Just about every American Airlines meal I can think of in domestic first class or premium economy has come with bread. Usually it’s a roll of some kind, but sometimes it’s pita bread. Even enchiladas come with bread (not chips)!
However, American Airlines is testing a change to see whether customers will abide losing bread. According to aviation watchdog JonNYC, American will be dropping bread from coach and premium economy flights from Charlotte, Raleigh and Boston to London Heathrow.
AA: So the A321XLR is obviously not going to have as much space as a widebody.Some amenities are going to suffer. AA is testing getting rid of bread and butter in coach and premium economy, on widebody flights from CLT/BOS/RDU to LHR to see what that does for the footprint vs the customer experience
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) May 7, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The idea is to test and see how much customers complain. They know that they are going to be moving a lot of international flying to their Airbus A321XLR narrowbody aircraft, once those start to arrive. And those planes are going to be tight. They’ve packed in the seats. They have full-sized overhead bins. There’s just not a lot of room for passengers to move around outside of their seats like you’d have in a widebody aircraft. And there’s not a lot of room in the galleys, either.
Flight attendants won’t have much room to work, and there isn’t a lot of room to store food. Yet these planes are going to operate on longer routes that will often have two meal services. So the airline is trying to get ahead of things, figuring out what they can cut down on since there are going to be food and amenity tradeoffs with these new planes.
Plus, not serving bread and butter is cheaper! And it wouldn’t be the first time they looked to bread for cost savings. In 2019, American Airlines started buying pre-bagged bread rather than bagging the bread in the catering kitchen, because it was cheaper.
Naturally, bread cuts are focused on the less premium parts of the aircraft. That reminds me of Emirates eliminating all of the paper from seatbacks in coach on their Airbus A380s – offsetting weight from the water for the first class shower suites.
Tells you everything you need to know about AA that their plan is to cut something and see if people complain. For sure thats how premium experience companies act. What a F-ing joke Isom is. The mindset is so demoralizing for customers and employees.
Every post makes me happy I never fly AA.
Good – fewer carbs and calories which is something that is actually healthier. Most Americans are over weight and many are obese so anything that can help that, regardless of the motivation, is a good thing
They just keep cutting and cutting so their corporate profits increase. I’m going change from AA to a real airline like British Airways, Lufthansa, and Swiss Air that make the customer experience the priority. I wouldn’t be surprised if AA doesn’t put a coin slot on the bathroom doors! A dollar to use the bathroom and don’t forget to tell American how your experience was and the flight attendant will start expecting tips.. maybe they could just go back to Boeing jets and alleviate these problems in the first place. Reviewing the safety record of the Airbus 321XLR I would probably not fly on one. American will probably merge with Spirit to become the next El Cheapo Airlines.
American keeps saying they will start operating the new a321XLRs in 2025… hmm, we’ll see. Regardless of bread, the new seats and extended range (up to 11 hours) will be great. From what I’ve seen, the new Flagship cabin’s proposed layout and seats seem similar to jetBlue’s newer Mint on their transatlantic a321LR. Wonder if the first row will be like the Mint Studio. jetBlue is able to serve bread and excellent meals on theirs, so I don’t see why American can’t do the same. Odd.
I would be sad to see bread & butter go, as it is usually the only thing edible on an AA long haul flight.
That is not bread they serve but it’s good for plugging leaks.
Just serve colas,cookies, peanuts and chips- It’s hard to screw those up that at 30,000 feet.
The last few times I flew international long haul in Mai cabin, the hockey puck of bread was not worth eating. Those Main cabin meals are horrible.
Many years ago when I flew long haul coach the bread always came in a plastic wrapper on the tray. Not warmed up. Not sure why that can’t be done for coach. Yes for PE that would be really tacky.
I won’t fly a narrow body to Europe, do no big deal.
I don’t see the problem. I always had wonderful meals in economy on narrow-bodied planes in the fifties and sixties, including bread. It’s just an excuse.
@AC has to be delusional if they think that eliminating bread from an airling meal is gonna make a considerable dent in the health of the overweight public… None-The-Less, These American airlines are really shooting themselves in the face. They keep cramming seats into the airplanes to the point that you’re essentially sniffing the butthole of the pax in front of you, but then biotch moan and complain when they start losing money to their Part 135 competitors like JSX who are on the uptick of favorability due to a truly premium experience without having to d!ck with the main terminals and nut-grabbling TSA agents. It’s clear this is the reason AA in particular is currently railing against JSX and a couple other Part 135, citing safety concerns when they already let the cat out of the bag last year that they’re basically scared of losing short-haul regional market share. My wife and I will be flying JSX (or other part 135 operators) for any and all regional flights because of airlines like AA.
NOT SURPRISING. The race to the bottom never ends with AA.
Wild to agree with @AC on a topic, but, I suppose, thankfully, it’s because it’s a-political, or at least should be. Go easy on the carbs, folks. Replace those calories with something more nutritious, protein, fiber, healthy fats. Diet, exercise, trainers, and talk to your healthcare professionals.
@Dave W. — You’re missing out. Narrow-bodies to Europe are more efficient for passengers, too. Less waiting to board, deplane, usually. More options for smaller airports. Like, instead of flying to Lisbon, then connecting to Porto, why not go EWR-OPO, nonstop, TAP, a321, lie-flat. Listen, I like me some a350, a380, 747, 787, 777, and even the occasional a330, etc., all the big boys, but give me a newer a321 (or a 757 with lie-flat), and I’m ready to cross an ocean. Let’s freakin’ go!
Just wait until they start offering dehydrated food and hot water.
A321XL won’t be flying RDU or CLT to LHR, more like LYN, BHM, MAN or EDI. but still a redonkulous cut.
I think in 10 years half of transatlantic will be on narrow bodies.
Passengers want frequency and non stops.
@Dan — I agree, and it’s actually better for us passengers, too. Maybe another example, La Compagnie flies EWR-ORY on a321LR, which is a little less ‘difficult’ than CDG and closer to much of Paris. And, for those concerned about amenities, with or without bread, most airlines can still include spacious lie-flat, regardless. This is the future. Boeing messed up. Airbus for the win.
LMAO why don’t they just cut meals altogether? Hey Isom, think about how much money you’ll save by not feeding the kettles in economy! Oh shoot, Dougie would totally do this too. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut.
They just don’t get it. It’s not just about the meal it’s about the pacing of the service. The ability to provide a coursed meal experience kills time passengers are sitting there with not much to do and makes up for the mediocrity of the actual food and the way it is going to taste in flight. Bread becomes part of a pre meal course that makes the meal nicer and removing this further reduces the in flight dining experience. 15 years ago even in domestic F they got this and served a salad course off of a cart with bread, then the main, then dessert separately and it made the experience far better than the “plop a tray in front of the passenger like a school cafeteria” that American has devolved into on most of my flights (some FAs do better though).
I’ve flown American, United and Air France internationally multiple times in the past two years. American was, by far, the worst airline. The service was almost nonexistent, the food was inedible and the seats were the most uncomfortable. I flew American almost exclusively in the early 2000s, and the decline is shocking.