I have to give American Airlines credit. The Raven + Lily bags with Joanna Vargas skincare items they debuted in September are actually an improvement over what they’ve been offering as amenity kits in international and cross-country premium cabins, though the contents are still too sparse.
Flagship First Class and Flagship Preferred Suite
Business Class
Premium Economy
Just like premium economy is a real sweet spot on the A321XLR, it’s an amenity kit sweet spot with American, too. That’s a nice kit for premium economy. In fact those offerings strike me as pretty good. But the contents of these kits remain almost identical from premium economy through Flagship First Class (which is also why premium economy seems so good). I have to wonder where’s the comb; pen (for countries that still require paper forms)? The mouth wash? The chap stick?
This summer’s business class and first class Brandon Blackwood bags felt cheap – more so than what American Airlines was using before that even (though not as bad as when they were giving out cardboard box kits, that was just sad). The Raven + Lily bags do not feel that way at all.
Of course, this is the bag I want to see them go back to – and the contents. I’m not harkening to long ago times when the airline invested as a true premium carrier. I’m just talking about 2019!
American is heading in the right direction with a great many small things. They need to keep investing, because there’s a lot of catch up to do. And they need to explain to their employees what they’re trying to accomplish and work to get them on board.
Becoming a carrier that customers want to choose over competitors, and want to buy up on, is how they’re going to reverse their financial underperformance. And with labor contracts in place that increase profit sharing, it’s how employees will earn more, too.
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