American Airlines has new coffee machines in its clubs that make very good coffee. These Franke machines grind beans on demand, and use real milk for its drinks.
In addition to my home club of Austin I’ve seen sightings of the new machines at Admirals Clubs in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Boston, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Chicago O’Hare, and Atlanta.
I’m not sure that staff have received sufficient training on the machines, since at times they appear to be out of order or staff haven’t replaced the milk when it runs out. But universally people prefer the coffee from this machine over the old Nescafes.
American has a cappuccino machine for first class passengers on its Airbus A321T aircraft that flies mostly New York JFK to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco. But otherwise its onboard coffee lags Delta (Starbucks) and United (illy). They continue to use Free Poo Brew, which United inherited from Continental before upgrading to much fanfare. Although I believe American uses a stronger brew for their Sydney flights at least.
American Airlines A321T
The biggest problem with inflight coffee, though, is the water at least on airlines that aren’t using bottled water for their coffee.
Coffee is a serious investment, with major US airlines spending $5 to $10 million a year. But there’s a strong business case for better coffee inflight:
- Improved operational efficiency and reduced delays, by eliminating pilots stopping at Starbucks in the terminal on the way to the aircraft.
- Improved employee morale, which in turn affects customer service. Better coffee is a product flight attendants can be proud of and reduces complaints they receive from customers.
- Coffee is especially important on high yield business routes, the ‘first flight Monday morning’ consultant specials.
While American’s coffee needs a real upgrade in the air, they’ve made real strides on the ground.
Pro tip for iced latte: Do espresso shot first. Add iced latte. Stir with plenty of ice. (The iced latte itself is pretty weak, IMO.)
Speaking of first-thing-in-the-morning flights, I’m curious: for departures from the US, how early do you get to the airport before your flight’s departure time from a big airport like ORD/LAX/SFO? Do you cut it close (e.g. 30-60 min) or play it safe (e.g. 90-120 min)?
I believe they are using La Colombe beans (based in Philly). Makes a big difference, and I don’t know why they didn’t roll them out with the same fanfare as United with Illy.
I wouldn’t drink coffee on the plane as they don’t clean the jug that they brew coffee often so the nasty residual flavor is strong. Also this http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/the-gross-reason-why-flight-attendants-never-drink-hot-drinks-during-flights/
IMO, unless they install proper coffee machine the coffee won’t be good.
Would have preferred to see the top-of-the-line Breville machines ($2000+) with heated head and fancy pressure gauge with individual grind control as well but they are pricey so I guess we get these ones.
Saw it just 2 hours ago at LHR arrival lounge. Comes with take-away paper cup and lid, great for someone who doesn’t have time and just need to grab a quick coffee.
Pricey Breville Machines? Really. They are toys compared to these Franke units and would never stand up to more than 5-10 coffees per day.. The pressure gauges and pumps gimmicks for use in homes, not in busy clubs. Each of these machines are $20,000+, and are miles ahead of the powdered coffee atrocities we’ve had to endure for years.
@Bruce — AA’s new commercial-grade coffee machines were significantly more expensive than any Breville consumer model.
A nice improvement, for sure, but of course AA’s years behind Delta, per usual.
Saw one of these in Boston months ago – didn’t realize it was spreading until I saw one in PHX this weekend. Wish DFW would catch up.
And, yeah, the coffee from these is waaaay better than from the old machines.
If you like Mocha Lattes, be aware, this machines produces them as hot chocolate. Worst mocha I’ve ever had from an automated machine.