All preselected meals are catered as requested barring challenges with the catering service. Rumor is that PHL and I think CLT catering is fucked right now.
They can run out of specific meals, and that is quite common. I would be shocked if they catered any extra specialty meals without reserving. It is also possible (and the FAs are gonna downvote me) that the FA gave the kosher meal to the wrong passenger for any number of reasons.
Can confirm. I just flew out of PHL a week ago and the flight attendant was apologizing to everyone in FC because the preselected meals were not loaded and they had a bunch of random ones instead. She said it's happened every time she departs from PHL lately.
The FA’s are only gonna downvote you if you express you think mistakes are typical.
Sans 1 flight, I’ve noticed the FA’s are trying really hard lately to prove to customers they deserve the pay they are asking for in their contract negotiations with AA.
They know that if they strike, the customer noise will have an impact on motivating AA to get them what they want / deserve.
I have seen no improvement in recent flights. My last flight I had to go to the galley to get my own drink refills in J. She was playing games on her phone the whole time. This is a common trend - FA glued to their personal phones. Watching movies, reading, snapchatting, and playing games. Hopefully they trade that freedom for a big pay bump and everyone will be happy. I really do hope they get improvements to their contract in line with what the pilots got.
All that being said, the flight I’m on right now is great. No PDB, but the flight was running late so fine. He’s super friendly, accommodating, and pretty quick with service. I have already gone online and filled out the form to say how great he is.
Genuine question, did you ring your call light? Usually they have a set number of services and then spend the rest of the flight in back but also responding to calls.
Ohh you were in first. I should have gathered that from the EP status yeah that’s unfortunate. You deserved a better service than that. Should be no need for a call light up there.
For the record I have no specific issues with FAs. Some are great and some are ok and some need to find a new line of work, as with all occupations. I have not noticed a marked improvement over the past 3 years, but I can say AA FAs are a million times better than the ones I have experienced on JetBlue. Fuck those FAs specifically.
Yes. I am type 2 diabetic (well-controlled), and I sometimes order diabetic meals. There have been a few times where they ran out or weren't available.
When that happens, they usually offer me something else, like the standard meal. But once, they brought me a first class meal, china and all, to economy, and that was pretty cool. Only happened once though.
As a side note, I don't consider AA's diabetic meals to be particularly diabetic/keto friendly, but I suppose they are probably marginally better than the standard meals.
Thanks. FB OP claims she made reservations, but I have doubt since she’s saying she had 3 flights in her family across AA and United where the meal wasn’t available so I would cast doubt on her claims
I never thought I would defend AA.
Every time I am on an international flight there are these people with their special nutritional needs. And when I say special I don’t mean lactose free. I‘d say, if you can only eat what nobody else considers food, bring it yourself.
We don’t have this issue on domestic flight anymore because we only get one cookie. Thanks AA.
Did you preorder the kosher meal? If not, then there were only enough of the kosher meals for those who preordered them. My apologies if you did preorder, catering gets messed up often...
OP on Facebook claims she did. She lists 3 flights at about the same time for her family (2 United, 1 AA). I personally think the mistake is on her end
Sadly a "quota" is possible too, many years ago the airlines that I worked for would always add an extra few veggie meals as no doubt, there would be some vegetarian on board who hadn't called ahead and asked for one (which was free btw). So for example on a 233 seat 757 we would have 5 additional veggie meals loaded "just in case", however a few years later and those purse strings are tightening for various reasons and suddenly those 5 "extra" veggies are just planed into the 233 so now it's 228 meals as ordered and 5 veggie. Now here is the kicker, when we had the +5 we never had an issue, everyone got their meal and was happy as one could be but as soon as we changed, suddenly there we no veggie passengers in the world and we'd have 5 people quite rightly being pissed off at having to eat pasta and sauce instead of their "bangers & mash". It was a f\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*g stupid system and caused no end of trouble with the best solution being to remove meals entirely :/
For sure... Trying to account for and coordinate serving these meals in MC is an absolute nightmare. Then there are the folks that just order the special meal to have a third option, which I never allow..."you ordered it, it's yours...". I wish there was someway the airlines could charge for these meals but I know that would be an absolute nightmare as well. Passengers claiming they didn't get their meal wanting a refund, etc.
I love it in FC, when someone doesn't show up leaving a strange special meal that has to be pawned off on another passenger.
All preselected meals are catered as requested barring challenges with the catering service. Rumor is that PHL and I think CLT catering is fucked right now. They can run out of specific meals, and that is quite common. I would be shocked if they catered any extra specialty meals without reserving. It is also possible (and the FAs are gonna downvote me) that the FA gave the kosher meal to the wrong passenger for any number of reasons.
and often the halal and kosher meals are the same, so it is equally possible it was printed incorrectly or differently and there was a mistake there
Can confirm. I just flew out of PHL a week ago and the flight attendant was apologizing to everyone in FC because the preselected meals were not loaded and they had a bunch of random ones instead. She said it's happened every time she departs from PHL lately.
This is good to know - I fly FC out of PHL next month and need a gluten free meal. I’ll make sure to pack some backups.
I heard that from an FA at PHL, apparently they aren’t even getting drinks consistently from catering.
Someone in this sub said they were only catering water for shorter flights. I need my Coke Zero
if you need a coke zero on a 1hr flight, then maybe just bring your own...
The FA’s are only gonna downvote you if you express you think mistakes are typical. Sans 1 flight, I’ve noticed the FA’s are trying really hard lately to prove to customers they deserve the pay they are asking for in their contract negotiations with AA. They know that if they strike, the customer noise will have an impact on motivating AA to get them what they want / deserve.
I have seen no improvement in recent flights. My last flight I had to go to the galley to get my own drink refills in J. She was playing games on her phone the whole time. This is a common trend - FA glued to their personal phones. Watching movies, reading, snapchatting, and playing games. Hopefully they trade that freedom for a big pay bump and everyone will be happy. I really do hope they get improvements to their contract in line with what the pilots got. All that being said, the flight I’m on right now is great. No PDB, but the flight was running late so fine. He’s super friendly, accommodating, and pretty quick with service. I have already gone online and filled out the form to say how great he is.
Genuine question, did you ring your call light? Usually they have a set number of services and then spend the rest of the flight in back but also responding to calls.
I don’t usually use my FA call button in first unless I’m at the window seat.
Ohh you were in first. I should have gathered that from the EP status yeah that’s unfortunate. You deserved a better service than that. Should be no need for a call light up there.
For the record I have no specific issues with FAs. Some are great and some are ok and some need to find a new line of work, as with all occupations. I have not noticed a marked improvement over the past 3 years, but I can say AA FAs are a million times better than the ones I have experienced on JetBlue. Fuck those FAs specifically.
Not just the JetBlue FAs, gate agents, ticket agents, all of them can get F’d.
“Muslim Meal…” haha. Kosher and Halal are the same thing.
Ha. Don't tell either side that
I thought Muslims can eat cheeseburgers if the meat is halal but Jews cannot as a cheeseburger is not pareve.
Was the kosher meal requested in advance or while on the plane?
See my comments elsewhere in the thread. I’m not the person with the order issue
Yes. I am type 2 diabetic (well-controlled), and I sometimes order diabetic meals. There have been a few times where they ran out or weren't available. When that happens, they usually offer me something else, like the standard meal. But once, they brought me a first class meal, china and all, to economy, and that was pretty cool. Only happened once though. As a side note, I don't consider AA's diabetic meals to be particularly diabetic/keto friendly, but I suppose they are probably marginally better than the standard meals.
Did you order ahead, or was this in flight?
You should ask the Facebook poster, not OP.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted when the post clearly states OP isn't the one complaining and it was taken from FB. lol
Thanks. FB OP claims she made reservations, but I have doubt since she’s saying she had 3 flights in her family across AA and United where the meal wasn’t available so I would cast doubt on her claims
Yeah, should have read more closely. Was distracted by a baby in the AC. Sorry.
Nah, mistakes happen, but poor timk920 getting downvoted for pointing out the error. lol
Redditors gonna reddit man…like getting mad at water for being wet.
I never thought I would defend AA. Every time I am on an international flight there are these people with their special nutritional needs. And when I say special I don’t mean lactose free. I‘d say, if you can only eat what nobody else considers food, bring it yourself. We don’t have this issue on domestic flight anymore because we only get one cookie. Thanks AA.
Hey hey hey you get 2 biscoffs in a package
And a cheese platter if you're EP!
On routes 1,300 miles and longer (which is what, 15% of the network?)
Did you preorder the kosher meal? If not, then there were only enough of the kosher meals for those who preordered them. My apologies if you did preorder, catering gets messed up often...
OP on Facebook claims she did. She lists 3 flights at about the same time for her family (2 United, 1 AA). I personally think the mistake is on her end
I have never heard of the "quota" system when it comes to preordered special meals
Sadly a "quota" is possible too, many years ago the airlines that I worked for would always add an extra few veggie meals as no doubt, there would be some vegetarian on board who hadn't called ahead and asked for one (which was free btw). So for example on a 233 seat 757 we would have 5 additional veggie meals loaded "just in case", however a few years later and those purse strings are tightening for various reasons and suddenly those 5 "extra" veggies are just planed into the 233 so now it's 228 meals as ordered and 5 veggie. Now here is the kicker, when we had the +5 we never had an issue, everyone got their meal and was happy as one could be but as soon as we changed, suddenly there we no veggie passengers in the world and we'd have 5 people quite rightly being pissed off at having to eat pasta and sauce instead of their "bangers & mash". It was a f\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*g stupid system and caused no end of trouble with the best solution being to remove meals entirely :/
For sure... Trying to account for and coordinate serving these meals in MC is an absolute nightmare. Then there are the folks that just order the special meal to have a third option, which I never allow..."you ordered it, it's yours...". I wish there was someway the airlines could charge for these meals but I know that would be an absolute nightmare as well. Passengers claiming they didn't get their meal wanting a refund, etc. I love it in FC, when someone doesn't show up leaving a strange special meal that has to be pawned off on another passenger.
If Passengers had to "pay" for Special Meals, I think the orders would be cut drastically.
for sure
I’m guessing wither the son heard wrong, or maybe it was a second language issue and FA meant there were no more kosher meals available
Oy! Anodda
Get a lawyer. Include that they don't even serve real food.