Expect Changes To Airline Lounge Catering

Airlines have a tough road ahead of them, and are responding to it in various ways. Not only do they have to deal with a reduction in demand, but they also need to put more of an emphasis on cleanliness and safety than ever before.

With that in mind, expect some significant changes to the service procedures in lounges.

More from OMAAT American Airlines Employee Training Video From 2000: How Times Have Changed! Read more

American Airlines Admirals Club changes

As noted by @xJonNYC, in a memo to American Airlines employees, the company revealed that they’re making significant changes to how food and drinks are served in Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges:

Changes to lounge procedure: We’re making changes to our Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge procedures to provide even more peace of mind for customers. Effective Monday, March 16, American will replace buffet-style food with individually portioned, covered food items and will shift most self-serve beverages to individual portions (e.g. milk cartons) or bartender/wait staff service. More details will be coming soon.

To give you a sense of what will be changing, in Flagship Lounges American will replace buffet-style food with individually portioned food items:

• This includes both hot and cold breakfast and all-day options
• Milk carafes will be replaced with individual cartons in beverage fridges and other beverage dispensers (water, tea, etc.) will be moved behind the bar

In Admirals Clubs, breakfast and all-day set up will be displayed on trays, either pre-packaged or individually wrapped:

• This includes both hot and cold breakfast and all-day options
• Pre-packaged Quaker oatmeal with hot water available
• Soup will no longer be served
• Milk carafes will be replaced with individual cartons in ice bath or frost top and other beverage dispensers (water, tea, juice, etc.) will be moved behind the bar

On top of that, across the board:

• Bulk condiments will be replaced with portion-controlled packets
• Snack dispensers will be replaced with individually wrapped or pre-packaged snacks
• Cutlery and napkins will be pre-packaged
• Apples will be wrapped
• Desserts will remain in the same display but individually wrapped
• More frequent cleaning of touchscreens on beverage machines
• Food for purchase will still be available
• Avocado Toast and Guacamole Action Stations will still be offered, as the portions are individually made by servers using gloves

I’m sure American won’t be alone in adjusting lounge catering in light of the situation.

Expect big changes to lounge food & drink offerings

Lots of airline lounges are closing as well

While the above is being done for health and safety reasons, on the cost cutting front we’re seeing airlines around the world start to close lounges. While Cathay Pacific was one of the first airlines to do this in Hong Kong, we’ve seen many other airlines around the world follow.

I expect we’ll soon see a significant uptick in the number of lounges that are closed in light of reduced demand, as a cost saving measure. We’ll probably see the number of lounges in hub airports reduced, and I can also see lounges at smaller stations closing temporarily due to reduced demand.

Cathay Pacific has closed The Pier First Class Lounge

Bottom line

While hardly the most important thing in this saga, airlines will no doubt be adjusting their service protocols to limit the amount of self service in airline lounges. On top of that, I’d expect many lounges to close over the next several weeks as a cost cutting measure, given reduced demand.

If you’ve visited an airport lounge in the past few days, did you notice any differences?