If you asked your barista at the local coffee shop what the difference is between a latte and a cappuccino, you would expect them to know the answer. (A cappuccino has thicker frothed milk, uses less of it, and most of the milk sits on top of the coffee.)
Given those substantial differences, a worker who knows how to make the drinks but has never been trained to distinguish them may not be that helpful.
The same logic applies to wine stewards in restaurants.
When you sit down for a meal at a restaurant that has a wine steward, a well-trained employee will ask you your preferences and what you plan to eat. Armed with that knowledge and, perhaps, some info about your budget, the steward should be able to help you find the perfect wine.
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An improperly trained wine steward could guess, sell you the bottle with the widest profit margin, or tell you anecdotal things that aren't that helpful (the table over there seems to like it).
Flight attendants, as you might imagine, are not trained wine stewards (at least on major passenger airlines).
They can pour you a glass of wine, point you to the wine list, and do little else. Nobody, even first-class passengers on big airlines like Delta, United, and American, expects their flight attendants to suggest the correct wine for their dinner pairing.
Most passengers can look at the wine list, perhaps Google a selection or two, or they might even see a favored brand.
Now, however, American Airlines (AAL) -) has made doing that harder for its highest-paying passengers.
Image source: American Airlines
American Airlines changes first-class service
When a passenger pays for a first- or business-class seat on a long flight, they generally expect top-tier treatment. They're expecting to be pampered a bit, and greeted with champagne or the drink of their choice served in an actual glass.
On flights that have food service, they expect restaurant-quality meals along with a wine list worthy of at least a decent restaurant. American Airlines passengers, however, have not been getting that.
"When I flew American Airlines Flagship First Class last summer to Sydney and back, the wine program was shockingly bad," View From the Wing's Gary Leff shared.
Now, the airline has made its program even worse by dropping its printed wine list in first- and business-class cabins. That means that flight attendants, who have gotten no special training, have to relay the options to passengers.
"Instead of a menu listing options, the printed meal menu given to business-class passengers now says, 'We invite you to engage with our flight attendants to learn more about the selection of wines available for your enjoyment.'"
That creates an unfair situation for flight attendants, who must memorize the wine list, and passengers, who have no real opportunity to consider their choices or search for info about what they might drink.
The airline saves a little money by not printing wine lists, but that seems like a minor savings compared with what first- and business-class passengers pay.
American Airlines has cut back
"One casualty of the pandemic was their contracted name wine consultant," Leff wrote of American Airlines. "Onboard wine selection is a function of (1) budget and (2) adapting to dulled taste buds at altitude. Selection is bounded by what an airline is about to source at scale."
American Airlines, for its part, has said the change is not forever.
"This is a temporary change to the inflight dining experience while we transition beverage suppliers. We look forward to bringing back the printed onboard menus in spring 2024," the airline said in a media statement.
These changes, while not permanent, are happening when first- and business-class business has been very strong for American. Chief Financial Officer Devon May addressed the matter during the airline's third-quarter-earnings call.
"We have seen steady improvement in business travel with encouraging signs from both managed and unmanaged corporate customers, strong international demand, and historically high premium revenue both domestically and internationally," he said.
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