American Airlines is refreshing its buy-on-board menu in economy class, and while its onboard menu will still lag competitors, it is another sign the carrier is finally paying attention to the onboard experience, even for the people sitting in the back.
American Airlines Upgrades Main Cabin Food And Snack Menu
American Airlines has announced an expanded lineup of snacks and fresh food options in Main Cabin, with new buy-on-board meals and snack boxes rolling out this month.
That may not sound especially exciting, but it represents an important investment in the economy class product, especially as competitors like Alaska Airlines and Untied Airlines offer excellent choices behind the curtain.
What’s Changing On American Airlines
American is introducing several new food options onboard, including:
- A new “Inflight Bites” snack box with crackers, dried fruit, nuts, cookies, and other packaged snacks (still packaged food you’re better off avoiding, but better than the last iteration of the snack box)
- Gochujang beef jerky
- Wheat Thins
- Lemon rosemary green olives
- Chocolate cherry granola bar
- Oreo cookies
- Honey roasted cashews
- Smoked Gouda cheese spread
- A turkey and Havarti sandwich on avocado bread (starting next month) available on select domestic and shorthaul international flights
- An updated cheese plate that includes:
- Tillamook cheese
- Extra sharp cheddar
- Smoked black pepper cheddar
- Blueberry artigiano
- Fresh fruit, dried apricots and dried black figs
- Walnuts, gourmet crackers, Bonne Maman honey and Toblerone chocolate
- Tillamook cheese
- Expanded snack selections in Main Cabin with kettle corn and mixed nuts for sale
The new items are available on select flights within the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. American is also continuing its push toward more branded and premium-adjacent food partnerships onboard.
American Is Finally Paying Attention To Economy Class
For years, American Airlines felt like the U.S. legacy carrier least interested in the actual onboard experience.
The airline invested heavily in density and focused on cost-cutting to compete with now-defunct Spirit Airlines while Delta and United spent more aggressively on product differentiation.
That appears to be changing.
Over the last year, American has:
- Improved onboard coffee and beverage options
- Expanded buy-on-board offerings
- Rolled out upgraded premium cabins on new aircraft
- Invested in lounges and digital upgrades
- Improved operational reliability
Now we are hearing strong rumors that personal screens may be returning to the mainline fleet.
None of this individually transforms the airline. But together, it reflects something that has been missing for a long time: effort.
Food Still Matters
Many will dismiss airline food as irrelevant.
I disagree.
Passengers notice when airlines make an effort and they also notice when airlines stop trying. Even in economy class, decent food and snacks contribute to the perception that an airline actually cares about the onboard experience.
And importantly, this is happening while some competitors are moving in the opposite direction. Delta, for example, is simultaneously cutting snack and beverage service on hundreds of shorter flights, a matter I will address separately.
CONCLUSION
American Airlines is not suddenly becoming Singapore Airlines. But expanding food and snack options in economy class is still a positive development, particularly because most passengers actually sit there and reinforces the idea that AA is really trying to improve.
For years, American felt like an airline focused almost exclusively on operational and financial metrics (and look how well that turned out…). Lately, though, it has shown increasing signs that the customer experience matters again. That is good to see and I hope it will continue and I hope to see AA introduce hot options as well like on Alaska and United.
image: American Airlines
That’s a decent amount of food in that snack box for $10 (and I’m a big nuts.com fan in general so happy to see them included). Wish they stuck with nuts.com for the $11 roasted salted mixed nuts offering versus Nuts on Clark (that was in the announcement as well) although I understand the pandering to Chicago (and the Nuts on Clark popcorn machine in ORD is a family favorite).
I’ll reserve judgment until I try them, but I quite like Nuts on Clark popcorn and expect their mixed nuts will be good. As an aside, we blow the food budget each month with all the mixed nuts we consume…those fancy mixed nuts in the purple container at Trader Joe’s are the best deal and such a nice combo of pecans, macadamias, cashews, and almonds. We inhale them…
Mixed nuts are always a winner and happy to see them offered on board for sale. I really like the nuts.com supreme roasted mixed nuts that are lightly salted. They have pistachios in them as well. Of course, if you’re looking to blow the budget, dried unsweetened mango does the trick for me every time…
Peter, I’m with you… I like nuts… and I don’t care who knows it.
I. LIKE. NUTS.
Is the Turkey Sandwich a late Cinco de Mayo joke with the bread? Imagine giving your kid a sandwich on Avocado bread and telling the little bastard to eat it or starve. I know my dad would have laughed in the face of the stewardess, showing my age but in his time avocados weren’t eaten by most Americans and certainly weren’t made into bread. Then again his father died in WW2 fighting Nazis and today that word is thrown around like nothing, making his sacrifice seem like nothing.
I love avocado bread!
But let me at least thank your father for flighting and dying in WWII, a horrible, brutal, but necessary war. My grandfather fought in World War II on my mom’s side and in World War I on my dad’s side…many of us, and I’d put myself in that category too even though I did serve in the USAF, have no idea what true sacrifice means. What a luxury that we can moan about airline food…
Introducing your kids to new things like avocado bread isn’t the worst thing to do.
Agree with both of you on all points. Wasn’t trying to be flippant.
“It reflects something that has been missing for a long time: effort.” I mean, is it also out of necessity rather than choice? Their profitability and consumer opinion are dismal compared to the other 2 and Alaska. I can be a harsh critic, but I’m not ready to commend them for trying thing to not be in last place. Also, “better” food options that I’m still paying a premium for? Neat. I think they want to survive and return decent shareholder value, and they realize improvements are necessary.
You would think that selling food to a captive audience would be profitable, and if so, an airline would naturally want to capitalize on that opportunity.
Meanwhile, Delta getting rid of amenities…
Is there a single passenger that actually wants every item in that snack box? I wish they had one that was primarily protein, and another that is primarily junk food. Combining them all in one seems to me like it leads to waste. Is anyone really eating the olives and the oreos?
Preach!
There is an airline that does great snack boxes. JetBlue. And yes I like the one with olives artichokes and hummus.
The best thing about having hit rock bottom is that there is nowhere to go but up!
More power and best of good luck to AA on their adventurous onboard culinary journey!
LOVE AA NEW CATER OUT OF LHR.
DOLCE AND CO.
AMAZING FOOD AND SERVICE.