whoosh!
This seems totally consistent with my AA experience. They are not less competent than other major airlines; they are just meaner. When they make a mistake they don’t say “sorry.“ They always find a way to tell me that it was my fault that their equipment didn’t work.
I got upgraded to the front of a Delta flight a while back. I asked the F.A. if I could use one of my annual medallion drink coupons for my mother in law back in the exit row. They just said, “What seat are they in, I’ll set em up, no need to use a coupon.”
That’s the sort of thing that is incredibly easy and helps me stick with Delta. As you say, why micro-manage positive customer interactions?!