I speculated that American Airlines would eliminate international first class. They do not offer a first class product that is worth paying for.
The American Airlines first class seat was not one of the best in the industry when it was first introduced seven years ago. It has been completely overshadowed. American's international first class isn't a competitive product even before you get to the service that American's flight attendants seem to consistently fail to deliver in the cabin.
American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER is the first class.
American may add more business class seats to long haul aircraft, but leadership never seems to talk about their first class product, even though it is a singular.
As the only US carrier that offers international first class and on a limited number of aircraft, there is potential to make it work. There is less competition among foreign carriers. American has not made the investment to do so.
It is a limited market to a limited set of destinations. People are trading down from flying private on long haul flights to work on big deals. There has traditionally been demand at London Heathrow. At New York JFK, they are growing in relevance. They have a partner in Tokyo. They will fly to Delhi and then to Doha.
American has the potential to be a very competitive product. They have several of the pieces.
The check-in is excellent. It is uncrowded and quick to transit through security.
Flagship dining is excellent. Flagship lounges are a mass product and get crowded. The dining rooms are open and have good food.
New York JFK is the Flagship First Dining.
Miami Corn Fritters.
All they need to do is include a Five Star service to tie it all together. When the Los Angeles - Sydney route was launched six years ago, American included a meet-and-greet and escort service with first class tickets. Meet passengers at the airport, escort them to the lounge, and then to the gate.
There are three elements where American Airlines lags, but we will ignore them for this purpose. A little bit of improvement inflight would go a long way if we delivered a top notch ground service.
The seat has no privacy. Even if they don't offer a better seat in the short-term, better service and better food should be possible.
Someone with experience in inflight dining is needed by the airline. Their current providers are capable of providing a better product even at the same price point when the customer cares about quality and execution and they pay attention to the details. The providers deliver better product for other airlines who are willing to spend more. A decent food and beverage program is the easiest thing to deliver, and combined with great ground service would make up for the seat.
Penfolds Grange was only for one flight in each direction, but the McLaren Value d'Arenberg The Dead Arm was fantastic.
Flight attendants working in international first class should be qualified. The airline is in the middle of negotiations with its flight attendants. First class training and observation are required to be eligible to work in the cabin. International first class should not be where the most senior crew bid because it should involve a lot of work.
Maybe this management won't do this. I think they should. The investment is within the margin of a bet they can make. Even though US Airways management wanted to remove the first class cabin from these aircraft, they learned that the A321T could make sense with first class. They have introduced a really nice product in Flagship First dining rooms and do a good job with Five Star ground service.
American Airlines can offer a great first class experience. It may make sense for a few routes. It has the benefit as well.
The best that the airline has to offer is often judged by the halo effect it offers. Most passengers don't experience first class like that, but that's not the reason why Emirates built a reputation on it.
For customers to look forward to choosing the airline. Imagine if you talked about how great an American Airlines experience is, and you were looking forward to it again. Even if most people rarely ever do, offering something world class that customers could access through their loyalty and credit card spend motivates loyalty and card spend beyond the direct revenue attributable to the cabin.
I am not predicting this. I wrote two years ago that I expected first class to be phased out. They are doing a lot of new thinking after the Pandemic. A new leadership team is mostly made up of the same people, but there are people in different roles. It is possible to distinguish the carrier from its recent past and give employees and customers something to be proud of. International first class service can be a point of pride for employees and can lead to better service.
American Airlines claims to offer international first class. Both United and Delta have business class cabins. There's good reason to think American Airlines may eliminate the product as well. There are clues in the new seat focus.
February 12, 2020.
"Airlines"
Not all Asian carriers have the top business class products, but all of the truly best business class products are offered by Asian or Middle Eastern carriers. Take Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines seats are very wide and private, unlike in first class.
September 27, 2016
"General"
There are plenty of dates in the summer and autumn of 2022, where there are two seats available on the Dallas - Hong Kong flight. There is hope of visiting Hong Kong next year.
November 24, 2021.
"Airlines"
