American Airlines Is Finally Investing in Better Catering

At a small event in Dallas, Texas last week, American Airlines unveiled the next generation of its inflight meal service.

With dishes like lobster mac and cheese, wagyu meatloaf, and steamed sea bass, the meals showed marked improvement over the airline's current state of in-flight premium catering and reflect the latest batch of improvements coming to American carriers: updated and palatable airline meals.

American's catering updates come after an extended merger with US Airways, a time during which many premium passengers felt that meal service languished. Unhappy fliers took to social media in droves, posting pictures of poorly catered meals and working themselves into a frothing mob. After the airline changed their onboard cookie there was nearly a riot.

With new catering options coming down the pipeline, passengers are temporarily putting away their pitchforks and torches until at least July 1st, when the new meals get loaded. A full spectrum of new menu options as well as lavish pictures is featured over on Andy's Travel Blog.

American's new meal service comes on the heels of a spate of catering changes that United has been implementing over the last year. Late last summer, United announced an overhaul to their premium menu, adding fresher ingredients and wider selections to their menus. In January, they improved the menu even further and also expanded the number of routes on which food would be served. Most recently, they've also upped their international meal game.

These global catering changes reflect renewed effort among airlines to lock in the premium travel dollar as the global economy continues to expand. With a new generation of business travelers entering the market, features like lie-flat seats and premium meals will begin to have a larger effect over customers more interested in a better experience over strict loyalty or cost. Once premium upgrades are finalized, hopefully the airlines can work on improving the experience of the 99%.