American Airlines is cutting its first class sliders and fries, but the reason is kind of surprising.
In this post:
American’s first class sliders & fries haven’t lasted long
In premium cabins, American lets passengers pre-order meals. In addition to being able to select one of the onboard options, the airline also offers exclusive options that can only be pre-ordered, which aren’t otherwise available onboard.
These selections rotate over time, and in March 2025, American added an interesting new option. The airline introduced “all-American sliders and fries” as a first class meal choice. While there’s no branding to this partnership, there is a bit of a “burger wars” situation going on between US airlines, with Delta serving Shake Shack burgers in first class.
Often these pre-order options stay on the menu for quite some time, but that’s not the case here. Instead, American is cutting the sliders and fries option for flights as of May 14, 2025.
Here’s what I find interesting. I had assumed that these were being cut due to negative feedback, because I’ve seen some pretty bad reviews of them. However, apparently that’s not the case — instead, they’re being cut because they’re too popular.
@xJonNYC reports that American is removing the sliders and fries from the pre-order menu because they’ve been too much of a success. People were ordering more of them than expected, and some catering facilities reportedly had a hard time keeping up with demand. So the expectation is that American will bring these back at some point, once that can all be figured out.
People actually like these sliders & fries?!
I’ve shared my thought process for ordering airplane food. If you ask me, when flying, you’re generally best off either ordering cold dishes, or dishes that reheat well. After all, airplane food is generally cooked on the ground, then stored for an extended period of time, then catered onto the aircraft, and then reheated, prior to being served.
So I think of it the same way as I’d think about what I’d be happy to eat as leftovers after a day. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have leftover curry or pasta, rather than a leftover burger and fries, which just don’t reheat that well.
I haven’t had American’s sliders and fries, though most of the reviews that I’ve seen have been quite negative. So I’m confused, how are these proving so popular? I guess I have three theories:
- I imagine there’s a novelty to ordering sliders and fries on a plane, since not many airlines serve them
- There has been a lot of media attention around Delta’s Shake Shack partnership, so maybe that increases interest
- People do like junk food and comfort food, so I suppose there’s something satisfying about it, even if not as good as on the ground
Bottom line
For the past couple of months, American has been offering sliders and fries as a pre-order option in domestic first class. This will be cut in the coming days, but not because they aren’t popular. Quite to the contrary, they’re being cut because they’re reportedly proving so popular that some catering facilities are having a hard time keeping up.
Have you tried American’s sliders and fries, and if so, what did you think?
Why even offer burgers and fries, how creative can u get. Veggies with good hummus or at least choices of hummus are better and lighter saving on fuel.
The most premium airline in the US can keep their Shake Shack burgers, thank you very much. SS is almost as tasteless & bland as In-N-Out. DL is nothing but aggressive with their "premium " marketing in everything they provide.
So I wouldn't expect AA to have a good burger either. It's a same, really, as one would expect a US carrier to beat a ME carrier in the burger department.
Im far from an AA apologist, but here’s my take having spent the majority of my adult life in commercial food service, including working at Amtrak for 19 years, with 12 in food service both at the front line and management levels.
Airline catering is incredibly complicated and there’s probably a jam in the supply chain in the burger patty, bun, or fries department. You might say “any idiot can make a slider” and you’d...
Im far from an AA apologist, but here’s my take having spent the majority of my adult life in commercial food service, including working at Amtrak for 19 years, with 12 in food service both at the front line and management levels.
Airline catering is incredibly complicated and there’s probably a jam in the supply chain in the burger patty, bun, or fries department. You might say “any idiot can make a slider” and you’d be right. However, American and GateGourmet are “obligated” (and I use the term lightly) to have the burgers look and taste the same, at least when they leave the catering facility, regardless of where they’re catered.
As an example, the short ribs everyone is so fond of on the US3 all come from one company - Cuisine Solutions. Until 2021 they had one factory in the US, in Sterling VA right near IAD. They can only cook, package, and ship *so many* short ribs in a day. We used a lot of Cuisine Solutions products at Amtrak, but in order for a train leaving Los Angeles going to Seattle, Chicago, or New Orleans to have short ribs (yes, the same ones you get on AA, DL, and UA) they had to be trucked from VA to CA. It’s financially irresponsible for any company to have thousands and thousands of meals sitting on the shelf in the freezer, so Aramark depended on a weekly delivery from CS. One hiccup in that chain and boom, no short ribs for anyone.
I believe based on what I’ve read that the fries are actually the most difficult part of the meal to pull off, so my guess is the fry supplier can’t meet demand.
It’s the same reason most of the bags of economy snack mix on multiple airlines comes from King Nut in Ohio. They’re best positioned to keep up with demand, they have the right machinery to package snacks into 0.003 ounce, 5 calorie bags, their inbound supply chain is built to meet their needs and they are probably set up to deliver something else if they can’t meet spec. Remember they don’t just need the contents of the bags but the bags themselves.
TO;DR, it’s more complicated than it seems at face value. AA could potentially just serve the sliders out of certain stations but it seems they’re playing wait and see with their supply chain.
Great insight. Thank you!
Too popular = $$$ that's why period
based in munich i live in a culinary heaven, and make best use out of that — and still… i exactly remember how i found frozen white castle sliders at an orlando hotel reception years ago, microwaved them, uff, and hey, what a kick. honestly i had a decent dry duty free riesling from FRA with it. point is, it’s what it is, but i found that much tastier than eg LH F class breakfast burger option. otherwise i do of course prefer self fabricated burgers.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have leftover curry or pasta, rather than a leftover burger and fries, which just don’t reheat that well.”
Cathay, ANA, and Emirates, among others, have proven that you can serve decent to good burgers/sliders/fries in premium cabins.
AA business LAX - SYD has cut casper mattress pad - only available in first class. No slippers either. I took this flight 5 months ago, at the end of 2024 and was shocked for a 15 hr flight
"Most of the reviews that I’ve seen have been quite negative. So I’m confused, how are these proving so popular?"
Anglosaxon's appetite for junk food maybe?
GR …. one could take exception to you associating real Anglo-Saxons with an American airline serving its American passengers junk food, don’t you know! …. :-)
the way your accent goes from Cockney to an attempt at British class.
Fascinating... Also interesting how you don't sleep on British time... or comment much on articles related to British airlines. It's almost like you aren't British ;)
Here is always I want to say, as the U.S. airlines are so bad at making food, they made them somehow looks like trash, they are better off just offering people Macdonald or any type of fast food would be much easier or at least not looks like trash or taste too bad. For that reason, I will order the non trash fast food option=)
I tried them twice last month. I probably wouldn't have gotten them again in their present form. My issues with the meal was a) it was served with ONE packet of ketchup, 2) the sliders themselves were very greasy, and 3) both times the sliders were about 10 degrees cooler than lava. I literally burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite, and had to eat the rest with a knife and fork...
I tried them twice last month. I probably wouldn't have gotten them again in their present form. My issues with the meal was a) it was served with ONE packet of ketchup, 2) the sliders themselves were very greasy, and 3) both times the sliders were about 10 degrees cooler than lava. I literally burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite, and had to eat the rest with a knife and fork after opening them up and letting them cool for a significant amount of time.
All that said, I didn't think the flavor was terrible and over time if they were able to solve the other issues I probably would have tried them again.
They claim to be a premium airline and serve this stuff? And then cut it back??
that's AA for you
Following the updates on US airlines is like following the life trajectory of my cousin Ronnie - moments of rare brilliance, occasionally surprising positives, promises of improvement - but ultimately a long term slide toward the bottom. If American exceptionalism is measured by how US flag airlines behave, we're in trouble.
Commercial aviation service is the exception to American exceptionalism. We excell at everything else but somehow our mainline airlines offer horrific service, and it keeps getting worse. Our airlines have the most apathic and the rudest flight attendants in the world.
Had them last night to San Diego. I think they're Pre Order only. The sliders are ok, on par with the typical WaWa fare. Not the most healthy meal but basic and simple.
I preordered the sliders on AS to San Diego from EWR last week. A departure delay of 3 hrs plus another hour on the tarmac, and NO SLIDERS.
I'm sorry how is a catering facility unable to keep up with orders of sliders and fries??
It’s infinitely more complicated than it seems at face value.
Air Force One, which I am told is difficult to book a reward seat on, still offers burgers and fries.
Yeah, but you'd need to put up with the stench and BO of the orange king wannabe.
Sounds like an awful tradeoff for burgers and fries.
Was pleasantly surprised by how good they were, would definitely order again.
Could one assume that AA is doing all within its power to ensure that they win the race to the bottom of the 2025 World Rankings …. :-)
Posts that are five minutes apart. Sometimes you're logged in. Sometimes you're a guest... intriguing
Plain Jane …. your comments are meaningless twiddle, what I do and when I do it is my business and certainly none of yours.
@AeroB13a
So you actually took my advice and kept up with your daily dose of pills.
Well done.
Mason …. anything to oblige you bro …. :-)
LOL !!!
perhaps you could be be consistent in your posting. It's not tough.
Logged in...
Logged out...
Mason seems to love you though
--Plane (not plain) Jane
I am flattered, I have a stalker, lucky me …. at my tender age too!
Your obsession with my posts are delusional and quite literally pointless and pathetic, Jane darlink.
You might like to consider changing your guest name to ‘Pointless’ or ‘Pathetic’ Jane?
I’m guessing that your maker didn’t waste any time trying to give you a personality, pointlessly pathetic Jane?
Post on pointlessly pathetic playmate …. no need to...
I am flattered, I have a stalker, lucky me …. at my tender age too!
Your obsession with my posts are delusional and quite literally pointless and pathetic, Jane darlink.
You might like to consider changing your guest name to ‘Pointless’ or ‘Pathetic’ Jane?
I’m guessing that your maker didn’t waste any time trying to give you a personality, pointlessly pathetic Jane?
Post on pointlessly pathetic playmate …. no need to refrain from entertaining the troops in your very own indefatigable way …. :-)
And aero is a guest poster again…
Either an early morning or late night
Good morning to my faithful stalker, one can always rely upon you not to disappoint our eager readership.
Again, I must remind you that my posting preferences and timing of my posts are entirely my business and of no concern of yours darlink Jane (Plain, pointless, pathetic and obsessively compulsive) …. :-)
So interesting how you monitor these comment sections
I know someone else like that
Just last week, was on a flight from DFW to LAX in F and had pre-ordered the sliders. We left the gate and then sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes due to weather re-routing. I'm assuming all meals were already in the oven because once airborn and meals were served, the sliders were so incredibly overcooked and literally, you could not separate the meat from the buns and everything was rock hard. The fries...
Just last week, was on a flight from DFW to LAX in F and had pre-ordered the sliders. We left the gate and then sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes due to weather re-routing. I'm assuming all meals were already in the oven because once airborn and meals were served, the sliders were so incredibly overcooked and literally, you could not separate the meat from the buns and everything was rock hard. The fries could have been used as a lethal cutting device. Point is - unless heated for the optimal time, the end result is inedible. I have no way of knowing but even if heated for the optimal time, I can't imagine these things being very good. Stick with the short rib as it's not nearly as sensitive to over-heating.
I had the same experience on DFW-CLT early this week. The F/A was doing something with the meals during boarding (no PDBs of course). Then we had an hour to taxi to the runway and in the air she was so disorganized it was another near an hour before meals were served - and that was when she put all the entrees on top of a galley cart and pushed it down the aisle, moving...
I had the same experience on DFW-CLT early this week. The F/A was doing something with the meals during boarding (no PDBs of course). Then we had an hour to taxi to the runway and in the air she was so disorganized it was another near an hour before meals were served - and that was when she put all the entrees on top of a galley cart and pushed it down the aisle, moving back and forth as she seemingly had a difficult time associating seat numbers of pre-orders with the actual meals.
Cheese was somewhere on the bottom of the dish. I ripped the bun in half trying to take it off to see what was supposed to be on the slider. Fries were like eating cardboard.
She eventually pushed the beverage cart out after serving the meals. Glad I always bring my own.
I didn't expect it to be great. I just ordered it as it's gotten so much attention. I didn't expect it to be so bad - then again, when left to F/A execution, AA is bound to fail most of the time. Even the two little kids across the aisle from me sent the sliders back nearly untouched.
@NedsKid - haha, very similar FA experience as well. I didn't go into too much detail about the awful FA but I will now. I literally think she started heating the meals in lieu of offering PDB's - as there were none. The funniest (saddest) part was once airborn and she going down the aisle asking for drink and meal orders and her approach to everyone was "you gonna eat"? Seriously, that's the way she...
@NedsKid - haha, very similar FA experience as well. I didn't go into too much detail about the awful FA but I will now. I literally think she started heating the meals in lieu of offering PDB's - as there were none. The funniest (saddest) part was once airborn and she going down the aisle asking for drink and meal orders and her approach to everyone was "you gonna eat"? Seriously, that's the way she addressed everyone in F. Then, about an hour after departure (meals still heating in the oven), she presents nuts (not warm), drinks and meals all at one time on the same tray. Oh, no warm towels before service either. Once everyone was done with inedible meals, she parked herself in her jump seat and completely turned off all the lights in the galley area. You literally had to feel your way to the front bathroom it was so dark. She obviously wanted to get her minimum duties done and snooze in the dark for the remainder of the trip. Great AA service!!
@JS - The funny thing was with tailwinds after the storms moved past DFW, our estimated flight time to CLT was a short 1hr45min. The F/As made an announcement that in coach due to turbulence they wouldn't bring out the carts but would be serving water. So I'm guessing the lead's 3 colleagues did nothing for at least 90 minutes of that flight except appear to take snack basket items from the front (which we...
@JS - The funny thing was with tailwinds after the storms moved past DFW, our estimated flight time to CLT was a short 1hr45min. The F/As made an announcement that in coach due to turbulence they wouldn't bring out the carts but would be serving water. So I'm guessing the lead's 3 colleagues did nothing for at least 90 minutes of that flight except appear to take snack basket items from the front (which we never saw a basket). Wait - I tell a lie - one F/A did help for about 60 seconds. He passed out the ramekins of nuts and then disappeared back to the back.
@JS haha I got this on an AA flight once. FA stood over me and simply said, "you eatin' tonight?" I wanted to say, "yes, but not on this flight."
They were the best food on aa in DECADES.
It saying they were good, just better than the other slop.
QR had sliders on their J menu as a snack item. They’re caterers didn’t seem to have an issue. 29 day window for preorders, and it can’t be done?
I was fortunate to enjoy QR's sliders on a 15+ hour flight several years ago. However, they ran out of sliders shortly after I received mine. It made me wonder how many sliders they load per flight.
EK has sliders in FC on their Movie Snacks menu. And boy are they yummy. An FA told me that after all service has ended, the crew gobble up any that are left. I believe it.
Why do they have to cancel it completely? They could just limit it to x number orders per flight and problem solved. What a horribly run airline.
Your question is the same one I had, but we're presuming that AA has the IT skills to be able to accommodate limited pre-order selections. Like, say, counting the number of burgers pre-ordered in each market served and then removing that option once the maximum is hit.
I suspect we're giving them too much credit there. And "yes" to the horribly run airline comment.
AAL either lacks the ability or a systematic method for recording multi-million dollar assets like its JFK slot. Gone are the days of American Airlines, once led by Crandall, who won the first Aviation IT war against Dick Ferris's United; it's now perceived as a glorified LCC, a vestige of America West under Doug Parker and his associates.
I don't think it being popular has anything to do with it being good - it's just the most novel item of their mediocre selections, and I imagine most of the people who preorder it haven't necessarily had it before
cause DL knows how to function efficiently.. look at how fast DL pieces of baggage comes out - vs.. AA (DFW) .. MIC DROP!
Not surprised AA picked a (probably cheap) supplier who couldn't scale up to meet demand.