It’s not often we see American leading the way when it comes to inflight service, so here’s a small but noteworthy victory, as reported by @xJonNYC.
American expands premium cabin espresso offering
American Airlines is expanding the planes and cabins on which it serves espresso-based drinks. Thanks to a recent change, American now offers espresso in first and business class on Boeing 777s (777-200ERs and 777-300ERs), Boeing 787s (787-8s and 787-9s), and Airbus A321Ts.
Note that these are only offered on flights where the forward cabins are marketed as Flagship First and Flagship Business, which includes long haul international and premium transcontinental flights. This means that if you fly a 777 from Miami to Dallas, for example, espresso wouldn’t be offered.
What’s the actual change here? Well, back in the day, American only offered espresso in first class, and not business class. So this now being available in business class on more aircraft is a positive development. Furthermore, for the first couple of years after the start of the pandemic, American had completely cut inflight espresso, before it returned in the spring of 2022.
Note that while American now offer espresso, the airline doesn’t offer cappuccinos or lattes, sadly, even in first class.
I’m happy to see American improve its coffee situation
As someone who is a bit obsessed with coffee, I appreciate when airlines invest in this aspect of the product. Airline coffee is kind of disgusting, so the more of a caffeine hit you can get while minimizing the amount of potable water you drink, the better. Now, I do wish American would bring back cappuccinos as well, rather than just espressos, but hey, I’ll take what I can get.
Interestingly, this is now a point of differentiation compared to Delta and United. In United Polaris business class, there are no espresso based drinks. However, United does have illy cold brew, which is cool. In the case of Delta One business class, only select aircraft have espresso machines.
Now, I do hope that the espresso machines are properly maintained, and actually work a majority of the time. Furthermore, I hope that the crews actually consistently offer to make these when requested, rather than claiming the machines are broken. For that matter, I hope crews don’t use all the espresso pods for themselves, before passengers are able to request them. Let me say that I think most American flight attendants do their best, so I’m only potentially talking about a small minority here.
Bottom line
American Airlines has expanded the routes on which it serves espresso. The airline now offers espresso in first and business class on Boeing 777s, Boeing 787s, and Airbus A321Ts. This is the most number of aircraft on which American has offered espresso, though unfortunately there are no cappuccinos, or the like.
I’m happy to see this change, though I sure wish more US carriers would match United with serving cold brew throughout their network.
What do you make about American serving espresso in first & business class?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.