American Airlines wants to see if it can get away with cutting bread and butter on long haul flights. However, it’s not quite the cost cutting exercise that one might assume.
Continue reading: American May Cut Bread & Butter On Some Long Haul Flights: Here’s Why
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Never had nice, fresh bread/roll in Y or PE. It's just there as a filler IMO. If they increase the size or the "Beef or chicken....sir?" portion then maybe they can do away with the starch side.
BA serves a bread roll and crackers on the same tray in World Traveller, so maybe the stale roll isn't needed.
This has nothing to do with galley space, it is 100% about cutting cost. Bread and butter are catered on the meal trays which are inside the carts. Whether you have it onboard or not takes up no additional galley space, the meal trays stay the same, albeit a bit emptier now.
I don’t understand how this saves space when the bread and butter are already on the tray
I won't miss the shelf stable dry bread in a plastic bag, accompanied by rock hard butter.
Seriously, in the rare cases where I'm even eating the economy/premium economy meal (eat in the lounge/airport) the bread goes back to the garbage cart uneaten.
Nothing to do with "galley space". American Airlines has no interest in providing a true premium service or product. It never has. When it runs well, it does well, but overall, this is an airline that is simply too large for its cost structure and perpetually looks for ways to pinch pennies. It removed one olive from salads in the 1980s and proudly proclaimed that saved it one million dollars. Those new premium cabins on AA look mediocre at best. Wear and tear will show quickly and that too will degrade the experience.
It's not about the lack of space, it's about the lack of ovens to heat the bread.
Not all breads are heated, only few airlines offer that in their Y cabins. many of them come in plastic wrappers to begin and they are served room temperature or cold
As others have pointed out, seems more like cost cutting then saving space since breads are already placed on the tray (which takes up an allocated space on the trolley to fit in all the food on it) and is not served separately in some bread basket. I don’t remember enough to know if AA serves warm bread but I doubt they do and even then, they can just serve the normal stale plastic wrapped bread every other airline offers on the tray
The 'limited galley space' is American's chosen specification. Airbus can make the galley as large as the customer wants. What American is saying here is 'we have chosen to prioritise the revenue from an extra three economy seats over your bread service'. Come clean, don't blame Airbus.
And also, Rob Crandall proudly told reporters in an interview that after his five consecutive years of reviewing an overseas operating warehouse in the Caribbean, the full-time night guard position was eventually replaced by a barking dog sound.
Well nobody is gonna increase the portion size, especially AA, so the bread stays. Anyway you should try bread rolls on MU, they do serve warm bread rolls in Y and they also butter it a little when heating up. You can smell it halfway away in the cabin and it is one of my fav things flying MU. Though i only ever got it on flights form their hub
Huge mistake! Passengers don’t like to get Nickel on dimed… especially by a major airline where it’s executive brass is earning tons of millions of dollars every year
Has the seating plan been released for AA’s A321XLR? I’m wondering if they decided to put in a 1/2 size galley in the back like IB, with spaceflex lavs
Is that not the case with all AA flights Chris?
At least according to SkyTrax an JD Power customer surveys it is …. 🙂
American will be eliminating alcohol and most soft drinks in the main cabin because there is not enough room on the beverage cart to fit in the galleys on their new planes .
The test is actually about a smaller tray, and what element can be cut to make everything fit on the tray.
For everyone saying “it’s already on the tray, it doesn’t save space.” The only way to fit enough trays in the aft galley is to actually serve everything on a smaller tray. Delete the stale plastic wrapped bread that 90% of people throw away anyway, and it all fits on the slightly smaller tray now.
I'll miss those frozen pats of butter.
Not having all that excess weight onboard should help with fuel economy.
Thanks AA for testing this additional worsening of your passenger experience on those of us in CLT. Next time, test this type change on your DFW passengers.
I suspect to see an upcoming test of charging for bread and butter because "that's what passengers requested".
Yet another reason to avoid A321XLR.
Sorry A321XLR apologists, you're just simping for an awful plane.
"I think many people assume that these surveys are useless and no changes happen based on them,"
If they start making positive change from surveys not some bogus 'enhancements based on feedbacks' excuse to cut even more.
I'm not surprised if they cut bread and butter based on customer feedbacks.
It's been more than a decade since I've been on a long haul flight in economy but from what I remember the bread came pre packaged in plastic wrap. Maybe that's changed. I get that for PE that would appear really cheap.
I find the bread service inconsistent. On United, economy class bread is pre-placed on the tray, while meals are oven-warmed. Polaris bread is already stored ina designated oven for the first service, however, is bagged and stored in carriers for the second meal service, then oven-warmed as needed. American Airlines' current operational procedures require review.
Ok, was it just me that read the title as AA cutting staple "bread and butter" routes?
I thought flights to LHR/MAD/etc. were going away for some reason. And then I realized it was about the literal bread and butter LOL
Unless AA is changing the size of the meal trays they use, bread roll and butter pat does not matter. There is already space on tray for these items. AA is just using this as an excuse to get even cheaper.
All these comments and no joke or pun about where AA gets its bread buttered... I'm disappointed :p
I never eat that stale lump, anyway. Might as well save the food, space, and money.
If space is an issue, block off a lav and throw the stale buns in a bag and place on the pot !
"Less is more" .. AA's 'premier gaslight' service !
This is what will happen. Exactly. Supposedly they *do* read the surveys - though I've yet to see proof. But even if they DO, how many pax will actually mention the lack of bread/butter so specifically in a survey that AA will opt NOT to take it away. For AA, the lack of a mention means people clearly don't miss it. Then they'll spin that into "based on customer feedback, we've eliminated bread/butter on some routes."
Exactly. "Limited galley space" was not a problem on transatlantic 757s or the 737-900ERs that ply 5-6 hour routes.
You need some butter on board in case someone gets stuck in one of the aft lavs.
The limited galley space is a crisis of their own making. They didn't have to make the galley so small that they would have to trial eliminating bread and butter. What's next? Dessert?
We flew United from Newark to Mexico City and back. All we received was a bottle of water and blanket, in Econ Plus. 5 hour flight.
Its already changed everywhere, just not reported.
They need to get their schedules right. Too many delays. Never on time taking off or landing
Food is the least problem especially bread
Most of the time that’s my favorite part of the meal bread and butter! Even if the meal is lousy, I always know I can have it with bread and butter. Please don’t take it away.