Flying American Airlines? Thank Hollywood for salads on board and a new route
American Airlines flies more passengers out of Los Angeles International Airport than any other carrier and wants to maintain that dominance, especially among L.A.’s high-spending glitterati in the entertainment industry.
To do that, American has created a panel of advisors from the entertainment industry to suggest ways the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline can make celebrities and Hollywood big shots happier in the air.
The panel, created quietly about 18 months ago, is called the American Airlines Council on Entertainment, and it meets every three months. It includes nearly 30 representatives of the entertainment industry, including travel bookers for film and television studios as well as celebrity managers.
The airline declined to name the people on the panel.
“It reflects the economical concern of the industry,” American Airlines spokeswoman Polly Tracey said.
Among the changes American already has made at the request of the Hollywood panel are healthier in-flight menu choices, including salads, and a 24-hour service desk for high-profile clients plus private reservation numbers that only a limited number of authorized American workers can access to help maintain privacy.
The panel also persuaded American to add a new flight from Los Angeles to Toronto in September, in time for the Toronto International Film Festival.
The flight will be an A321T jet with a first-class section of 10 lie-flat seats, with one seat on either side of the aisle. The business class features 20 lie-flat seats with two seats on either side of the aisle. Every seat has a full entertainment system and a power port.
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