FORT WORTH and IRVING, Texas - Starting today, American Airlines passengers departing from select gates at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport will have a new food option. Passengers will be able to conveniently purchase gourmet-style menu selections in the gate areas for flights to Miami and St. Louis. Working with LSG Sky Chefs, the world’s largest provider of quality in-flight catering, American will offer LSG Sky Chefs In-flight Cafésm selections for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“American is dedicated to providing our customers what they value, and we feel this buy-at-the-gate concept gives customers additional dining options,” said Dan Garton, executive vice president-Marketing. “In listening to our customers, we’ve heard many want the most affordable fares without built-in added costs for food. This test provides the opportunity for each passenger to make a choice about meal service at the gate.”

Morning meal selections include breakfast sandwiches, pastries, yogurt and beverages for $7. Lunch and dinner meal options include gourmet-style sandwiches, salads, snacks and beverages for $10.

“The expansion of the In-flight Café program to include the world’s largest carrier is another indicator of the strong passenger demand for more meal options while flying,” said Stephan Egli, global senior vice president - Marketing for LSG Sky Chefs. “Our goal with In-flight Café is to help our airline customers increase overall passenger satisfaction with the flying experience by providing convenient, quality meal selections, whether inflight or at the gate.”

Conveniently packaged, these fresh menu selections will be easy to carry onboard and will not count against passenger carry-on limit. As an additional convenience, passengers may use either cash or credit cards to purchase the items. Food kiosks will be located near the boarding gates for flights specifically selected for this test program, with sales beginning one hour prior to the beginning of the boarding process. A boarding pass for the selected flights will be requested to purchase the menu selections from LSG Sky Chefs.

The test program is scheduled to end in late October. Customer satisfaction surveys will help determine the success of the program.

LSG Sky Chefs developed the In-flight Cafésm program to offer airline passengers the option to purchase high-quality meals in-flight when no other meals are available. LSG Sky Chefs is the world’s largest in-flight service provider, including catering, procurement, equipment management and Inflight Management Solutions. LSG Sky Chefs caters 260 airlines from approximately 200 customer service centers in 46 countries. In 2002, the companies belonging to LSG Sky Chefs Group achieved consolidated revenues of $3.1 billion.

American Airlines is the world`s largest carrier. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection regional carriers serve nearly 275 cities in 50 countries and territories with approximately 4,300 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American`s award-winning Web site, AA.com, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld Alliance.
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