Without a doubt, American Airlines’ most lucrative international market is London Heathrow (LHR), given that it’s also a hub for joint venture partner British Airways. London is a market where you’d think American would want to put its best foot forward. However, the airline is currently dealing with a major issue when it comes to…
Continue reading: What A Mess: American Airlines’ London Heathrow Catering Issues
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Per OMAAT, 10,000 AAdvantage miles is worth ~$150.
I'll take the $10k and boxed wine over the normal "premium" food and wine of any US3 carrier.
If I was flying in economy (heck, maybe even in business), I might prefer 10k miles in lieu of AA on board food!
Was traveling in business class on AA107 (LHR-JFK) on Tuesday March 3. I did not receive an email prior that there is a catering issue. It was an economy class meal served on plates. That's all you get right now. In addition, you can tell it was not fresh (the plane for AA107 came in from LAX), so just imagine how long that food has been sitting around. And, the flight was completely empty (out of 52 seats in biz, 39 remained empty) and the service was terrible. Crew did not come around more often to check in with passengers. Only upon landing the FA apologized for the catering. And, I received the standard 10k we sorry miles.
You would think that they could've gone to BA and come to an agreement with BA around catering the flights for a month or two while they looked for a new supplier. I wonder if it's a question of cost as BA has really good catering from LHR and maybe AA didn't want to pony up for the cost of these meals (especially with a profit margin for BA).
This shouldn't really be a shock though as AA seem to be the only one of the big 3 that hasn't realised that there's value in keeping your premium customers happy
This is poor management for this to go for so long on such an important route. Food sitting that long on a plane seems like an invitation for other issues.
And 10K bonus miles? For what they charge in business and first since the prices have not gone down, that should be at least 10,000 loyalty points as compensation.
Do&Co must have some extra capacity right now with the cutbacks in middle east flying. Get with BA and work something out.
Was just responding to you over at VFTW, because I think you've hit on something here.
I agree that on a 3 hour domestic flight, give me the 5-10k / $75-150 in miles instead of the meal (and I agree that 1.5cpm is about what AA miles are worth). In fact, if there was a preorder option “No meal! Enjoy 5,000 AA bonus miles on us!” I’d frequently take it. Just give me some nuts and a drink and I’m all set.
But on an 8 hour LHR-JFK or an 11.5 hour LHR-LAX… I want a hot fresh meal, not 5-10k miles. That’s me though – others might jump at the miles (especially on the red eye flights – eat in the lounge or on arrival, I don’t need two full meals on a 6-7 hour hop, I’d rather be sleeping anyway).
Feels a little like the hotel “don’t make up my room and get $10 credit” or whatever, but I bet it would be a popular option!
I will try for that, as I am on aa 735 right now, in first. The FAs are all super apologetic and to a person the entire first class cabin is completely understanding. Though I'm the only one who got pajamas so there's that.
And if it was a mouse infestation, better to be eating basic food that was made 24+ hours ago, than better tasting rodent infested fancier food that was made at the caterer in London on a flight earlier in the week
The more Ben, posts about U.S. airlines, the happier I am that I do not have to suffer their woes. I really do feel sorry for those passengers forced onto some airlines by their company policy or location difficulties.
that's fair and poor catering is certainly not something that should be normalized but if I knew about the issue ahead of time (which some clearly did not), I'd just chow down at the Heathrow clubs at T3 and grab a sandwich at one of the shops before boarding
an ironic post from you given this is an issue with an English caterer, not an American one.
Meanwhile, according to TPG, those same 10K miles AA are worth $500! (Why not!)
Yet “English” and other non-US airlines do not seem to be experiencing the same issue…
Any pax who expects any airline food to be decent is an incurable optimist .
Any pax who spends high airfare costs expecting appreciation is an idiot .
I can only assume if the cause were mice infestation, the story would be all over the news and you’d have dozens of airlines at LHR impacted…
1. there's more than one catering company at Heathrow
2. Lack of a social media post doesn't mean other airlines aren't seeing a similar issue with the same caterer and it's a lot easier to double cater within Europe so it's likely you wouldn't even notice if another European carrier had the same issue with the same caterer
2. If AA was experiencing sanitary issues with their caterer and others are letting it slide, I'm quite happy AA didn't wait for others to take actions.
Would you prefer AA waited for another airline to notice the rats before taking action? lol
pretty sure TPG doesn't value AA miles at $0.05/mile 😉
I believe they show $0.017
Imagine being so bad that you don't meet American Airlines' minimum standards.
Wouldn't an airport like LHR have more than one catering company? Sure, it might mean a higher costs to switch immediately but isn't LHR considered an ultra premium route?
There are multiple multiple catering companies, but no caterer is going to keep a fast-spoiling product just sitting around to waste in case AA (or any airline) suddenly needs catering and they also wouldn't have a supply chain set up to immediately go from 6000 meals per day to 12,000 meals per day.
This idea might work if you're talking about a once a day airline like... I don't know, AeroMexico?
I find the food in F on SQ, AF, and EK to be quite good, actually. Then again, I'm not James Beard, as you clearly are.
While I neither want nor expect it, I find appreciation for purchasing tickets and flying F on SQ, AF, and EK to be very forthcoming. I avoid the other carriers as much as possible, with periodic exceptions for LX if/as needed.
Well their parent company apparently values AA SWU searches at $240 a year, so…
Issues and Heathrow are the norm. Worst airport in the world, bar none. Makes MIA look like an afternoon picnic.
Way back in the day, Pan Am used to fly from New York to Tokyo via Fairbanks with a crew change, and there was no catering there. Yet, in the tight 707 galleys, they somehow managed to double provision for two 8 hour flights ex JFK and HND. Yes, triple stacking trays and belly loading perishables which were brought up to the cabin during the technical stop. Same thing on 747 flights from HNL to SYD via Samoa. Double stacked trays in the galley and entree's belly loaded in cold containers. You'd think somebody at AA could come up with the same idea for double provisioning ex JFK for the London flights. Dah !!
American is the 3rd largest carrier by seats at Heathrow. Given the infestation is at the dnata LHR facility, it's likely that other airlines using dnata made a quick substition with their smaller operations. The other major airline that used dnata was Emirates, which isn't flying.
The other major carriers at LHR all wisely use other caterers. BA use DO&CO while Virgin, Delta, Lufthansa, and United all use gategroup.
You expect AA cabin crew to triple stack? They barely serve peanuts without sulking.
I don’t think the caterer would let AA renege that easily if there were no underlying issues.
I understand the complexity of catering contracts and pre planned meal service for thousands of passengers....that is done months in advance. BUT, BA is HQ'd at LHR - and they are metal neautral with AA, so half of the passengers on AA are BA revenue'd. You would think that as an emergency, they could be a quick fix on some level....especially when BA must be down an equal number of flights to the Mid East? This greatly impacts BA as well.
This happened out of LAX years ago on AA, and I remember having Econ meals plated in Biz. It was horrible.
You acknowledge the situation is complex, but then expect a complete solution is a little over a week? Seems a bit unrealistic.
JohnBoy, you know absolutely nothing of what you post and read like an EskimoBot clone too.
Another reason to not fly to Hatethrow. Honestly, the UK is so basic in terms of travel destinations, I have no idea why people still go to that forsaken area. Here's the latest: the sun has set so let go already!
This is the moronic comment. Dnata is owned by the Emeriates group. Last time I checked that wasn’t an English catering company
Or you could fly in to the USA and experience the quality customer service and joyous welcome from TSA followed by several weeks in an Ice detention facility.
What I find strange is how this hasn’t hit any other airline. dnata also cater the likes of EK, AI and SQ, the latter of which has incredibly high standards. My understanding is the EK operation is essentially dedicated due to the scale but SQ and AA would be prepared in the same facility. Strange indeed.
I fly first regularly and find AA first to be below standard to begin with so this latest mess makes it clearly worse. Hope BA brings first back to DFW!
What an odd comment. The UK is full of amazing places. London is truly a world class city; Edinburgh is delightful; Oxford is a stunning small city; the Lake District is sublime. What are you on about?
Appropriate catering for all the PDFiles travelling non-stop to Dallas.
P.S. Release the Epstein files.
I'm pretty sure that a bottle of wine would hold up just as well as a box traveling from the US. Not sure what that has to do with catering co issues.
Maga or rather Trump has the answer. Just get a bunch of big macs and fries for the first class passengers. They will be grateful! Heck they probably voted for Trump. When finished they can line dance in the isle!
That bag of Kettle Chips must have flown over from NY. Blown up like a balloon.
Gonna be a huge Fart!
Yeah. That’s definitely remarkable, although I’m guessing this has less to do with mice and more to do with money and contractual disagreements. Only real explanation I can think about is a miscalculated game of chicken.
My money is that AA cracks over the next 10 day and goes back to their old provider.
What has changed? I flew AA PE and the food was terrible BEFORE catering issues. AA is just "plane" awful
Some of the files have been released on the right side of the pond and they indicate that ‘rump has engaged in pedophilia activities, just like Epstein. “Birds of a feather stick together”, so, who is protecting ‘rump?
Come on guys - box wine is pretty good!! At 30,000 feet and a few glasses down, you'd think it's a fine cabernet!
Considering most Americans don’t have a passport I’m not surprised by your crass comment. UK inbound tourism generates £147B for its economy.. and 5.6 million visitors from US annually. Moreover… Edinburgh continually lands in the top 10 of all worldwide tourist destinations. Not only that, Edinburgh itself now serves 8 US cities direct. Going by your attitude, they must be flying half empty (they’re not)!
As LHR remains THE top global hub worldwide, your opinion and alas, is lacking in sentimental fact