I’ve been pretty generous with American Airlines lately, having enjoyed several lovely flights over the past few weeks…but my luck ran out on a miserable flight from Los Angeles to New York aboard the (aging) Airbus A321T in Flagship Business class.
The A321T’s flagship business was American Airlines’ flagship
Pathetic and dismal are strong words, but I’m not complaining for the sake of complaining. There are certain things you expect from any flight, and especially one that is marketed as a premium transcontinental flight.
This flight departed at 6:05 a.m. from Terminal 5, gates that American Airlines acquired from US Airways and continues to use for some of its flights. AA even has a lounge in Terminal 5 that is part of the package when you purchase a “Flagship” premium transcontinental ticket.
But the lounge was closed…
I didn’t feel like standing in line for a Starbucks coffee at 5:20 a.m. or walking to the terminal 4 minutes before boarding began… but I just wanted a cup of coffee.
If only that were the only problem…
On board, I sat down in my seat and the cushion that supported my foot immediately fell off:
Nice. It fell off every time I put my foot on it. I also noticed that the cabin was not very clean:
The toilet was also a mess.
After picking up, I tried to get the moving map on the screen, but my screen wasn’t working…at least not the touchscreen functionality. I asked for my screen to be reset and that was done, but that didn’t solve the problem.
Off to breakfast.
The menu said espresso was available, but when I asked about it, the flight attendant said, “Oh, they only have it in first class.”
I said it was on the Business class menu and she replied, “I know, but I don’t know why they keep putting it on the menu.”
I just stared at her and she finally said she would “see if she could find some.” (She did.)
Breakfast was a bright spot…the frittata with salad was a nice combination, although AA has reduced food service to individual trays with multiple courses.
After breakfast, I plugged in my laptop and there was no power coming out of the socket. I tried plugging in three devices but nothing worked even though the green light was on. Finally, I asked my neighbor if I could use his socket for a moment and that worked too.
Finally, I tried to recline my seat to rest. At least those buttons worked, although the sticker over the buttons had partially peeled off…
Oh, and the flight attendants didn’t serve another drink for the rest of the flight… I had to flag one down before landing and ask for water. Was she afraid I would ask for another espresso? Do passengers really have to press the flight attendant call button if they want a drink since there was no flight attendant walking around the cabin?
I think the flight attendants forgot the cookies because they finally arrived about 15 minutes before landing…no drinks offered.
It reminded me:
The entire flight reminded me of another American Airlines flight on the same plane a year ago… AA doesn’t care about these planes and that’s sad for AA’s most expensive domestic route.
Since I mostly fly with United, this flight made me realize that the grass is not always greener on AA’s side.
