Review of American Airlines flight Washington → Dallas/Fort Worth in Domestic First

Greetings and welcome to another flight report! Today I will be flying in first class on American Airlines to Dallas/Fort Worth. I will be traveling on American’s ‘Project Kodiak’ configuration on the 737, a revision of their much hated ‘Project Oasis’ cabin. I arrived at DCA around 7am for my 9am flight. I quickly dropped my bags at the priority bag drop and headed to the Terminal B/C security checkpoint. 

Unfortunately, the Terminal B Admirals Club was closed due to the pandemic so I had to take the transfer bus between the B and C terminals to get to the Terminal C Admirals Club, which was open. The whole terminal transfer process took about 10 minutes, making the whole process reasonably efficient and simple. I was greeted by the friendly staff upon entrance to the club, which was a former US Airways Club, sporting the old decor. The club had a surprisingly large buffet selection given the pandemic circumstances, with fruit, yogurt, and bagels among other things on offer. In addition to that was an avocado toast station, which I partook in. 

The aforementioned toast tasted pretty okay, though certainly nothing to shout about. I spent about 15 minutes in the club before heading back to Terminal B to get to my gate. 10 minutes later boarding commenced and soon, I was the second person on the plane.

 I was greeted by the recently retrofitted plane (in the TWA heritage livery!). The cabin looked quite sleek, equipped with he updated divider between main cabin and first class. The seats had pretty good legroom and comfy seats. 

There were two drink holders, a storage compartment hosing a power outlet, and an okay sized tray table. 

On the setback was a personal device holder along with a USB port. 

The cabin had the large Boeing Space Bins and mood lighting. The boarding process was fast with flight attendants handing out snack packs to economy passengers as they walked by. Before long, the boarding door was closed and we pushed back. 

One thing to note is that one of the flight attendants took off her face mask for a period of five minutes, which is unacceptable. After a short taxi, we were airborne. 

The takeoff was surprisingly steep but smooth nonetheless. 

After leveling off the flight attendants begun the inflight service which consisted of offering first class passengers either a sandwich or granola for breakfast. 

This is in start contrast from when I flew this route a year back with a full meal service served on proper plates. After the ‘meal’ service, flight attendants passed through the aisle to offer the first class cabin drinks. I ordered a sprite and a coffee. Both were served promptly after and in disposable cups. 

The flight attendants did a couple passes for trash after that but no offers of any more drinks. 

Soon we were defending into Dallas. We had great views of Downtown Dallas and the suburbs.

Before long we had arrived and parked at the gate. 

The flight was very acceptable due to the amenities given, especially considering the times. The flight attendants weren’t the most proactive but they were courteous enough. There was one concerning moment where a flight attendant forgot to wear a mask and just laughed at the fact that people were concerned about it, which isn’t okay. Other than that, all very good and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly American again.

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