Arthur, My Favorite American Airlines Flight Attendant

While I fly American quite a bit, I’ve almost never knowingly flown with the same flight attendant more than once, given how many there are (26,000+). Earlier this year I wrote about how I had an amazing flight attendant, and as luck would have it, I had him again today. He’s an absolute delight, and I just can’t help but give him a shout out.

I had a great business class flight with Arthur earlier this year

One of the issues with flying US airlines on long haul flights is that service is consistently inconsistent. Some flight attendants are awesome, while others don’t really put in the effort. Back in March 2024, I flew American’s 777 business class from London to Miami, and what made the flight so great was Arthur, the flight attendant working my section.

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Let me just copy and paste what I wrote about him in my review:

His service was simply perfect, and exactly what I hope for when flying with a US airline. He was efficient, genuinely friendly, and informal. Just to give some examples:

• He greeted each passenger in his section at the beginning of the flight — “my name is Arthur, and if there’s anything I can do to make you comfortable, please let me know”
• I appreciated the polite tone with which he communicated — “have you had a chance to decide which entree you’d like today?”
• He performed the entire meal service so efficiently, all while not making anyone feel rushed; I asked if I could wait about five minutes to have dessert, to which he responded “your schedule is my schedule”
• During the meal service, he never let a glass get anywhere close to empty, and the question was always phrased as something along the lines of “what else can I get you?” (in other words, “you’re not inconveniencing me by asking for anything”)
• Throughout the entire nine hour flight, he must have checked on passengers every 10 minutes to see if they wanted anything; when he was on his break, his colleagues did the same thing in his absence

Arthur is an absolute rockstar, and I hope I get to fly with him again. If all American crews were as good as he is, I’d fly American all the time on long haul flights. What a breath of fresh air.

I had Arthur on my flight again today, on the same route!

I’m currently flying American’s 777 first class from London to Miami (I wasn’t supposed to be on this flight and booked it just hours before departure… I’ll explain in a separate post). The crew working first class is nice, in a Waffle House kind of way.

Toward the end of the first meal service, a flight attendant from business class came up to first class, and noticed the guy across from me was going to rest, and asked him “can I make your bed for you?” A proactive offer of turndown service on American?! Since he seemed so happy to do it, I asked if he didn’t mind making mine my bed as well. His response? “Absolutely, I’d be delighted to.”

I’m running on basically no sleep over the past week, so at first I just thought the guy seemed awfully nice, but didn’t think much more of it. But a few moments later, it clicked. “Wait a second, this guy is really nice, and I had a really nice flight attendant on the same route months ago… could it be the same guy?”

I’ve gotta be honest, I’m awful with faces and names when I only meet someone once — I’ll always remember how they made me feel, but I won’t remember what they looked like. Since I had forgotten his name, I pulled up the trip report I had written, and saw that his name was Arthur.

I went back to business class (where he was initially working), and said “you’re Arthur, aren’t you?” He was indeed! It was nice to be able to chat with him briefly, and tell him how his kindness left a lasting impression (and he also thanked me, and mentioned that my review had been brought to his attention).

He explained that he basically exclusively flies the Miami to London route nowadays, and does it about half a dozen times per month. So if you fly between Miami and London on American in business class, cross your fingers that you get Arthur, because you’ll be in for a great experience. It’s not just carriers like Singapore Airlines that can provide great service.

People like Arthur, who provide hospitality from the heart, and put their best foot forward every day, leave a lasting impression with the people they interact with. What an asset to the airline.

Bottom line

It’s a small world. Earlier this year I had a great American flight attendant on a London to Miami flight, and as I wrote about in my review, I hoped I’d get to fly with him again. Well, on my very next long haul American flight, the same flight attendant was onboard, and just as lovely. If you fly between Miami and London in business class, keep an eye out for Arthur.

Let me of course also acknowledge that there are lots of other great flight attendants out there, so my praise of Arthur isn’t intended to take away from the effort of other flight attendants, as I’ve heard some pretty awesome service stories about other crew members as well.