American Airlines is taking real steps to undo some of the catering damage done when it “merged” meal policies with US Airways last September. I understand that a lot of good things are in store for July 1 and later, but what about now? I’ve posted about some of the catering tweaks I’ve sampled during my AAdvantage in Atlanta experiment. Recently, I sampled dinner on the LAX-ATL run, which was mostly like other meals I’ve had. Today, was my first opportunity to try the recently resurrected lunch salads, and I have to say, I was happy.

I pre-ordered the “grilled beef served over chilled salad” several days before the flight.

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I’d heard positive comments from fellow travelers, so I was excited to try the salad today. It was preceded with beverages and AA’s signature warm mixed nuts. Service was friendly and smooth on today’s flight with everything seeming to appear at just the right time. Right after finishing my first beverage, the salad arrived.

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Later, I chose a pretzel roll to complete the meal. I have to say, the salad turned out to be a really nice lunch at 38,000 feet. The greens were fresh, and the tomatoes were even tasty….and I don’t really love tomatoes unless I’m eating them in Italy. The meat was not a mystery at all – grilled just right, and pretty tasty since it wasn’t covered in goop. Dessert was a warm chocolate chip cookie. I am not a cookie connoisseur, but it tasted fine.

In the end, I found this to be a perfectly acceptable domestic first class meal for a 3 hour flight. In fact, it was just right. I am looking forward to sampling more of American’s first class catering improvements soon.

-MJ, June 24, 2015