I’m admittedly unbothered by the changes American made to its meal windows earlier tis month. First, I don’t fly the airline that much. Second, the changes don’t seem horribly out of line with the competition though we’ll see how United’s new menus change things. With that in mind, I found something quite interesting last night on my first American flight in a while. I was flying from DFW to ATL on an A319 in first class. This is a route that served meals prior to September 1, but no longer does.

The flight attendant came around with drinks, and the new snack basket, which I thought was fine. However, as I watched my movie, something caught my eye in the galley. I noticed the F/A placing two rolls in the oven. I thought I had smelled food cooking, but this confirmed it. Then, I noticed that the F/A was plating food on a meal tray…..two meal trays. I couldn’t tell what the main entree was, but there was a salad, bread, and entree. There could’ve been an appetizer too, but I didn’t see it.

A beverage cart was rolled in to block the aisle, the cockpit door opened, and two meals were handed over. Things that make you go hmmm. Before anyone asks, I’m all for well-fed pilots.  I know that cockpit crew meals are part of American’s pilot contract, so I suppose I should not surprised that the pilots were still fed while the first class cabin was not. I just thought this was an interesting little wrinkle in the meal changes.

Coming soon – a word on this AA domestic first lunch. Hint: it wasn’t that bad.

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-MJ, September 23, 2014